A Folding Kayak That Fits In A Backpack by Douglass Simpson

Featherweight Kayak

Douglass Simpson, a winner of the Globe and Mail’s Top 12 Canadian Innovator awards in the Manufacturing and Retail category, is helping to solve a problem for nature enthusiasts. His lightweight Feathercraft kayaks fold up small enough to fit into a backpack.

“If you want to go kayaking, you have to figure out how to get it from Point A to Point B, and if you don’t have a roof rack, you can have a problem,” Mr. Levy says. “Douglass Simpson said, ‘I can make a difference, I can improve upon this design.’ He saw the problem that others didn’t see, and he went about finding a practical solution for it.”

It’s the kind of innovation that will get more people into kayaks, Mr. Waldie says.

“Clearly, it’s Douglass’s hobby, but he’s turned it into something that other people can use. The spark of innovation often comes from this kind of thing – people who have a hobby they are passionate about and who want to find a better way of doing it. Douglass has found a way to make his hobby into something that is a little more accessible for everybody.”

View the Video:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/video/video-kayak-to-go/article18783860/


Neptunus 650F Review

Neptunus 650F 400

By Andy Adams

Over the years Canadian Yachting has had the pleasure of doing several boat review articles on new Neptunus models and we are familiar with the qualities that Neptunus is famous for. They have all been exceptional yachts, but this is the one I would most want to own myself. It’s a personal choice and a matter of taste as to whether you would prefer to have a sedan express model or a flybridge but in my opinion, the flybridge layout offers some wonderful attributes.

We met with Neptunus Managing Director Jan Willem De Jong this past fall to take the new Neptunus 650F out in Lake Ontario. 

Read More


Destinations

The Other Virgin Islands

Sunset off St John

By Mark Stevens

I was first seduced by the United States Virgin Islands during a ferry ride from St. Thomas to Tortola to begin one of our earliest British Virgin Islands charters nearly twenty years ago.

A perfect sunset off St. John with St. Thomas views for backdrop.

Clearing Pillsbury Sound, surrounded by voluptuous emerald mountains as the ferry sliced through royal blue waters, I was struck by the unspoiled ambiance of St. John, the island gliding past our starboard beam and the irresistible charm of a village called Cruz Bay visible from our quarter stern.

Read More