I have been to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum a number of times. They have all sorts of displays on the various objects that were made or manufactured in Kalamazoo. I spotted this display on the King Folding Boat Company when I was there this weekend. I probably passed it three times and never looked at it in any detail. But it is really cool to see that starting in the 1880s, Kalamazoo had a hand in the paddle sports industry.
The boat itself according to the display was based on an inuit, (they called it eskimo) design. So it is a low profile design, to cut down on windage. The distribution of volume below the waterline is more like a kayak. It was made out of wood, wire, and waterproof canvas. Very cool stuff, and right in my own backyard. The boats are no longer being made. But it would be nice to have a replica made to try out and paddle around!
Incredible! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Great choice of colors!