Every time I think about Folbots being sold by Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) in Soho in New York, this song starts running through my head.
While this window is actually right around the corner from Broadway on Spring Street, the MetroBoat is now strutting its stuff for all to see.
I’m told the display will shortly be moving to the Broadway corner window — with all the bells and whistles a Broadway debut deserves. Stay tuned!
David A.
We are delighted to congratulate Erik Baard on being named the “Greenest New Yorker” by I Love New York — New York’s state tourism promotion agency (who gave us the memorable I♥NY slogan).
Check out the official press release and learn all about what this designation means and how Erik earned it.
The reason we’re celebrating Erik being honored is that he has some very close ties to Folbot. Not only does Erik paddle an orange Yukon intrepidly through the waters around New York City and elsewhere…
…he is the person responsible for Folbot creating the MetroBoat — which has the NYC subway map embedded in its deck (it doesn’t get much more New York-y than that!).
Erik works hard to get people paddling in the New York area (he is the founder of the Long Island City Community Boathouse, which brings free kayaking to New Yorkers — and also houses a Citibot) and is a great proponent of the virtues of folding kayaks in urban areas.
Whether circumnavigating the island of Manhattan or taking a group down the Bronx River during the day…
or around New York at night…
…Erik is a great evangelist for Folbot, paddling, the environment and all that is good with the world.
Way to go, Erik!
David A.
Every week one of the kayaks being made at Folbot is randomly selected to be assembled as part of our quality control efforts. As the Twitters followers of Folbot (@Folbot) or me (@DAvRutick) know, we document the assemblies with photos and share them right after each meeting on Twitter. Some photos also get posted on Folbot’s Facebook page.
For those of you who have not yet followed or “liked” us (please do!), I thought I’d share the most recent batch here on the Front.
Last Friday we assembled a MetroBoat. Here goes (complete with the Twitter messages, so you know it’ll be short)…
Folbot MetroBoat looks little like a kayak before the assembly. This is what it looks like out of the backpack.
The Folbot MetroBoat skin could be used as a handy reference for the NYC subways, but maybe it's not so handy...
Once the parts & pieces of the Folbot MetroBoat kayak have been laid out, the assembly of the kayak can begin.
Color coding making properly attaching the longerons of the Folbot MetroBoat kayak to the keel easy to do.
Identifying of the Folbot MetroBoat kayak longerons goes where is easy to do with the simple color coding.
Adding the crossframes to the Folbot MetroBoat kayak's longerons starts to give the kayak frame its shape.
Once all the crossframes are added to the Folbot MetroBoat kayak's frame, it really does look like a kayak.
The tensioning device will expand the Folbot MetroBoat's frame to fit the kayak's skin, once the frame is inserted.
Unlike with other Folbots, the MetroBoat's sponsons are added directly to frame of the kayak.
Once the frame assembly of the Folbot MetroBoat is complete, it slides easily into the kayak's skin.
With the Folbot MetroBoat's frame in the kayak's skin, the tensioning device is used to expand it to fit the skin.
Once assembled, the Folbot MetroBoat is one of the coolest looking kayaks on the planet!
Folbot and the NY MTA, a cool combination... and a great kayak!
The Folbot MetroBoat and the crew who made her. Cool kayak!
So give us a follow and see the weekly QC assembly. It’s almost as good as being here.
David A.
While Folbot was at the Paddlesport 2011 show, the Metroboat got a lot of attention. It was easily one of the most photographed kayaks and the topic of many conversations.
The Metroboat became a video star when Bill was interviewed by the folks at Rapid Media.
Bill did a great job of talking about the creation of the kayak. There’s also some great up close and personal footage of the Metroboat, as well as some nice shots of the Folbot booth.
You can check it out on the Adventure Kayak Magazine blog, as well.
David A.
About a week ago we had the pleasure of exhibiting Folbots at Paddlesport 2011 in New Jersey.
We arrived to a bare space that had a hard concrete floor with Folbot scrawled on it in chalk.
After raising the Folbot banners, we got to work to create our home for the next three days.
Soon all the kayaks were assembled and we had a pretty good-looking exhibit.
It was a great few days, with thousands of attendees. And there was lots of stuff for people to check out.
One of the stars of the show was the MetroBoat… which had to be the most photographed kayak.
This display also caught many eyes and started lots of conversations.
We were impressed with how knowledgeable the folks we met were about paddling. Many came having done their homework about the Folbot kayaks, although ever once in a while we did get an unusual question.
Finally, after a very full three days it came time to pack up all the kayaks and get ready to head home.
But wait! There was just one more customer who wanted to buy a Yukon.
And then we were done.
It was great meeting all the people who attended the show and we appreciate the help and support from the Jersey Paddler.
See you next year!
David A.
Next month, following close on the heels of our upcoming trip to Madison, Wisconsin for the wonderful Canoecopia event,
Folbot will be setting up shop at the Jersey Paddler’s PaddleSport Show in Somerset, New Jersey (at the Garden State Exhibit Center) on March 25-27. This is the first time that Folbot will be at this show, which is billed as the largest canoe and kayak show on the East Coast.
We’re really excited to be able to bring the Folbots to the huge crowds in the NY/NJ metropolitan area. Come see a MetroBoat in its native habitat!
Of course, the rest of the Folbot fleet will be there as well.
We look forward to seeing you in Wisconsin or New Jersey!
David A.
Welcome back to Folbot Jeopardy.
The category in today’s Final Jeopardy was: “Things in the Folbot factory.”
To come up with the right answer, our contestants had to correctly identify this photograph:
Our contestants have locked in their answers… let’s hope they framed them in the form of a question.
And the correct answer is: What jig is used to make sure the #3 crossframe in the Citibot or Metroboat has been shaped correctly?
Thanks for playing! See you next time on Folbot Jeopardy.
David A.
I just received a note from Erik Baard in New York, which described a wonderful Folbot day… so I thought I would share it here.
Great Folbot adventure through a very choppy Hell Gate yesterday! Two Citibots, one Yukon, and one MetroBoat! Then a blissful solo cruise to an amazing home. I was offered food and lodging so I folded up the boat and stayed, knowing it was be easy to get home with the backpack in NYC.
THANKS!!!”
Erik in action in his orange Yukon
Now that’s urban kayaking!
David A.
Folbot has a reputation for building long-lasting and rugged kayaks. And with our lifetime warranty, it’s a good thing that they live up to that reputation. We make sure every part is built to last.
With the recent introduction of the MTA MetroBoat, we introduced a kayak that looks like no other:
The key to the MetroBoat is the very cool printing process used to create the image. The process converts the ink into a gas and infuses it into the actual fibers of the deck fabric — placing the image into the deck, not on it.
Since this had never been done for a kayak, we wanted to make sure that the image would hold up under the stress of the great outdoors. So, we took some samples of a printed MetroBoat deck and staked them out on a dock in the searing South Carolina summer weather without any shelter or breaks for over a month. Check it out — they came through with flying colors (pun intended):
Stay tuned to learn what else we can do with this cool technology.
David A.
Every week at the Folbot QC meeting we take a look at a kayak that is on that week’s production list. Yesterday we checked out a new MTA MetroBoat.
(And you can look at this posting out to see the MetroBoat in action.)
David A.
Getting ready to go... a peek at the cool deck.
Laying out the frame parts prior to assembly.
Assembly starting with the longerons attaching to the keel.
The frame comes together quickly... starting to look like a kayak.
The sponsons are applied directly to the frame -- unique to the Citibot/MetroBoat among Folbots.
The frame slides easily into the skin... first real view of the MetroBoat deck!
The tensioning device expands the frame to fit the skin.
The completed assembly... the MetroBoat, as viewed from the Bronx.
The MTA MetroBoat's very cool deck from the downtown Manhattan perspective.
Logos in the East River.
|
