The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Pakayak is the latest evolution in kayaking
A Connecticut couple is looking to change the game in the world of kayaking with their Pakayak.
HIGGANUM >> A Connecticut couple is looking to change the game in the world of kayaking.
Husband and wife Doug and Zinelle Mackro of Higganum, with partners Phil Miller of North Haven and Day Moore from Milford, are working to bring to the world Pakayak, a 55-pound kayak designed to be broken down into sections to allow for optimal transport and storage.
Doug got the idea 25 years ago when he was whitewater kayaking and loading the equipment was an unpleasant process.
With a background in design, Doug saw that geometrically the pieces of kayaks would fit together like ice cream cones if they were broken down into pieces.
Both Doug and Zinelle owned businesses — Doug a contracting company and Zinelle a graphic and website design company. Zinelle sold her business to be with Pakayak full-time.
Doug said the company is focused on giving back to the environment. Every model will be named after an endangered species. “namely a keystone species,” Doug said, and Pakayak is donating a portion of the profits for protection of each of the named species.
The current model offered is the Pakayak Bluefin 14, a 14-foot kayak the condenses to 3.5 feet.
Pakayak will also be keeping in touch with all its customers after purchase to give periodic updates on the status of local waters and related topics, “increasing knowledge and hopefully stewardship of our customers.” Doug said.
Pakayak is also working to create and assemble the kayaks in as close to one location as possible to lower its carbon footprint. Doug said the company is already using recycled plastics and that because of the small size of the kayaks when broken down for transport, the same tractor trailer space that allows other kayak companies to ship 48 conventional styled kayaks can fit 353 Pakayaks.
The Mackros also said another main focus of the company is to be completely local, saying,”Even the clamp manufacturer that we are working with has their main headquarters in Deep River.
Pakayak has an ongoing Kickstarter campaign that ends Tuesday at 5 p.m. and backers who purchase the first run for $1,495 will also receive a carrying bag and can expect to receive their Pakayaks by early spring 2017, if not sooner. Once the Kickstarter is over, the cost of a Pakayak is expected to be $1,695, although Zinelle added that is just an estimate and the bag is valued at $250 retail.
Zinelle said the Kickstarter campaign has been a great but consuming process.
“It has been emails and phone calls from the moment I wake up until I go to sleep,” she said.
Zinelle also talked about how the team already has plans for 12-foot and 17-foot versions of the box-and-bag kayak to-go and are designing customizable pieces from the color of the kayak to specific hobbies like bringing your dog with you, fishing or scuba diving.
“This is a high-performance kayak that just happens to pack,” Doug said.
Doug noted that Pakayaks are built with a sealed bulk head just as most other high-performance kayaks, they can handle open ocean conditions and come already outfitted for adding a rudder.
He said that the Pakayak steers exceptionally straight and can pick up speed quickly due to the hull design allowing the kayak to track straight in the water; it also has a two-chine hull to give the boat secondary stability.
Doug noted that you can lose up to five miles per gallon in gas mileage from the wind drag when transporting kayaks on roof racks.
The kayaks are shown on the “events page” of the website, www.Pakayak.com.
As Doug and Zinelle were packing up the Pakayak after a demo, Chris Mason of Branford was parking his car near the dock to unload two kayaks from the roof rack of his sedan.
“Wait... this is really cool, I want one of these.” said Mason.
Watch Doug Mackro of Pakayak tell a story about a day on the water.