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Tahe Outdoors Patagonia Austral Expedition 2015

A

Arek Mytko

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Aug 23, 2015
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Tahe Outdoors Patagonia Austral Expedition 2015
The objective of this new kayaking expedition is to open a new route between Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas, the biggest cities in the south of Patagonia in Chile.
There is a distance of 500km to kayak through the magnificent fjords and the Strait of Magellan and also two quite tough 5km of portages deep in the snowy mountains.
The expedition will start very soon – in the end of Patagonian winter time.

The team will be made up of Mauricio, Alex and Arek (expedition leader) and they will be using kayaking equipment of the Tahe Outdoors group.
There will be three different kayaks, made by Zegul and Tahe companies, tested in extreme conditions during this traverse.
They will be introduced in the next notice.

More details about this expedition soon!
@taheoutdoors
 
To explore the Patagonian fjords you need to have two things: not too bad weather, which means no hurricane winds and good equipment.
The first one doesn’t depend on you. With the second one you have more control over your decisions.
Our decision was to use @Tahe Outdoors gear.

Let´s introduce kayaking equipment then:

First kayak – Zegul Searocket.
Length: 550cm
Width: 54cm
Capacity: 140kg
Weight (depends on material): from 18kg to 29kg
More tech info about Zegul Searocket here.

On the manufacturer´s website says: ¨(…) is perfectly designed to come closer to entry level paddlers with the increased stability, speed and maneuverability. This boat opens up the opportunity to catch waves faster and stand out from crowd with confidence.¨

There will be a lot of possibilities to check how it works with big and heavy load and examine its wave handling during this Patagonian trip.
As Patagonia is known for its violent wind, especially in the zone called Furious Fifties, Searocket is going to pass a hard confidence test.
 
Second kayak – Tahe Marine Wind 585.
Length: 585cm
Width: 54cm
Capacity: 160kg
Weight (depends on material): from 21.5kg to 25.5kg
Movie presentation here.

On the manufacturer´s website says: ¨Wind 585 is the fastest sea touring kayak in Tahe Marine range and perfect for marathons, exercise, day trips and longer expeditions. Due to the length and the hull design this kayak is first and foremost designed for experienced to expert paddlers.¨

It is going to be very interesting comparing the Tahe Marine Wind 585 and the Zegul Searocket as both of them belong to racing kayaks and both of them have got large storage compartments what makes them perfect for long expeditions.
 
Third kayak – Zegul Arrow Empower
Length: 556cm
Width: 53cm
Capacity: 178kg
Weight (depends on material): from 21kg to 29kg
Movie presentation here

On the manufacturer´s website says: ¨The Empower is a full bodied sea kayak made for long trips and expeditions. The Empower kayak is surprisingly agile despite its length, has a very nice glide and it handles almost like a play boat when put on edge¨.

All of the three kayaks which are going to be used during Patagonian expedition are super long with big compartments. Some of them belong to racing range, some of them are ideal for beginners and all of them look perfect for long expeditions.
But this is just the beginning and an introduction.
Over a few weeks we are going to check every single kayak: making various different tests for speed, maneuverability, stability, comfort and friendliness for adventurers which is the most important reason you buy an expedition kayak.
 
There are many islands and fjords in the southern part of Patagonia. You need to have good maps if you are travelling through the channels as it is easy to get lost in this giant maze. It will be necessary to portage kayaks twice through the mountains during this trip.
There will be 500km in the sea and 10km of portaging between Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas.
 
The kayaks have arrived; unfortunately two of them have been damaged in transit and need some repair.
We are planning to organize everything that we need to be launched at the end of this week.
 
Arek Mytko said:
The kayaks have arrived; unfortunately two of them have been damaged in transit and need some repair.
Click to expand...

The shop I work at carried Tahe Marine boats for a while. I can't remember the last time we received a boat from them that WASN'T damaged.
 
DALAJS said:
Arek Mytko said:
The kayaks have arrived; unfortunately two of them have been damaged in transit and need some repair.
Click to expand...

The shop I work at carried Tahe Marine boats for a while. I can't remember the last time we received a boat from them that WASN'T damaged.
Click to expand...

This is South America.
It is happened to me before that one of my kayaks (another brand) was completely destroyed during transport from Buenos Aires to Rio Gallegos in Argentina.
They treat big packages like potatoes bags.
In this case the wooden box was broken.
 
Not to be disrespectful, but this thread seems more like an advertisement for Tahe than an actual trip report?
 
Yeti, we will launch tomorrow morning or day after, depends on weather conditions.
At this moment there is wind blowing over 90km/h.
Then we will start trip report.
At this moment we or rather me introduce our kayaking equipment we are going to use because it is kayaking forum.
Almost every person in this forum is kayaker and have some knowledge about kayaks. I will show movies and photos from this trip so you can see how it is work.
I can say what I can feel when I use those kayaks for first time, before I had some kayaks made in Argentina and there is big gap between them.
Don´t be surprised I am excited because for me and my friends it is a big different.
You can find in internet my movies and photos from another big expeditions in Patagonia and you can see what kayaks I have used and how they worked.

I could write about sleeping bags we are going to use or photos cameras which are also very good but about this equipment I write to people who are interested in outdoor and photo equipment.
Here in this topic I want to present kayaking gear and it is your decision would you like it or not.
I am not going to convince you or anyone that Tahe Outdoor is the best kayaking brand.
There will be full report in January next year when we arrive to our destination harbor.
And then I can compare Tahe gear with my previous kayaks.

From my side I like trip reports and equipment presentation from another people because it tells me how those things working.
For me it is the most important thing - the equipment needs to work in extreme conditions very well.

I hope you understand me.
best,
Arek
 
Arek, I wish you good luck on your journey. It's been interesting hearing about your equipment -- as you say, there is a level of excitement in getting ready for a trip -- especially when you've got new boats and gear -- photo equipment included. I appreciate hearing about your preparations.

I look forward to reading your posts and seeing photos of your trip. Travel safe.
 
We have finished expedition few days ago. We arrived to Puerto Natales after 33 days of paddling. Most of the time we were paddling against the wind and we had tail wind only 2 times! There will be more information and photos soon!
 
Tahe Outdoors Patagonia Austral Expedition 2015, in the composition of Arek Mytko (expedition leader - Poland), Maurico Alarcon (Chile) and Alex Albarnoz (Chile) was a success.
The team sailed from Punta Arenas after 33 days to get to Puerto Natales in southern Patagonia in Chile, paving a new way kayaking.
On five hundred kilometers section of runoff had two portage through the mountains and valleys.
Apart form very difficult to navigate the Strait of Magellan, the team defeated the intricate channels Jeronimo and Gallardo, the bay and the fjord Xaultegua Skyring and Obstruccion.
While over-month trailing kayakers only twice had the tail wind, in other cases, apart from several days of relative calm, the wind was blowing in face or from the side.
The last two weeks of trailing there was a cold front from the south, which brought cold air, snow and hail and winds of up to 100 km/h.
During this period, kayakers slowly gained kilometers, most of the time waiting at the rocky beaches to calm the wind. The last days were nothing more than hunger and looking for food in the forest and the sea, which due to strong winds was not suitable for fishing.
Currently the team is regenerating, but Arek is already planning another exploratory expedition in the area in the nearest future.
 
Let me write some feedback on equipment we were using during this trip.
Most of kayakers would be interested in kayaks.
We tried all of them. I made 250km with Zegul Searocket, 150km with Zegul Empower and 100km with Tahe Wind 585.
The first days, even I would say first 2 weeks, we had a lot of food, calculated for one month of being out of civilization.
Also camping equipment: tents, sleeping bags, stoves, pots, clothes etc. and electronic devices such photos cameras, video cameras, additional batteries, tripods, computer, gps, radio vhf.
All that stuff we had got, had to get inside the kayaks. I was very skeptical about that as I had a lot of food and gear. I chose Zegul Searocket as a first boat and started to put all my gear inside the kayak.
I was very focus on using every inch of space and organize everything very well inside.
After while, almost everything was packed and only a deck bag and a thermarest were on the top of kayak.
Using later Zegul Empower and Tahe Wind 585 I discovered that the Zegul Searocket has the biggest storage capacity, which is one of the most important details for me.

All kayaks have good maneuvering and stability and similar comfort.

During 33 days of kayaking (some days we were waiting for less wind) we had all weather conditions and winds from all directions.
 Even with big waves hitting our kayaks from the side we could continue our traverse. 
I didn’t expect such good stability to be honest. 
The same with speed especially with Searocket, which was passing short waves like a knife, is cutting butter so you didn’t even feel them.
It is recommended to not use kayaks with V-shape hull´s profile as the Strait of Magellan has a rocky shore which most of them are very rough and make landing complicated.
Tahe Wind 585 was getting easier damages of this part of body because of that.


Definitely is recommended to use kayak with rounded hull profile as both Zeguls we have had.

In comparison to my previous kayaks I have had, those kayaks made this trip more comfortable and enjoyable.
The skeg and the rudder were working perfect.
Day after day I was more confident and relaxed even if we had bad conditions.
I like all of 3 kayaks but I felt in love in Zegul Searocket and it is going to be my flagship kayak.

Let me know if you have any questions about the equipment we have used.
 
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