We’re working on coming out in the near future here with a two person flatwater boat… and we’re still trying to come up with a name! This is of course an intensive process, usually involving gin & tonics, multiple dogs, and whatnot. I think the current front-runner is the ‘Water Moccasin.’ But I wanted to throw this out to everyone…
We’re looking at essentially an extended Llama, stretched out quite a bit for two people paddling with our without packs, in calm water. A lot like the custom extended boat Sheri made for Roman awhile ago, basically.
I would be very interested in such a boat. This summer some buddies and I are planning to hike to a lake and camp on the opposite side that the trail touches … using a Denali Llama. Now, we’re friends and all, but I don’t really want to get that close with them for a long paddle - we’re all pretty big guys and although the floatation is there, the comfort will be interesting. Any idea on when it’ll be ready or premilinary specs (especially weight)?
As for a name … how about “Flatwater Voyager” (“FW Voager” for short) or “Water Taxi” or “Double Dory” or maybe try incorporate “Camel” as they can have two humps and it’s in line with alpacas and llamas. Well, I’m not sold on any of those, but hopefully they’ll help someone else think of something good.
yes, it is a desert animal.
but, much like a packrafter, it does carry everything it needs for a long trip on/in its back.
they also have cool eyelids that keep the sand out. alas, packrafters don’t have these.
i could use a set though. the wind will kick your ass here in the susitna valley.
take care, abel6wt
I also reckon “camel” is a goodie. It is succinct, and appropriate, and if anyone wishes to push it to “dromedry”, then they can just buy a yak, and get over it!
The only “down south” suggestion I can make is something related to one of our marsupials, suc as “kangaroo”, or “wombat”, or “whatever” , and it seems that us “Southern Hemispherians” are just such tiny blips in the world that the name wouldn’t be appreciated.
So many cool names… such an embarassment of riches! Clearly, we are going to need to invent a bunch of new boats…
Although andrewallan, I had to do some research:
Alpaca, from Wikipedia: “Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of Ecuador, southern Peru, northern Bolivia, and northern Chile.”
Llama, from Wikipedia: “The llama (Lama glama) is a South American camelid, widely used as a pack animal by the Incas[1] and other natives of the Andes mountains. In South America llamas are still used as beasts of burden, as well as for the production of fiber and meat.”
With the majority of these animals’ ranges in the Southern hemisphere, and in conjunction with the northern hemispheric but high-Himalayan range of the Yak (which sort of cancels out my desert-animal concern about camel, doesn’t it?..), I can only come to one conclusion: it is not that Sheri is biased against the Southern Hemisphere, but it must be that she - in fact - has a deeply buried psychological grudge against the English speaking world!
…
Or maybe she just likes Alpacas, Yaks, and Llamas…
Oh… and Wanderlust, not sure on the boat-with-no-name weight yet; still playing with prototypes… but I’d feel comfortable saying 7 lbs. or less in blue, not including seats. So certainly less than 2 one-person rafts.
I always assumed that the names Alpaca, Yukon Yak and Denali Llama originated due to the Company being called Alpacka, and the geographic location (Alaska).
A Dory is a small boat, hence the name Dory.
I can understand the name association with tough, agile, sure footed creatures, capable of carrying large loads, I just can’t get my head round calling a boat ‘Camel’, may as well call it ‘Oxymoron’!
“Alpacka” itself has a funny, hazy history actually…
Alpacka - the Alpaca. Just like you said, AeroNautiCal: small, light, sure-footed, tough little guy.
“I’ll-Pack-A” raft.
Finally, if you take two of the names of two of the great Alaskan small working-boat building peoples, the Iniupak and the Aleut, and elide the names together, one of the things you come something like “Alpack…”
Personally I’m liking the Camel too… Just an unfortunate association with cigarettes. Along the same lines (but without the nice two-hump reference) would be the Moose.
And since this discussion has evolved into more general naming-scheme topics… Saying that there are Alpacka rafts, and that one type of Alpacka raft is an Alpaca, is unfortunate. If you ever re-structure the naming scheme, I’d come up for a new name for the little ones…
And it would be cool to have a size smaller than the Alpaca for kids and short people. I think a boat is too long if you can’t press your feet against the bow and feel a fair amount of resistance. At a rather male average 5’ 9.5" I fit perfectly in the smallest boat, so maybe there’s a place for a boat to serve the 1/2 of the population that is below average in height.
