Whitewater Machine Works row frame on Aire Super Puma
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:59 pm
Last year I decided to join the rafting ranks. Although I had several years experience rowing drift boats in the Pacific NW rafts were new to me. I wanted a smaller lightweight raft with a lightweight, highly portable/packable row frame capable on a variety of rivers/flows for:
1. Day trips with 1 or 2 pax
2. Multi-day trips with light gear (backpacking type), small cooler and 1 pax
3. Drift boat for trout/salmon/steelhead fishing
4. R2-R4 paddle rafting
After prioritizing my needs and doing thorough research I decided on an Aire Super Puma with two thwarts (color red). The boat was purchased from The Boat People (Lee) in Northern California. The frame was a bit more complicated to figure out. After more research I chose to work with Guy Hendersen and Whitewater Machine Works also in Northern California. Like me, Guy has an aerospace background. It was immediately obvious that Guy’s frames were carefully and meticulously designed and produced. Guy worked with me to develop a 3-bay gear frame convertible to a 2-bay day frame taking into account rower (me) geometry – Super Puma tube height and flat section length, draft, oar length and balance, seat height, oar tower height, foot bar angle, etc. We also considered likely gear/cooler choices to best determine bay sizing. The 6061-T6 aluminum frame is modular and fully adjustable. Everything is hard anodized for corrosion protection and it weighs less than 25 lbs. in the cargo configuration. It breaks down small for easy packing in an aircraft or on a mule. The frame arrived expertly packaged. It took several whitewater and flatwater trips to “dial it in” and both frame/raft performed flawlessly on my recent Lodore trip. I’m very impressed with both Guy at Whitewater Machine Works and Lee at The Boat People and highly recommend doing business with them. I know at least one other Little Rock rafter has recently bought a similar set up from Lee and Guy.
http://www.hendersenprecision.com
http://www.whitewatermachineworks.com
1. Day trips with 1 or 2 pax
2. Multi-day trips with light gear (backpacking type), small cooler and 1 pax
3. Drift boat for trout/salmon/steelhead fishing
4. R2-R4 paddle rafting
After prioritizing my needs and doing thorough research I decided on an Aire Super Puma with two thwarts (color red). The boat was purchased from The Boat People (Lee) in Northern California. The frame was a bit more complicated to figure out. After more research I chose to work with Guy Hendersen and Whitewater Machine Works also in Northern California. Like me, Guy has an aerospace background. It was immediately obvious that Guy’s frames were carefully and meticulously designed and produced. Guy worked with me to develop a 3-bay gear frame convertible to a 2-bay day frame taking into account rower (me) geometry – Super Puma tube height and flat section length, draft, oar length and balance, seat height, oar tower height, foot bar angle, etc. We also considered likely gear/cooler choices to best determine bay sizing. The 6061-T6 aluminum frame is modular and fully adjustable. Everything is hard anodized for corrosion protection and it weighs less than 25 lbs. in the cargo configuration. It breaks down small for easy packing in an aircraft or on a mule. The frame arrived expertly packaged. It took several whitewater and flatwater trips to “dial it in” and both frame/raft performed flawlessly on my recent Lodore trip. I’m very impressed with both Guy at Whitewater Machine Works and Lee at The Boat People and highly recommend doing business with them. I know at least one other Little Rock rafter has recently bought a similar set up from Lee and Guy.
http://www.hendersenprecision.com
http://www.whitewatermachineworks.com
