We lost Julie's last kayak during a storm in Mozambique. We had ducked in behind an Island (Bazaruto) because a big southerly was coming. We had not planned to go to Mozambique, so we were caught off guard and while the anchorage subdued the worst of the storm we had breakers over our bow while on anchor. Julie's kayak was lost in the storm. She was so upset but there was no way we could try to chase it down as we had our hands full trying to keep Cisnecito safe.

I emailed Advanced Elements, the makers of the kayak and they sent us a new kayak which they had as a demo model at their cost. It was so nice of them. Julie loves this kayak and uses it every day we are on anchor. She once paddled all the way around the Cavelli Islands in New Zealand half way against 18 to 20 knots of breeze and chop. I was upset at her for not taking a radio but the kayak proves to be more than fine these conditions.

It is inflatable which is great for yates but has an aluminum strut which makes the bow and stern sharp enough to pierce waves. We have the big one which is convertible between one and two person. We use it as a back up dinghy often and it is great for exploring when gasoline is not available. It stores in a bag which fits in our lazarette and inflates in under ten minutes. We would highly recommend carrying an inflatable kayak in a cruising yacht. In my opinion Advanced Element is the best because it pierces waves, steers well (big problem with most we tried) and is well constructed. It is not the cheapest but the price seems commensurate with the quality.

The picture is Julie paddling her new one in the Islas Murcielagos.