Author Topic: Echo Composites 18' touring - good deal?  (Read 21177 times)

Luc Benac

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Re: Echo Composites 18' touring - good deal?
« Reply #15 on: October 20, 2019, 12:35:02 PM »
So Big Blue is about 45 pounds btw, and supposedly built with renting in mind, so some of that would just be thick glass. I might have been happily ignorant paddling it :D
The two boards are in my friend's garage now. There's a chance I'll visit 'em and paddle this year. Ice is forming on the lakes so I'm not in a hurry to get them up to Alaska.
I'm dying to try them out. My wife thinks I'm nuts getting more boards, and "why 2 more? Aren't they both about the same?". But 2 unlimited boards for $1600 seemed too good a chance to pass up. Thanks again for the help  TD. I will be posting up when I finally get to paddle for sure :D

Nothing wrong with that!!!
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TallDude

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Re: Echo Composites 18' touring - good deal?
« Reply #16 on: October 20, 2019, 03:35:24 PM »
I think you scored the killer Unlimited deal. Two really good but different boards. Each has there pros and cons. The Bark is pretty light and in good shape. The Hobie is the same. You can see the repair I did on the tail turned out pretty good. I used the same type of CF to do the repair. The bark has an older screw vent that you have to keep loose while storing and travelling with. It sticks straight up at the thickest point of the board, which means you can't stack anything on it. That's why I had the uShip guy put the Hobie on the bottom. I also gave him some scrap carpet to put between the trailer and the bottom of the Hobie. The bubble wrap and padded board bag I wrapped the Hobie with will cushion the bark on top. I made sure he didn't crank down hard on the boards with his ratchet straps. He hauls a bunch of CF racing sail boats for a company out of San Diego, so he understands how fragile they are. I guess they made it in one piece to Washington 8)
You'll have fun with these boards.
It's not overhead to me!
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deepmud

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Re: Echo Composites 18' touring - good deal?
« Reply #17 on: February 08, 2021, 04:32:50 PM »
finally.  I learned that I should have used Lynden freight at the original purchase. Uship guy could have driven about 1.5hrs less and they'd have been here way back then. About 2100 delivered for both when all totalled up.

TallDude

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Re: Echo Composites 18' touring - good deal?
« Reply #18 on: February 08, 2021, 10:06:45 PM »
That's crazy! Glad to see they finally made it. Hopefully they survived? Two very different feeling boards. The Barks always felt strange to me with the tall ridge running from tip to tail. It feels like you're straddling a beam while you paddle. Plus any cargo has to have some kind of spacers on each side to level it out. But, it has a nice quite glide, sits lower in the water, and is a little wider I think.
The Hobie on the other hand, will feel like you're standing on a dock, with the volume of a dock. I bet it will handle you and a bunch of cargo. Feels like it sits on top of the water more.
Let us know what you think?

I'm getting ready to order a mountain bike in an XXL frame. They said to expect to see a late 2021 to early 2022 delivery???? Really... Oh well.
It's not overhead to me!
8'8" L-41 ST and a whole pile of boards I rarely use.

deepmud

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Re: Echo Composites 18' touring - good deal?
« Reply #19 on: February 09, 2021, 10:49:03 AM »
I hear bikes have gone crazy. SUP for the land :) I like the Bark at least how it looks up close. I ponder dugouts for cargo and footwells like the new Kruger NW Passage Bark. We have a local guy making carbon canoes of strip-built foam with carbon inside and outside, so some local expertise exists. As-is I imagine I will like it for paddling out of Seward and Whittier.  It LOOKS like a sup blended with an ocean kayak. Like my old Sea Otter squished down lol. Needs bunch of tie downs to start. I bet that ridge adds a ton of...rigidity lol. I haven't even unwrapped the Hobie yet. At least I can paddle up and down the Tailrace.  It is forecast to warm up again maybe this weekend.  Been -10 or so this week.

 


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