Viking Explorer Canoes

IMPORTANT: READ THIS FIRST...
As Of September 1, 2001, Viking has made some changes, which may be of interest to you.

FABRICATION:As you know all Vikings are made by hand. At present, we are experimenting with new lay-ups using a combination of Fiberglass, Kevlar, Carbon Fiber and a more flexible and durable resin. Once we have settled upon the perfect combination our Viking Outfits will need to go up in price.

Explanation:

• Fiberglass: Fiberglass is the most widely used material in the sport boat industry and has proven to outlast all other materials at a lower cost. It is completely repairable. There are Viking Canoes still in use after about 30 years and are still good useable canoes.
• Kevlar: As you know the bulletproof vests are made of Kevlar. This gives you an idea as to its puncture resistance and wear resistance. Kevlar is a bugger to work with and very expensive. We are adding Kevlar to all the more vulnerable areas for wear and fractures.
• Carbon Fiber: Carbon Fiber is used for the strongest and lightest weight aircraft. Carbon adds unbelievable stiffness, but is lousy for wear resistance. A bullet will pass through Carbon easier than regular fiberglass. Many Carbon Fiber materials are becoming available on the market today, but we have gone to the horse's mouth. We do not use the lightweight materials; we use a fiber straight from the manufacture. It comes on spools of un-woven fiber somewhat like a rope. We hand lay the carbon rope between the other materials, crisscrossing the rope throughout the canoe hull, the seats and part of the deck. This adds unbelievable strength and rigidity, thus enabling us to reduce the overall weight of the Viking.

The combination of all three and using a more scratch resistant, more flexible and durable resin will insure the strongest and lightest weight Viking that has ever been produced. With the other patented features of the Viking design, offering the variety of activities available to the enthusiast, there is not another sport or family boat like it in the world.

MARKETING: Beginning September 1st this year we want to place at least one Viking Outfit in every city in America. As you most likely know we have no Dealers. However, we use the dealer discount to compensate those who wish to act as independent representatives for us by giving them a 20% referral commission on all their referrals that purchase a Viking.

• Beginning September, as an ADVERTISING PROMOTION, to establish our program more rapidly throughout America,WE ARE OFFERING A SPECIAL DISCOUNT OF 20% OFF THE ADVERTISED PRICE TO THE FIRST 32 WHO QUALIFY. You must live in cities where no new Viking Outrigger Canoes have been sold. For those who purchase under this program we would ask that you send us a color photo of you using your Viking so we can put it on our web pages. In this way, potential customers can contact you directly to ask questions and possibly participate in a demonstration. If they purchase, you will receive the twenty- percent referral commission.
• To take advantage of this program and see if you qualify, please email us or call us at 307 444-1285. Please keep in mind we produce each canoe by hand and we are a small company. Your canoe will be scheduled for production once you have made your deposit. Your Viking will be produced on a first order in, first shipped out basis.
• As an idea freight charges for a Viking Outfit shipped to New York is under $200.00.
• Packaging wrapped in foam and stretch-wrapped cost $75.00.

The ADVERTISING PROMOTION is a limited offer. Because we are a small company with limited production, it may be necessary to discontinue this offer from time to time to fulfill our regular orders. WE DO ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS.

Respectfully,

K. Duane Erickson, inventor/designer/mfgr.

NEW REFERRAL MARKETING PROGRAM -- MAKE 5 REFERRALS AND YOUR VIKING OUTFIT IS PAID FOR!
(Please contact us for details) DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!

Private Viking Explorer Canoeing classes by the Inventors/Designers and his son for individuals, couples, families or groups available by special quote. Your choice of several waterways. All equipment necessary is included. Customers furnish their own transportation, sleeping gear and meals.

SPECIAL FEATURES not available in other canoes:

• Hull: One piece hull design. The Viking hull is molded in one solid piece, reinforced in critical areas of greatest wear. The laminates used in the Viking are also one piece, full length and full width. At the bow and stem ends, the fabric is split and overlapped making the bow or entry point and stem end, double thickness. In some cases, two full length pieces are used and overlapped across the keel overlapping the center for additional strength down the keel.

  
  

• Deck: Vikings decks are also molded into one piece. The one piece deck is bonded permanently to the one piece hull making a solid opposing hull and deck, creating unbelievable strength.

  
  

• Seats: The Viking has five (5) seating locations: Three suspended seats which are removable and replacable. The Viking has been designed stable enough to allow the seats to be suspended high enough to enable the paddlers to kneel in place with feet under the seats, in rough water, resting against the seat without having to move forward of the seats, putting the canoe out of balance with the load. This is a very important factor. Most canoes, if they have seats at all, are mounted very low in the canoe for stability. Thus in a storm or rough water situation, the paddler must move forward of the seat to get his weight low. With each paddler moving forward of their seat, this places the previously balanced canoe, heavy to the bow. In a storm or rough water this is not good.
  The two (2) end seats are permanently molded in the deck, which in turn, is molded to the hull. These seats have been especially designed for comfort and safety. There is a drip guard molded in each of these seats to move unwanted water spills away from the paddlers. The molded seat in the bow is for the person who might want to troll when fishing. It has many other uses also.
  The rear molded seat is positioned directly above the stem of the canoe. This, unlike other canoes, enables the rear paddler to swing his "J" stroke when paddling in a wide arc around the rear of the canoe, providing unbelievable control in all types of waters. When paddling in this position, the canoe is very narrow, making it very nice paddling on either side of the canoe without having to shift from one side to the other to keep from banging your hands on the side of the canoe while paddling, as in most canoes.

• Flotation: The Viking has flotation foam in the bow seat and in the stern seat. It also has foam laminated in each of the suspended seats and in the center section of the hull floor. In total there is in excess of 3.5 cubic feet of foam. Most canoes have about one cubic foot of flotation.

• Flared Gunwales: One of the patented features of the Viking is its patented Flared Gunwales, especially pronounced in the forward half of the canoe. Water that is deflected out and away from the sides of the canoe with these flared gunwales would normally fall into the mid section of the traditional style canoes. That water then runs to the rear of the canoe. The rear paddler then needs to bail that water out. The rear paddler is the one who primarily controls the direction of the canoe and when a bad situation occurs his efforts have to be divided between bailing water, to keep the rear of the canoe from going under the water or directing the canoe into the safest waters.
  The next important function of the flared gunwales is the lifting action they create in the forward half of the canoe in rough waters. Canoes without this feature merely dive into the rapids causing water to come over the bow in rough water causing the canoe to rapidly fill with water. This water would be more than the rear paddler could handle along with controlling the direction of the canoe.
  The flared gunwales actually force the Viking skyward, the greater the water force, the greater the upward force of the water against the gunwales. It is actually difficult to take water into the forward half of the Viking if sufficient forward motion is maintained.

• The Keel: Some feel that a keel is not necessary, that a keel is dangerous if a canoe gets crosswise in a river, that the keel could hang up, causing the canoe to capsize. The designer, having spent lots of time in both rivers and larger bodies of water, feel safety is first. First of all, with a keel you have better control, especially with a Viking with its rear seat, and you should never end up sideways in the river unless you intended to end up that way. Furthermore, even in trouble in a river, you can most likely float to safety, to the shore even when capsized. But in larger bodies of water, some where you cannot even see the shore, you don't want to capsize. It is there that the keel is more important and there is where the designer has put his emphasis.
  Design wise, the keel also takes the brunt of the punishment, and in a hand laminated fiberglass canoe the excess resin seeks its lowest point, so that is where the Viking is the thickest. Also the keel adds tremendous strength to the hull, and is most important when spanning large rapids or waves with a heavily loaded canoe. The inventor has actually seen canoes on his trips break in half, end to end in that situations.

• The Transom: Merely cutting a foot off of a double ended canoe is how most canoe designers build their square transom model. You can tell, as their 16 foot double ended, now becomes a 15 foot square stem model. This really does not work. What happens is, yes the motor will fit on the transom, but when you turn up the gas, the canoe stands on end, water comes over the transom to fill the canoe. You turn it rapidly to the right or left and over you go. Next the canoe is overloaded with the heavier paddler in the rear and with the added weight of the motor out on the end of the canoe.
  The Viking has been designed to not only hold a motor or rudder, but to operate at maximum performance with both. First of all the rear half of the Viking hull has been designed with more body for the heavier paddler and additional weight of the motor, up to a 35 pound motor. The transom is designed to such an elevation and angle that when given full throttle, the Viking has more a tendency to plane rather than standing on end, which is the case with most canoes which use a motor. Water will not come in over the transom. Next with the skag type design to the rear keel, turning the motor rapidly to the right or left, the Viking merely turns rapidly left or right. This is something you probably will never do with other designs.
  When selecting a motor, choose the most common, one with a standard length shaft. With a standard length shaft, the drive shaft on the prop itself, will be in line with the keel of the Viking. This means that approximately one half of the prop will be rotating below the canoe hull, enabling the Viking to work efficiently in very shallow waters even with the motor. Most canoes when using the same motor will be digging up mud about a foot below the canoe. This eliminates most canoe designs from using a motor and fishing or duck hunting in shallow lakes or ponds. The marine plywood is laminated and sealed within the transom for long life and durability.

• Mast Step: The designer after canoeing larger bodies of water soon realized the benefits of sailing. He began by using the canoe itself as a sail, then experimented with different makeshift sailing apparatuses. Finally designing a mast step for the floor of the Viking and a mast support in the forward suspended seat. Now when the wind was right, he could paddle to the side of the lake, locate a couple of poles and rig them With his sleeping bag or poncho, use his paddle as a rudder and sail without any sweat of paddling. The company at present does not manufacture sail rigging, but many sail board manufactures rigging will work on the Viking. The designer now carries a mast and boom to hoist a main sail and jib totaling 90 square feet. Most canoe manufactures, if they recommend sailing at all, only recommend about 35 square feet of sail. This give you some idea of the stability of the Viking.

• Outrigger: The outrigger is a later addition to the Viking. It came about when a lady wanted to cross the Atlantic in a Viking Canoe, so the designer had a ball creating his most perfect outfit which included the first outrigger. Since that time an outrigger has been designed and put on the market. Once it is used on the Viking, no matter how good the canoer is, will rarely want to go canoeing anywhere without it, es- pecially if he has a family. As far as paddling, you hardly know it's there. The outrigger is extendible as much as four feet from the mid section of the canoe or as close as several inches, and can be used on either side. It is designed to merely skip on the surface of the water unless the canoe is heavily laden. It acts somewhat as a rudder when sailing and aids when coming about against the outrigger when sailing.
  There is a trampoline that comes with it, which is actual trampoline material for long life in the out-of-doors. It is tightly laced across the top of the outrigger spars. You can lay out on it, climb in and out of the canoe from it, and load extra gear on it on extended trips. It adds tremendous stability to the Viking and the designer now recommends it for all canoeing . Its great on those extended trips.

• Portage Yoke: The Viking carrying yoke is built into the center suspended seat. The Viking is heavier than most 16 Ft. canoes and is not as easy to portage with the yoke. However, it does come in handy when there is only one person to load and unload the canoe. In the old days, the carrying yoke was just that, only a carrying yoke, but people sat on it and with heavier people, the yokes kept breaking. So the designer decided to make the yoke a seat with a yoke in it. Now they never break, and the seat/yoke is removable and easily replaceable, but at this point one has never broken. There is sometimes when it can be an advantage to remove the center seat/yoke, especially on extended sailing trips.

• Removable Seats: There is times when it would have been nice to remove the Viking seats. When sleeping in the Viking at sea on extended trips, etc. An example, one time, at night in the Boundary Area of Canada and the United States, the designer was bothered one time by a bear and could not sleep, so he to paddled out into the lake, anchored and slept in the canoe that night. So now the seats are removable, and its a little tight for two people, but it can be done. The seats are bolted with stainless steel bolts and nuts. Now when using the outrigger, you can remove one or more seats, enabling your party to sit lower in the canoe for better stability. Also if one of the seats are damaged, which has not happened as yet, you can replace them.

• Weight/Carrying capacity: The Viking is heavier than most sixteen foot canoes, 80-90 lbs. Actually if you removed all the extra features, and reduced the shape and volume to that of most 16 foot canoes, the Viking would probably be lighter. But the designer likes to carry good size loads, that's why he designed it to carry a maximum of 1000 pounds. He wanted it to have enough flotation to save him and his parties lives for extended times if necessary, that's why there is 3.5 cubic feet of flotation instead of a foot, if any, which adds additional weight.
  Then there is the keel, he felt it was necessary for safety through better control. There is the five seating locations, because the designer had eight children. Oh yes, there is the additional Flared Gunwales, to help keep everyone high and dry, and safe.
  By the way, most canoes that carry 1000 pounds are 18 to 20 feet long and are not controllable by one paddler, plus they weigh in the area of 125 to 165 pounds. Anyway the lady who was crossing the Atlantic had 1886 pounds in her Viking plus her and her partners weight. We lied, the Viking actually can carry more than 1000 pounds, we just don't recommend it.

• Size: The Viking is 16 feet long which permits the Viking to cross most all inland waterways. Craft less than 16 feet on some bodies of water are only allowed to participate near the shore, they are not per- mitted to go across the body of water.
  The Viking is 15 inches deep at midship, 26 inches at the bow, and 24 inches at the stern. The Viking is 38 inches at the widest inside width, but 42 inches from outside gunwale to outside gunwale.

• Tow holes: There are actually two different tow areas on the Viking. One is the hole at the top of the bow. This can be used for light towing, but is primarily used for tying the canoe on top of vehicles and to the shore.
  There is another tow hole provided, but not drilled. This hole is to be drilled for those who need this type of a tow hole. The drill spot in the bow is just below half way from the top of the canoe to the bottom of the canoe and in two inches from the sharp bow. This area has been especially reinforced with metal and has been designed for high-speed towing. There are sailing yachts which normally throw their dingy over the side and tow it for more room in the yacht. Many of these people have found that the Viking is much better and safer than the dingy type of water craft. Plus the Viking tows like it not there from this lower towing spot. DO NOT TOW AT HIGH SPEED FROM THE UPPER TOW HOLE! From this hole the bow is normally forced down, causing the Viking to twist and turn, and capsize and damage can occur.

All Vikings are produced in a hand laminated fiberglass, deck and hull method. This provides an extremely rugged, durable canoe. Fiberglass is still the most preferred method by the inventor for many reasons some of which follow:

1. The hand laminated fiberglass method produces a much more rigid product.
2. Provides greater safety in rough situations.
3. With a rigid hull the performance is greater for the energy expended.
4. Provides for better reinforcement in critical areas of the hull.
5. Retains its color longer.
6. Overall life of the canoe is much greater (15 to 30 years is not unusual.)
7. Provides for a more sleek and racy design which cannot be accomplished in other manufacturing methods.
8. With fiberglass they are totally patchable and repairable.
9. Fiberglass is durable, but at the some time flexible and will recover to its original shape.

We thank you for considering our Viking Explorer Canoe, and look forward to building a Viking for you
and your family. Come join us as we Re-discover America with a Viking.
Respectfully,

K. Duane Erickson

1986 Viking with outrigger at local city lake. Come and try one out!

My prize camera had joined the thousands of objects lost in the river from similar experiences. I wondered many times, if it was just me, was I just a klutz, or was it the canoe. I felt I was pretty capable, after all I had been raised on a farm, broke my own horses, became a national Champion archer, and a few other accomplishments which I felt required some skill.

Time went by, I hadn't given up on the canoe idea, and in my travels I tried to become more aware of the different canoe designs. After purchasing some different designs which I had determined were more stable, I finally decided that if I wanted a canoe that I could really depend on I'd have to build it. It seemed to me, that all other designs I had come across, appeared to be copies of one another.

Well I went head long into the canoe designing and building business. At first, my prized possession that I was trying to protect was my camera. Then as the years went by it was my eight children as they came along, after all they went on a majority of my trips, even as babies.

My designs adapted to fit their needs and desires. I had to physically prove the designs in the different water situations before I could promote and use the canoes in these different conditions. This is what took me on my trips both up and down the Colorado River, the Green River which is actually larger than the Colorado here in Utah before they merge. The San Juan, told by the government that it was not canoeable. Up the Inland Passage toward Alaska, down the Sea of Cortez, in Mexico. Many places on the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, up the upper Mississippi, on Archaeological exploration trips in the rivers of Central America. On one sailing trip on the Great Salt Lake, I and my friend who had never canoed or sailed before joined me with a sailing club of 70 or 80 larger sailing boats. The wind was so bad that no sail boat dared venture into the storm. We whipped up the sails and were the only ones to have a great time. I had learned earlier, that when I could see the dark windy skies over the Great Salt Lake from my office, that there probably was enough wind to have a great sailing day, and I'd head for the lake.

I have not designed or built the Viking to be competitive in price with other canoes. I had learned that it was not the size of the craft that made it safe, but the design. I wanted a boat that could be used in any waters and that could be handled by one person if necessary. I had learned that I liked to carry a considerable amount of cargo on my extended trips, but when necessary, I had to be able to carry the canoe by myself.

There are many fine inexpensive canoes available for specific types of canoeing on the market. I know I did not start at the so-called top when I started. But I know, if safety is your concern, if versatility is your concern, if you would like a canoe you can count on in the rough situations both in and out of the water and one which will last, then in the long run it may be cheaper and better to consider our Viking.

Over the years, several have told me that my canoe, as they looked at me in a very serious way, had saved their lives. If this is true, and I don't doubt them, then all my twenty some years of design and redesign through trial and error has not been in vain.

My operation is small, its more of a hobby business. A product which grew to fill my needs, and it appears a few other peoples needs also. To date I have only sold about 2,500 Vikings over the years, most are still in service. People have come from as far as South Africa, Brazil, all over the US and Canada to get a Viking, and now through the Internet inquiries are coming from all over the world.

If I were to enlarge on the business, it would be by setting up several select sub-manufacturing locations spread out across the United States and Canada where the Vikings could be produced and offered using a cooperative advertising method to make it more affordable. I will not sell them through stores or dealers; the salesman can not do justice to the product.

Duane

Return to Home Page