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Folbot Greenland II

rated 4.5 of 5 stars

Folbot is no longer in business, and the Greenland II has been discontinued. If you're looking for something new, check out the best folding kayaks for 2024.

photo: Folbot Greenland II folding kayak

Through a gator-infested river in Guatemala to Belize and north to the mighty St. Lawrence river of Ontario, Canada, the Greenland II never let me down.

Pros

  • Strong
  • Well designed
  • Trustworthy
  • Wonderful factory support with spare parts even after twenty years

Cons

  • With any skin-over-frame construction, beware of snags and sharp rocks

The Greenland II design always caught my attention. In the early nineties I called Folbot in South Carolina requesting a ready to ship two seater. The kind lady on the Folbot end stated that a blue Greenland II was indeed available. Two days later, I picked up the kayak at the Miami International Airport cargo area. The fine craft arrived with me in Guatemala that same evening.

The first order of business was to fabricate a comfortable backpack to carry the skin and rib assemblies of the foldable boat along with scant personal effects. The completed pack facilitated multiple adventures with friends and family on day trips and week long expeditions. I became adept with the assembly and disassembly within a couple of exciting uses.  

The dual cockpit kayak traveled very well in two bags, the pack that I fabricated and a second duffel to lug the aluminum frame members along with the stowable double paddles. Seeking a little gain in comfort, I later purchased two soft seat and back assemblies through Folbot which greatly improved my endurance on the water. After several day trips, I compiled a list of essentials and nonessentials (luxuries), to accompany me on a far flung idea for a future endeavor.

To shorten a longer story, the sophisticated little voyage maker carried me the length of the Motagua River in Guatemala with many sightings of gators, turtles, and snakes. Later it supported me on a multiple day jaunt from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, to Belize. That escapade cost me a night in jail in a forgotten small coastal village named Barranca, Belize. Lesser outings include the lakes and rivers of south Texas and ultimately the Adirondacks and that grand Saint Lawrence River of the fourth coast.

True she was, even after twenty years of hard use. My next vision on the water, to kayak from the lower locks of the Saint Lawrence through the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to Halifax, Nova Scotia. I'll need a new Greenland II to achieve this.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $2000

Seaworthy, faster than it looks, carries a boatload of cargo. And you could jump out of a helicopter with it disassembled.

Pros

  • Seaworthy
  • Faster than it looks
  • Carries a boatload of cargo

Cons

  • Heavy for portaging. If you plan to take this to the BWCA, you need some professional care for having thought that.

I live next to Lake Superior and paddle this boat solo on the lake whenever there’s open water available. (Personal record so far is an ambient air temperature of 10°F.) The first time I put it in the water, the hull speed was a pleasant surprise. My brain is incapable of imagining what it will take to capsize this boat.

I have owned three canoes plus a Klepper Aerius II, a CLC Chesapeake 17, a CLC Mill Creek 13 and an Old Town Next (so far …) The Greenland II is among my top two of all eight for paddling pleasure. With the addition of a Folbot sailing rig I bought later, it stands alone among all of them for versatility.

Source: bought it used
Price Paid: You would cry if I told you what I paid.

Stable, easy to assemble, durable, easy to paddle.

Pros

  • I can store it in my closet.
  • I can put it in the car, and it can have a sail so I don't have to paddle.
  • It moves easily to where I want to go.
  • Solid, we have not succeeded in tipping it.
  • Lots of gear room

Cons

  • You have to spend at least 20 min assembling.
  • For short people I'm 4'10", the seat is uncomfortable.
  • The storage bags are heavy, about 60 lbs.

We have had the Greenland 11 at least 5 years now. We have not used as much as we would like. We find that it is difficult to find put-in areas and to find out what kind of water we are dealing with.

We have had it out in the bays in Newfoundland, even in heavy wind we made good headway. We've paddled the St. John River at the height of Fredericton, NB, very successfully. 

It is a pleasure to steer. We've put in above the dam and had the sail on her and she is quite stable no hint of wanting to flip and she just flies above the waves. Wonderful boat. Now that we are retired we should get more use out of it.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: 2000

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Specs

Price MSRP: $2,399.00
Reviewers Paid: $2,000.00
Length 17 ft / 518 cm
Width 34 in / 86 cm
Weight 62 lb / 28 kg
Max payload 600 lb / 272 kg

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