Kanotisten.com

Fick mail om intressant fynd av en VKV Anita som var på Japan expeditionen 1966. Anitan i trä är en klassiker som börjat kosta pengar begagnade. Skulle tro att man får ge mellan 12-25 000kr om de är i bra skick. Kan dock vara svårt att hitta fina exemplar. Kul att Nigel planerar att renovera kajaken.

Hello Bengt
I have been given your name that you are interested in old canoes and kayaks. I have recently purchased a VKV Anita K2 which was used on the 1966 1600km Dartmouth/Ledyard Inland Sea to Tokyo kayak expedition lead by Dan Dimancescu. It had been stored in a barn by the York Sea Cadets for over 30 years and I bought it for the equivalent of $US75 on ebay! There were 4 members of the team who were students at Cambridge University, Timothy Barnes, John Dalton, Richard Bowring and Anthony Stapleton and the other 6 paddlers were from Dartmouth College in the USA. The port side bow has Japanese script which was painted onto the bow of my kayak by one of the paddlers, Richard Bowring. The name in Japanese is Akiba and it means Autumn Leaf. The expedition was sponsored by Senator Robert Kennedy and National Geographic Magazine which ran a 50 page lead article with front cover in the Sep 1967 issue, and who commissioned the 5 kayaks from Vitudden`s Kanotvarv. I have contacted VKV and Ingvar is going to try to sort out a new seat and the rudder for me. I have also been in touch with Richard Bowring and he has confirmed that this was indeed the kayak which he paddled, with one of the Americans Tom Seymour. I thought that the discovery of this historic kayak might be of interest to you. Here is a link to my photos of the Anita K2

Best wishes
Nigel Shuttleworth
WCHA UK Chapter Administrator /Wooden Canoe Heritage Association