alaska series tender color

I

islandlady

New member
We are ordering a tender and thought we wanted Kodak Yellow like on Lori Ann. Jim King has responded and said that Kodak Yellow doesn't have UV protection and has substituted Yellow. apparently they are different fabrics. I don't see anything on the website about different colors/fabrics and UV protection.

Not sure what to do.

We have a white 22 cruiser with black trim and could go many ways. Our second choice is gray and third choice white.

Any input?

Thanks,

Pamela and Steve Van Vleet
Salish C
 
Dated a girl once who also could go many ways. Can't remember what color her dinghy was but I don't think it was yellow.
 
I have an alaska series 240 tender. I've had the following issues with it.

1. Wouldn't hold air. Valves leaked. Jim did fix it.
2. Fitting on end of inflation hose broke off in one of the valves. I think they use a different fitting now.
3. They don't like to be towed much over an idle. Flat bottom causes them to get squirrley.

Advantages are they are light, I can pull it out of the water from the bow of my boat by myself and put it on the roof. And they seem to be pretty tuff. If I was to buy another alaska series it would be the Seward sport boat series.
By the way....Gray goes with anything.
 
Although I do have a white inflatable currently, I prefer gray. The yellow is certainly more visiable, and that is a plus--for a life raft. The white shows dirt far more easily than the gray. Avon used to make all of their boats in black (way back)--and they had more expansion problems due to heating up the air in the hull.
 
Because of the uncertainty of the yellow, we requested to change to gray. We are waiting to hear from IMC, the dealer re: whether it is possible to still change the color. Apparently Jim King needed to contact the factory and we may have an answer today. So..... we will either have a gray one or a yellow one.
 
Doryman":rjg5s5vs said:
First I've heard about the UV issue in Kodak Yellow. Jim did not mention that to me back in 2007.
Click to expand...

I followed up with Jim about this and am posting primarily for posterior :shock: since he no longer offers the Kodak Yellow boats.

Jim told me that it is not the case that the Kodak Yellow has no UV. The Kodak Yellow does have UV protection, but it came from another fabric supplier, one that did not have the track record that the supplier of all his other fabrics did. He dropped the Kodak Yellow so that all of his boats would be made with the same fabric. After getting this explanation, I am comfortable with my choice. The fabric used for the Kodak Yellow boats is high quality. My analogy (not Jim's) would be like Sunbrella and its competitors. Sunbrella is the brand name. The others may be equally good but they have not been around as long. All that said, I probably would have chosen another fabric if I had had this information then -- but it is moot now.

Warren
 
Yes, Jim followed up with me as well and gave me the same explanation of dropping Kodak Yellow because it was coming from a different source which did not have the track record yet that Mirisol fabric does. This was discovered after he changed his business to a factory from Korea to China, which took place several years ago.
I supposse Kodak Yellow should come off the website as a color option. This would have simplified my process.
In the end, Jim and IMC have been great and did get our order changed to Light Gray...we will play it safe with a known color!
 
I want to make sure that everyone has the accurate information regarding Jim King's Alaska Series boats. The information I previously shared about Kodak Yellow having no UV protection was given to me by someone who may not have shared all the correct information with me or at least, not the whole story. In fact, now I have found that Jim's decision to stop offering Kodak Yellow is more accurately based on his desire to continue offering a quality product. That is exactly why we have decided to purchase an Alaska Series.

When I left a message on C-Brats, I was hoping for advice on another color option since I wasn't sure I would be happy with Bright Yellow and I appreciate the comments on alternative color options. However, I hadn't anticipated that my comment would cause anyone to question the quality of the boats or the integrity of the company. I truly believe that you can trust his experience and reputation.

Below is the email that Jim sent to me and IMC. I think this should clear any confusion. In the meantime, we are anxiously awaiting our new AS tender in light gray. :thup

Pamela Van Vleet
Salish C


From Jim King:

"There seems to be a bit of confusion on the C-brats website about the Alaska Series colors.
I've already had several emails. This should clear up why I stopped offering the Kodak yellow and why I only offer the bright yellow that is produced by the Marisol fabric factory in Korea.

The Kodak Yellow was a color that was available through the Korean boat factory that was building my boats in 2007 and earlier.

During the process of moving my boat production from the Korean factory to the factory in China, I discovered that the Kodak yellow fabric was built by a different fabric company than Mirasol.

Mirasol fabric is well known for the UV stability in their PVC fabrics. I have also had very good experience with the Mirasol fabrics over the past 17 years. This is why I use only use Mirasol fabric in my boats built by my China factory and this is why I no longer offer the Kodak Yellow color.

The fabric factory that produces the Kodak yellow fabric is used by many Inflatable boat building factories. This fabric factory claims to be of equal quality to Mirasol but it does not have the 20 year track record that Mirasol has. I feel that boat fabric is one of those things proven over time. This is why I no longer offer the Kodak yellow fabric.

As we’ve talked about UV protection before. The very best UV protection is to use a boat cover when you’re Tender is setting atop your C-dory or exposed to long periods of sun exposure and not in use. West Marine seems to carry a nice selection of dinghy covers and they are priced very competitive.

I hope this clears things up and eases your mind. "

Jim King
 
Here's a few comments on inflatable boats:

First, in fabric boats (those with threads in the material), the fabric strength is measured by the weight of the thread used. Denier or Decitex(metric) is the unit of measure, not a type of fabric.

Next, The type of thread varies from Dacron (polyester) to Nylon. Alaska uses "Grizzly Hide" fabric.

Third, Alaska boats are coated with a "Plastomer that is a blend of plastic polymers, which include PVC, Polyurethane, UV inhibitors and others."

I assume that both the coating and fabric composition that Alaska uses (quotes above) are proprietary names, with the details left to the specific manufacturer.

I just want to bring out that PVC boats are great for northern climes, but deteriorate in southern climes, such as SoCal, Mexico and Florida. I saw a Zodiac disintegrate within a month in Mexico. In those places a Hypalon coating is best.

Certainly that is not a problem in the Pacific Northwest or Alaska, though Jim King does recommend a cover.

I hope this gives some rationale behind the fabric discussion above. Obviously Jim can't know how long a new fabric will last until it's been in use for some time. If it's not as promised, he's got a real problem as well as a lot of unhappy customers with melted yellow boats. China is cheaper, but it does have some risks.

Boris
 
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