Receiving your new HUKI in a Sonatube

In order to make fast race quality boats composite materials such as fiberglass and carbon fiber are used. This construction method makes for a light and durable watercraft that performs very well on the water. One thing to note is that HUKI boats are made for being on the water. Todays shipping companies are about efficiency and cost effectiveness and not necessarily about quality of service and care for its packages. If HUKI boats were made for shipping to the 4 corners of the world then they would be filled with cement and rebar. Our best solution is to ship our boats in a Sonatube. A Sonatube is basically and oversized paper towell tube that protect the boat during transit.

When you receive your new HUKI in a Soantube you will need to following in order extricate your boat from the tube:

• A digital camera or cell phone camera for taking pictures of the condition of the tube before unpacking and the condition of the boat while on the premises of the warehouse.
• A philips screw driver (manual or electric) of the size that fits common dry wall screws, to remove about a dozen screws from the "perimeter" of the lid of the crate.
• Box cutter.
• Manual Drywall saw or small hand held wood saw or other powered wood saw.

Opening Sonatube Crate; remove all Philips screws from only one end of crate that hold the plywood plug in place, then pull the plywood plug out. Then slide the Canoe or Surfski out and begin cutting off the bubble wrap with the box cutter and scissors (careful not to scratch the canoe). Inspect the canoe or surfski for shipping damage before destroying or discarding the crate and bubble wrap.

If damage is minor, call me, document & photograph the damage to the boat and the crate, and then transport home to find a repair shop. If damage is severe and you doubt it can be repaired satisfactorily locally, call me, then repack the canoe or surfski as best you can, refasten the plywood plug to the end of the tube with the screws and refuse to accept the damaged product. Fill out a damage report, take lots of pictures and obtain a copy of the report. If no damage, proceed to disposing of the crate and packaging materials.

In order to reduce the size of the crate so as to fit it into the back of an SUV and later into a dumpster, you must cut it into 1 meter (3 feet) sections with a small hand held wood saw or with a power saw. The pressed paper board cuts quickly and easily. After creating short tubes or rings, then split each ring so that you can place one ring inside another, and then spread apart another ring to fit over those two rings, and so on until several rings are wrapped around each other. You can then place the whole thing into a medium sized dumpster when you get home.

If you discard the crates with the shipping company, sometimes there may be $50-$100 in disposal fees…PLEASE take the crates with you.

Enjoy your new HUKI!