COVID-19 Update
A message to the packrafting community about how we’re handling the pandemic.
Dear Packrafting Community,
If anything, 2020 has been a rollercoaster. Just as we started into March and early season packrafting in the Northern Hemisphere, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the US and Europe with full force. On March 16, we closed our factory to protect our employees, which turned into a mandatory 5-week closure by order of Colorado’s governor. During the downtime, we kept basic operations and utilized our manufacturing abilities to produce Tyvek gowns for local hospitals and health care workers.
We reopened our factory at the end of April, with significant safety precautions. Rather than having all employees working closely under one roof, we have spread everyone out to multiple buildings by converting office, conference room, and storage space to manufacturing. The result is a safer work environment for everyone, but slightly less efficiency for manufacturing. We have also closed our showroom for the remainder of 2020.
May brought the largest sales rush in our history by a wide margin. We are truly grateful and humbled by your support and we are working as hard as safely possible to get your boats made. However, the combination of higher than expected sales and less efficient manufacturing means your boats will take a little longer than we would like. We are doing our best to keep all lead times shorter than 8 weeks, with most boats shipping closer to 6 weeks. You can check our Current Lead Times page for more specific updates as your order moves through the system. Thank you for your patience! It will all be worth the wait when you get out on the water.
If you are needing repairs, retrofits, or warranty work, our repair department is open, but we are only accepting critical warranty and repair work. If you need minor repair work, our technicians are available to help you diagnose and fix the issue at home so you can get back out on the water right now and get your boat in for a professional repair when we are able to reopen more fully.
It is important to remember that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. We are so fortunate that packrafting is something we can do during the pandemic and carries a low risk of exposure and transmission. But remember to stay aware of the impacts you can have when traveling to go boating. Please follow all public health advisories on protecting yourself and others against spreading the virus. And respect the safety needs of every business and community you enter. They are putting their citizens and employees at risk to serve you.
Sincerely,
Thor
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Thor Tingey
CEO & Co-Owner, Aplacka Raft