Archive for November, 2005

In the summer you run around looking like hell. You’re soaking wet in various states of dress. You may wear shoes, but often you wear bedroom slippers or crocks. Sand is flaking off your forehead as your sunscreen evaporates, putting little scratches in your sunglasses and getting in your eyes. Your neoprene smells, everything else has holes. The stuff with holes you wear to the grocery store. You’re nails are chipped and your muscles ache, but you hardly notice as you crawl into bed. Blacking out has nothing to do with the symmetry of a bottle of Jameson. It’s fun to wake up and look out the window. Your kayak is still on the car.In the winter, you blow dry your hair.

*P.S. Best Wishes To Ginni. . .and her new love!

So…please hold my hand
As we blundre through the maze
And remember
Nothing can grow without rain – watersOk, so we’re going to wander off again today. Not that wandering off is not expected now and again. Bonnie over at “Frogma” has “tagged” me. So I need to answer some questions.
Five yummy things:
* Food is survival. I tend to find sensuality in non-food related activity. That being said. .

1. Pizza
2. anything with Jalapenos
3. true French Beaujolais
4. tator tots
5. Vanilla Cappuccino

Five songs I know by heart:
* I think I know a thousand or more by heart. So here’s me throwing darts. .

1. Inch Worm – Danny kaye
2. Isolation – John Lennon
3. Sexual Revolution – Roger Waters
4. Peace Train – Cat Stevens
5. Pure Imagination – (original Willie Wanka Soundtrack)

Five things I would do with a lot of money:

1. Buy an island
2. fly in my friends
3. throw a party
4. buy breakfast in the morning
5. Order my new NDK explorer with my Fantasy Gelcoat paint-job.

Five places I would like to escape to:

1. Anywhere with a fireplace
2. india
3. wales
3. new zealand
5. that little nook under the stairs

Five things I would never wear:

1. Hats with logos & phrases
2. Wal-Mart logo wear
3. muscle shirts
4. Speedos
5. perfume

Five favorite TV shows:

1. Keeping Up Appearances
2. Dr. Who (w/Tom Baker)
3. Good Neighbours
4. Are You Being Served
5. X-files
(I also don’t watch TV much anymore)

Five things I enjoy doing:

1. getting lit and passing out on a beach
2. None of you’re flippin’ business. .
3. walking, paddling, existing in a rain storm
4. feeling wind
5. ah. . kayaking??

Five Favorite toys:
* my warhorse can’t be a toy. It’s saved me too many times. .

1. my new WW boat
2. all my cameras
3. All my audio/video gear
4. my computer
5. my jeep

So. . . did I do that right??

Who’s next? Wenley??

I have to say, I enjoyed reading this conversation
from some UK surfers. . .“youve got to be f…. kidding . . . canoeists are the scum of the f… earth and should not be given any credibilty from anyone in there right mind”

“everyone to there own …everyone to there own”

“bollox to that ….!!! canoeists ? arre you serious? didnt say that to hitler did they!!! i’d rather be bummed by a body boarder”

“the vast majority of goat boaters dont seem to have a fuggin clue about surf etiquette and sea safety…which is surprising cos it seems like quiet a technical sport..”

“years ago back in the day one of the plymouth heavies sparked a canoeist clean out in the lineup for being an ignorant bastard, got washed to the beach and didnt come back ! bit hard core but vaery funnny story”

“He’s right you know, I’ve yet to meet a decent one, seriously. Just the other day at ….. I took off on a double overhead left only to be faded by this helmeted t…t. So bloody dangerous. Tolerence for other forms of waveriding is one thing, but these guys burnt all of their bridges long ago imo. Anyway, this subject is tired, anyone want a biscuit?”

Hey Guys, I know the feeling. . .

-d

The trees stirred the sky today
Their black boney witch fingers stabbed
the corroded chrome blue clouds
as they passed on overheadGhosts of spring played hide and seek while
dancing oak leaves marked their passing
Branches grabbed at the haunted air
Handbell voices whispered and slithered
like an icy fog along the forest floor

I glanced at the sky as my feet shuffled
stones and acorns snapped like old bones
under my feet

Leaves hissed above my twisting hair
canting spirits of dead birds
flocking from tree to tree as the wind
ushered them along

The trees stirred the sky today
Then it began to rain

-d

Down by the harbourside
A boat is fastened by a length of rope.
It was a perfect match,
Dreaming of escape,
Feeling almost detached.
Look beneath the waves -
The seabirds diving down into black water. – costelloIt’s the end of November. We’re here in central Wisconsin. How weird then to be woken up in the night by loud thunder and constant lighting? How much weirder when you had just watched the remake of War of the Worlds before turning in? Then to add to the moment, the barren branches scraping at the bedroom window fill you with the urge to get up and turn on a light. Funny, you’d think that urge would go away by the time you reach 40.

As I was putting the little snow gallery together I realized I had that “toggle shot” I’d been wanting to get. Why would I want a picture of my rear toggle you may well ask? Well, although it is true that not much out there could be more boring than a rear kayak toggle; (except maybe Canadian boilers) I wanted to write about it!

When teaching a basic kayak course, one of the things we always mention is to never put your fingers between the toggle loop when lifting the kayak. Good plan if you don’t want to risk breaking a finger. Another way you may use a toggle is to quickly tow a swimmer back to shore or over to their kayak. Now, I’m not sure I want someone dangling by a toggle, but it is an option there may be ocassions to do it. Personally I’d rather have them up on my nose where I can see them, but that’s a different post altogether. The point is, if the water is a bit bouncy the toggle is going to twist all over the place and again a finger through the loop is going to end up dislocated or broken. So a quick solution I learned from Sam Crowley, who is our areas Uber ACA IT; is to just cut the loop and re-tie it with a single bit of line. A very elegant solution.

This worked out fine and dandy until I went to put the rear tie-down on my boat. I suddenly couldn’t just put the hook through the loop and be off. I was stumped at first. This called for a another creative moment and you can see my answer in the picture. I just put a loop through one end, then ran it through the boat and then to the toggle. Now I can slip the loop down to attach the tie-down. You’d be amazed how long it took me to figure that one out. (Well, maybe you wouldn’t be.)

This little set up seems not to wear any more than a normal toggle. However, I do change my toggle ropes each spring and have on occasion changed them twice in a year. I check them often which is a good habit to get into. You should look for fraying where the rope rubs against the boat. They can just rot over time as well snap for seemingly no reason. Snapping an old toggle rope portends bad things for your boat. Only skip this maintenance check if;

A.) you’re itchin’ to learn fiberglass repair, ANDB.) your feet are out of the way.

-d

I’m lost at sea
Don’t bother me
I’ve lost my way
I’ve lost my way – radioheadI must admit it. Each time a read another dispatch from the South Georgia team I feel a bit of envy. Well, not necessarily the “getting rolled in monster waves” part. Oh, well. . Ok even that a little bit. Yeah, it’s the crazy bit in me. I envy the world they get to see around them, and maybe most of all I envy the profound experience. You know they can’t be quite the same when they return. Lucky Bas%*^ds!!

Sitting here in the middle of Wisconsin on the day after Thanksgiving, mother earth offered me a small gift in the form of a fast moving snow storm. By early afternoon the roads were covered and the distant bluffs were lost in a veil of falling snow. By now I’m sure you know what I do when the weather turns foul. . I loaded up my warhorse and raced out to our local lake.

The heavy snow came in fits and starts as I paddled out into the lake. The small lagoon was frozen over so I had to carry the boat down to the shoreline. The water along the shore was covered with a slushly gelatin that stuck to everything and encased my boots as I walked out into the water. I launched upon the black lake and faded into the the silence that only a snowstorm can bring. At times I could see right across the lake and then suddenly I’d be lucky to see the tip of my boat. It was not long before my deck was covered in snow and ice. My GP became frozen to the deck just as my beard was becoming frozen to my face. Layers of ice quickly built up on my paddle adding weight with each stroke. I paddled along the western shore where the glacial talus drops into the water and discoverd all sorts of interesting ice formations along the way. I roamed around aimlessly for an hour or so and by 4 o’clock the world was turning dark blue under the weight of the racing clouds. My fingers began to scream out from beneath my frozen gloves and I knew it was getting time to head back to shore. No events to mention, no wildlife to see, no monster waves to roll me in the frigid water, just a couple hours paddling on a calm snow-filled day. And that’s pretty cool too.

. . . and some pictures. (top gallery called “snow day”)

- d

In the purple light of early morning, the kitchen tables and counters give the impression of a devistated 1945 European skyline. Shadowed curves and lines are stacked precariously at various heights and angles fading into the un-focused distance. There will be a lot of cleaning today.Since the wee hours of morning millions of human beings have been running through crowded streets and brawling in Wal-marts as is our annual rite. Christmas in America is upon us. Often it feels like the traditions of the holidays have faded like the watercolor mats of a Charlie Brown special. I wish we could be a bit better.

Luckily I know there are wonderful people in this world. I’m happy to know a few of you. So let me keep a very old tradition and wish you a joyful holiday season. I don’t think I’m up to the new ones.

d