Everybody seems to think I’m lazy
I don’t mind, I think they’re crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find, there’s no need – LennonIf I don’t look out the window and just concentrate on the feel of morning sun across my cheek, it could very well be summer. I’ve got Bob Marley on the stereo and the scent of sandalwood is floating around my room. I was just thinking about how I could store my Pyranha boat right here in the office where I can see it. It will look so nice in the corner under my map of Antarctica and next to my Greenland Paddle. I think I’ve got the spectrum (and the globe) covered. But then I got distracted and started typing. In the end, I did look out the window. I should shovel the driveway today. .

The Christmas season always reminds me how “techie” I’ve become. I work online. I do almost 100% of my shopping online. I go online to read the news. I visit with & meet new friends. I even take advantage of the net to stay in touch with past kayak students. All very cool stuff. I can’t bring myself to read a book online however, and I’ve really tried. Oh well, Poe really should be dog-eared.

Another reason I was thinking about the “techie” me was that I spent the wee hours of the morning rolling an email to deal with a very irritating customer service issue. Why do we always have to battle companies just to get them to do what they say they’re going to do? Oh, never mind, I won’t bother you with the details. . . (yet) Let me tell you about a good experience instead;

Many of you know we have been working on getting a brand new Valley Anas Acuta. Ordering our new baby was really starting to take a long time. We were fiddling with customizations like kids in a candy store. (Hey, if you’re going to order a brand new kayak you want to fiddle.) I think the poor people at Great River Outfitters where starting to get their notes crossed. Luckily Andy K. jumped in. It took a few emails before I realized he was the same “Andy” that I had paddled with in Michigan in the spring. You can see Andy in floating around in the Michigan section of This Is The Sea II by the way. He helped me through all the ins and outs of ordering a custom boat through Valley. Not that he said it, but I’m thinking there is a rule about faxing Nottingham during “elevensies”.

We found out quickly that we could not get the custom “paint” job we had wanted. I’m sure we could get that done locally if we chose but in the end it was not the biggest issue. The picture for today’s post gives you a very good idea of what the new boat will look like.

On the up side I was able to get the old “rope” style skeg. Most newer kayaks now come with some sort of wired system that runs through the hull and is controlled just in front of the cockpit. However, there have been some issues with these modern systems. Some people have experienced the wire cables binding up on them which really sucks when you need you’re skeg. Another reason to check all you’re gear before you launch! In addition placing the skeg control in front of the cockpit often creates a nice big knobby bit right where you’re knee goes. (At least for us vertically challenged types). So putting in a now old-fashioned rope skeg eliminates the issues and makes for easy repairs in the field or on the water as the case may be.

We also thought about a foot pump. The trouble here is that in a low volume boat with an ocean cockpit the tube would be right in the way when sliding into the boat. So we decided against that as well.

Another toy we thought about was a compass. But as you know, a Greenland boat never gets far enough from shore to need a compass!! (ok now, don’t get offended. . .)

Now that everything is worked out and the final order has been sent to Nottingham, we’re now waiting cross-legged for the next four months. We should be able to pick up our new Anas Acuta at Canoecopia in Madison. Like we needed any more encouragement to attend one of the biggest Canoe/Kayak retail events in the country. Yeah, and I’ll probably be working the event as well. One thing is for sure, as soon as we can escape we’ll be off right to launch into any open water we can find.

- d

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