inukshuk
May 19th, 2006 | 
Author: 
Ships in bottles cannot sail and neither can a tombstone kill a feather
Talisman, talisman grace my hand – backman-cummings
So here is my promised showing of RW’s new Valley Anas Acuta. Off hand it seems like there are a lot of them finding homes recently. I wonder if it’s just a biased impression, or maybe the growth of traditional kayaing bringing the Acuta back into vogue?? Gotta ask the guys at Valley.
Rowland provided shots of all his little customizations that we may want to steal, rip-off, nic, copy, or ignore completely!. . Hey, that seat layout looks familiar! You’ll notice among other things, he added wear pads at the points where the spare paddle would rub on the deck. There are a few different solutions out there. Rowland used motorbike tank protector film on the Rapier & Mini-cell strips on the Acuta. What I noticed right off was his little Inukshuk near the bow. He tells me that he’s talked to his Inukshuks in the past when the water got a bit lumpier than he was happy with. OK, now that is a most sensible recommendation in my book!! I’m installing an Inukshuk on all my boats. Maybe before Monday!!! Thanks Rowland. . .
* photos by rowland woolvan used by permission. Thanks!
Posted in 
Just to clarify one point – the paddle ‘anti-scratch’ pads on the AA are good old minicell strips. It’s the ones on the Rapier which are bike tank protector clear film (yes, they are there – on the rear deck – honest!). Didn’t want anything to detract from the colour scheme… The AA front splits holders are just gas tubing through which the bungee has been threaded – works well with GPs, but less well with euro splits – for which I use the tried and tested John Walpole tubes. One of the rear bungees on the AA has had the same treatment to catch the end of a GP storm paddle. The ‘near’end is easy to tuck under a standard bungee.
Hey,
I clarified that in the text too. Thanks for that!
Hi there. I just started my own kayak blog at TheKayakBlog.com. I liked your blog, so I added a link to it on my “blogroll”. My blog is brand new and doesn’t have much in it yet, but I plan to write a whole lot more. I would appreciate if you would consider adding a link to my blog on yours, or adding me to your “blogroll”. Thanks, and keep on blogging!
I’ve had an affinity for inuksuit also. A couple of years ago, my daughter and I made three different inuksuit on shore of Lake Superior in the Porcupine Mountains SP. My favorite one had sort of a surfer stance, pointing toward the Great Lake as if to say “Tha beach’s thataway, dude.” None of them lasted longer than ten minutes after we left tho…kids. They are/were a wonderful medium of communication, and it’s neat to read about their sign language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk
Jim
Beautiful Boat!
Funny you mention Wapole’s paddle holders… I’m trying to locate a local (WI) source for this black ABS plumbing. I tried the white plastic ones from the local hardware store and although 1-1/2″ is the standard size, they are about 1/8″ too small I.D. for my paddles. Any locals have a lead on this?
Is having the Inukshuk on your kayak like the old superstition that having a naked woman on board ship will calm the sea? Call me Eurocentric but I’d rather have the naked woman!
That’s what doubles are for…..!
))
How is that piece of minicell working out for you…. I can’t imagine too many people being excessively pleased with the standard back band but I have seen more and more minicell back pads…. I would love some feedback!