So here’s a picture from Penrhyn Mawr that I don’t think I’ve shown you before. If you look closely I think that’s Justine up by the rocks on the left. The photo was taken by Axel Schoevers and does give you some perspective of the size of everything. Which is really hard to do by the way. But the main reason for showing you this picture today is that I talked to Mike at Rockpool by email and it sounds like my baby was getting chopped into sections and will be ready any day now. I’m sweating bullets waiting to see how it turned out as I really did give poor Mike some funky design ideas. Some could be done, and others could not. But I can’t say enough how much I appreciate the work he’s done for me. I’m totally indebted.

Someone said to me recently that the Alaw Bach is not an expedition boat. Ok. We’ll, I heard once that a Greenland paddle is not an expedition paddle either. Tell that to Greg Stamer who is currently trucking around Iceland with one. Or the thousands of Inuit who used them for centuries. Get real! Some people just love to tell you why what you are doing is wrong, just to show what experts they are. Usually these are they guys who noodle around some swamp somewhere and are the first to duck out when the waves show up.

For what it’s worth the Alaw Bach is a lower volume kayak, much like an NDK Romany. No, you’re not going to haul weeks of gear, but on the other hand you will find very few kayaks that can handle the rough stuff as well as the Rockpools. Rough water is in their bloodline. These days we have so many good choices in kayaks. Many of them are great boats. But my personal taste is for something a bit smaller and speed is important, but not as important as keeping me safe and handling well in rough conditions. And of course for my Puerto Rico trip coming up in 33 days. . . there are plenty of places to stop and resupply. If I was going to the arctic, I’d me be taking my Explorer, or maybe a Menai. But in the end it’s all about personal comfort, skill and choice.

I really get peeved by those self-appointed experts and their infernal tongue wagging. New kayakers are often victims of these judgmental types. Hey dudes, SHUT UP! We are all learning, and these novice paddlers can use your knowledge but not your self-inflated egos. I can’t tell you how many misconceptions students come to classes with that they got from some guy that has no business guiding others.

So what got me on this diatribe? Well, I saw another Rudder vrs Skeg argument going on. Blah, blah, blah. . . Gimmie a bloody break! It’s one thing to share the ups and downs of both. . but I can’t believe the long winded, algebra laden, discussions that try to make such a silly personal decision sound like a discussion of quantum physics. Talk about jumping in a black hole!

So my thought for the day is this; Spend more time on personal skills than worrying about gear. If your skills are there, everything else is just cake.