driving on the rooftop

Thanks to Carrie Medina of Kayak Scuba we had a great time on the beach at Punta Salinas in Levittown. I had my first chance to look at how my Alaw Bach survived the trip and sad to see a small bit of damage to the gelcoat in the tail section. The boys at American Airlines must have dropped something pretty heavy on it. Luckily it did not break through the glass and I could make a quick repair. With that done Taino and I took our kayaks out for their first dip in the warm Atlantic waters. Playing in up for the cameras and occasionally catching glimpses of the coastline disappearing into the distant west.

The Best Laid Plans - CTA - Day 2

Tonight I’m sitting in the wet blanked humidity of San Juan, Puerto Rico. I arrived in the airport last night around 8:30 pm with my Rockpool in tow. My next task was to get my Kayak out to the Avis shuttle bus. A task almost impossible considering I had my backpack, laptop and 3 large 50lbs sea kayak slices to carry. A man in his nice Airport customer service uniform came up to me with a wheel cart and offered his help. Something I was happy to have. It was not until I realized that his flip remark about a 2$ tip that I realized the first rule of PR for the foreign traveler is. Be prepared to tip. I was not that I minded the money for his help, only that I did not expect to tip airline employees.

It begins - CTA

Lost in crowded hallways feeling the weight of my heavy bags I strolled down to Gate 11B. It had been a crazy sort of morning. One where I woke up resigned to be a bit late since my prescription medication was forgotten the day before. The pharmacy opened at 9am. So by the time I got my drugs I would be pushing check in when I got to Chicago. I was barley awake, having stayed up to 3am the night before, and for some reason it was a relief when I was told the pharmacy opened at 11am on Sunday. That meant, well, I was going to be to the airport early. I will have to work out the prescriptions, when I get to PR.

this is the life - Last post from home

Maybe you’ll go to heaven
See Uncle Al and Uncle Lou
Maybe you’ll be reincarnated
Maybe that stuff’s true
If you were good
Maybe you’ll come back as someone nice
And if you were bad
Maybe you’ll have to pay the priceLife’ll kill ya
That’s what I said
Life’ll kill ya
Then you’ll be dead
Life’ll find ya
Wherever you go
Requiescat in pace
That’s all she wrote
- warren zevon

how to get a kayak from the airport - a short tale

well, I did get on the lake just before dark yesterday. There was no way my moody boat was going to PR without a dip in it’s home lake first. A ceremony that every kayak I’ve ever had has gone through. They must touch the water the very day they come home.

The drive to Chicago was a bit hairy. We had torrential rains for quite some time. Wisconsin is in a hard drought right now due to our friend El Niño sending our rain to Texas instead. It would figure that the day I drive to Chicago, we get soaked.

Mood Ring

Mike Webb at Rockpool just totally out did himself with my new moody Alaw Bach. Amazing Mike, truly amazing!!! Now when I finally was able to pick it up, I peeled back a little corner and went “OH NO! It’s Blue!!!”. For you guys who don’t follow everyday I have a thing with blue boats. But what I didn’t know was that my Alaw Back is a “mood boat”. It changes colors. One minute it’s bright blue, and then with a change of light it’s deep purple. Wild. Wild. Wild.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story. But it’s 2am now, and I need to sleep. Wow, what an exciting and draining day this has been!

yo! ho! ho! and a bottle of stickly gluey stuff

The life I’ve always wanted
I guess I’ll never have
I’ll be working for somebody else
Until I’m in my grave
I’ll be dreaming of a live of ease
And mountains
Oh mountains o’ things
- tracy chapman

There are always a couple rules worth mentioning. First, there is always something else to buy. Second if you are providing services to a guy who writes about it . . . well, something is bound to go haywire! LOL!On the first point I ran to Rutabaga & REI last night to finish up some last minute things. a bit of foam, D-rings and adhesives to do some last minute customization. I replaced my GPS which had died. Sorry Garmin, but your quality control is really in the dumper. Anyway there are reasons to pay the extra $30 for extended warranties. In addition I needed a new emergency becon, some freeze dried meals, a new water filter and all sorts of other little bits and bobs. Of course the best part of my shopping day was having Darren K at Rutabaga introduce me to the term “Monkey Butt”. A condition that apparently calls for repeated applications of Gold Bond who’s new tag line is “Powder your Equipment!”