Spring’s rush to life is all around us now. The trees filling out their summer suits, grass needing to be mowed, flowers and weeds filling every nook and cranny all the while the invasion of dandelions, wild mustard & honeysuckle squeeze out the native species before they have time to take hold. Meanwhile life rages forward as well. I think about those long late winter months when it seemed like a struggle to find things to write about and now when it seems there is always something going on that at least marginally is worth a few moments at the keyboard. . .

I’m working on my initial review of the Sealife Ecoshot. I’d hoped to have that done by now, but for fairness’s sake I needed a bit more time. There is much good to say about the little camera and a few little hang ups as well. Nothing is perfect, and most things are not all bad either. Expressing that middle road takes time.

My new Tamalpais from Ahnu are still holding up very well. I have a feeling they are going to get a really good final review from me once the summer ends. Other than they are taking on a new color from all the mud and muck I’m in, they do seem to be holding up quite well. Funny thing about shoes; You never think about them until you have a problem. No less than 3 people in the last two weeks have come up to talk to me about them. Each of them suffering “Teva” remorse. Now I’m not slagging on Teva. It’s probobly just coincidence, particular types, or whatever. Still I’ve not heard from anyone disappointed with another brand. . . YET!

As you can see from the picture, I’ve dug (literally) into my last major repair on my Rockpool Alaw Bach. This was the bad one. For what it’s worth, Epoxy is a great field repair however, when you get back home and want to clean it up, it may be too good. After putting new fiberglass matting under the damage, I went about removing the epoxy fill. This called for power tools. Sanding hardened expoy is like sanding a rock. Today is the day I finish off the final repairs.

Since my Rockpool was in surgery I took my old standby NDK Romany to teach at Rutabaga yesterday. What a tank! Yeah those old NDKs were heavy, but that was the point. Nigel Dennis and Friends have always known exactly what a kayak goes through in real world conditions and their layup took that into account. In the end though the market has been on a mad rush to shed pounds, pushed I’m sure by the US market which is dominated by sea kayaks impersonating rec boats. Even NDKs are getting thin these days which is a mixed blessing. Lighter is fine and dandy for dabbling around little lakes, but there is something to be said for a 100lb tank as well.  What do they call it these days?, “Expedition Layup”?  a bit like Coke Classic. . .

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