Theres always something happening
And its usually quite loud
– madness

Alright. It’s 5am and we’re about 7 hours away from launch. The plan is to be pulling out of the driveway at noon today for the 3 hour trip up to Point Beach State Park near Two Rivers, Wisconsin. All that big stuff that you always remember to pack, is packed. Today we have to remember all the things you always forget. You know.. the stuff you find out later you really, really needed and should have never forgotten in the first place. Oh and by the way, our title today is the chord progression from the song “Our House” by the 80′s band, “Madness” which just happens to be appropriate this morning…

A Scotland Thank You!

The guys at P&H Sea Kayaks offered to help us get boats and gear to Glasgow. That’s really great of them.  Sometimes the most helpful thing a company can do to support a paddling trip is to provide some assistance with logistics. Yeah, I know it’s all for Kelly but I’m happy to reap the benefit of walking in the shadow of his reflected glory.. (most of the time…) Anyway, Thank you!

A Note To Whomever Manufactures Jeeps in the Future…

Would you look at this! The 3rd gen Jeep Grand Cherokee is longer and wider than previous versions. However, the roof rack is shorter and harder to reach from front or back. As you can see from the picture, the saddles have to be much closer together and the front of the sea kayaks are hanging out there for miles without support. I noted the saddle points with yellow. Dear Jeep dudes.. don’t forget paddlers use these things too!!!  One up side to the new Jeep is that I can open the sun-roof to tie on the center boat. No more foot prints and gravel scratches on the hood.

Fox Hill Auto Body

Thanks so much Tom!! $62.00 and my Rockpool Alaw Bach is back in the pink… It’s heavier, but it’s tough. Tom ended up calling other folks in the field of auto body repair and found a 3m adhesive that is used by corvette shop to basically weld busted fiberglass fenders back together. He pulled the whole right side combing back off, cleaned it and used the new adhesive. Then for added measure he put in small stainless steel rivets to stop the shearing. Then he sealed the whole thing back up a second time with another rock hard sealant so it wouldn’t leak. When he put it on the floor of his shop and started putting his weight on the combing to demonstrate the strength I about howled in fear.. but it held. He says he’d be shocked if the combing let go again. Well, never say never.. but I’m friggin’ excited to have my rocket back in sea worthy order!

Go to the Experts

Speaking of experts I talked to the guys at a local climbing shop yesterday about carabiners. I’m putting together a new contact tow. Clip on one side, carabiner on the other. They gave me a crash course in carabiner strength and reliability. I was told to get a slightly large wire gate version that would make it easy to manage with one hand and would not easily come off. Made total sense. Apparently while some gate styles are stronger than a wire gate, they are also prone to “gate flutter” which means under the right conditions the gate could open. Next time I’m going to ask them about a good ice axe!

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Well, gotta run.. need to find my GPS, put my pills in my backpack, put together a bike rack, find my headlamps, grab cameras, chargers, batteries, lenses, paddles, snacks, jackets, shoes, cell phone, wallet…. Oh, and I’ll be twittering away as I can from the trip IF you want to check in. If you don’t have a twitter account just check in on the homepage of this site.

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