Tripping Darkly
December 3rd, 2009 | 
Author: 
Nothing remains
We could run / when the rain slows / Look for the cars or signs of life / Where the heat goes
Look for the drifters / We should crawl under the bracken
Look for the shafts of light on the road
Where the heat goes
– bowie
Sometimes when you wake up in the middle of the night you’re not really sure why. Still you get out of your warm cozy bed and begin your day. You have to. If you just lay there, all those worrisome thoughts start creeping into your head like, “Why does my toe suddenly hurt?”, “What if I lose my job tomorrow?”, or “Why doesn’t Valley ever finish their website?”
This morning I’m tripping darkly. As I do every day I grind my coffee, put out the pesky pets, turn on the little heater in my office, wake up my computer and read my emails & Twitters & Facebooks, and the red lipstick on white cocktail napkins. Oops, as usual, no cocktail napkins. (This is where the ladies in the audience point out that men are so delusional..) So much of what I see each day is business. Sales-Speak, Marketing-Speak, and those emails from guys who are always your buddy when they want something.. Yarg. Couldn’t you just do one thing you say? Just once? Never happen of course. Those “best buddy” guys truly believe that good intentions are the same thing as actions. So they never lie of course, they simply “forget”. Thanks. Skip the lipstick, I’ll take Chap-stick for Christmas!
So in other news it was confirmed recently that Nigel Dennis is taking control of Lendal Paddles. Not sure that’s news to anyone but it certainly opens a new chapter in the saga of what was once THE brand for expedition paddlers. I certainly wish Nigel all the best in this new endeavor. Thing is though, when a brand starts getting tossed around as much as Lendal all that bouncing about can be confused as death throes. It will be a challenge to overcome.
BTW.. I still want to paddle a Tahe Marine Greenland Kayak. I also have to get out and take pictures of the latches on my sectional Rockpool… I also need more coffee.. While I’m at I also need to figure out where this stapler came from…
I’m thinking I need to get out and paddle. Well, at least go to the pool and roll. Better yet, I need to go see the Rod Stewart concert in Inverness.. no.. wait, I don’t need to do that,
… it’s not that desperate!
Posted in Kayaks, News & Print, Paddle Gear, Random Thoughts | 
Tags: lendal, ndk, Tahe Marine, Valley Sea Kayaks
Oh those folks at Valley are just being a tease…. as for your toe.. well you will have to sort that out by yourself….
I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but I just bought a Greenland recently – won’t get it in my hands until the new year, by which time I expect the water ’round here to be quite solid (the outdoor stuff at least). I confess to being a little excited…and impatient…
I also need coffee. And dammit I wish Valley would hurry up and FINISH it already!!
Recently brought one of those Tahe greenland boats out for a spin…somethoughts;
1 – Ocean cockpits SUCK when you are 6′1″ with a 35″ inseam.
2 – I have a 30″ waist and I was BARELY able to get into this boat. I tried with both a wet suit and my dry suit. I ended up with several hot spots and a couple of blisters on either hip to show for my short 30 minute paddle. I would have wanted to push it through a variety of conditions, but it was just too painful to sit in it any longer. I am definitely on the small size for someone my height, and I just don’t get who is supposed to fit in this nigh-on 18′ long boat.
3 – price point – I don’t know how much they are paying their lay-up guys to inhale fumes all day in Estonia, but it can’t be much given the pricing of the Tahe line.
4 – QC. ummm is there any QC done on these boats? Very rough around the edges on the boat I was trying, poor interior seam quality, dodgy bulkhead fastening and NO end pour in the bow – the seam did not even make it all the way to the end. holy death trap Batman.
5 – it’s a rolling machine, but then we already knew that didn’t we
Thanks for the “caveat emptor”, Michael – I will certainly look very carefully at the seams, etc, and plan to do a little glasswork if required. My habitus is a little different than yours
, so I should fit a little better!
“Why does my toe suddenly hurt?”
Answer: gout