Brief Liaison. .

So this is what it looks like when you make a turn-around trip. I arrived back home and tossed everything out to dry in the summer sun. Then hangers fly over there, gear flies over there, paddles here, that there. . and so on ending with everything I need going right back into the Jeep. (hopefully a bit cleaner and more orderly). The plan is to be out of the driveway around 4am tomorrow morning which should put us in Grand Marais with plenty of time to find our way around. Next I had to do a bit of quick boat repair. . .

Kanoottikompassi

There’s no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There’s no knowing where we’re rowing
Or which way the river’s flowing
- wondrous boat ride

Now the thing is I just never really had time to kit out my kayak. I ran to Chicago to pick up the Rockpool Alaw Bach just a few days before I flew out. Of course time flies and suddenly here I am almost a year later finally tending to it.

Repairs Continue

It sort of looks like a satellite photo of a strange planet or a bit of avant garde art.  What it is though is my first shot at fiberglass repair and it’s going better than I could have hoped.  The first thing I did was to again scope out the areas I needed to patch.  There were some areas wearing out under the seat.  Too many miles! Then of course the big bit under the left combing from the surfing accident.  The glass actually looks ok, but I don’t trust it.  I also wanted to shore up the other side as well.  I’m often climbing around on the boat and it puts a lot of stress on some areas of the boat.

Gelcoat, an idiot (like me) can do it

o fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

I have to admit it. I was terrorized at the thought of doing all the repairs on my Rockpool Alaw Bach. I had taken my first tentative steps into gelcoat repairs last year and had good success, but that was on a white hull. The idea of working with black and sparkles seemed way out of my league.

glitter in hand

still I was built

 
Out of a black and white world
Past a shooting star
The beauty of speed
See the colors changing
- tori amos

When I took my ACA Coach Training a few years back, I remember walking to the set up area behind Rutabaga and seeing one lone kayak waiting.  It’s finish was gone. It was scratched, dinged, cracked and dull.  In fact, it was a message that whoever owned that poor thing was. . . a “real” kayaker. At least that was my perception at that time.  Being new to the sport I’d already built up the idea in my head that a “real” kayaker was someone who went everywhere and did everything, and their kayak would look like it had been to hell and back.  I had a perception that a “pretty” boat was just a toy. The kayak I saw on that lawn was not pretty, it was experienced and tough. It was owned by Sam Crowley. 

ain’t that pretty at all. . .

Guess what?
I’d like to go back to Paris someday and visit the Louvre Museum
Get a good running start and hurl myself at the wall
‘Cause I’d rather feel pain than feel nothing at all
And it ain’t that pretty at all
Ain’t that pretty at all
- warren zevon

Did I ever show you this? This is what happens when a heavy kayak comes down on a fast wave and crashes into you! Mike at Rockpool is helping me figure out how to repair glittery gelcoat! Obviously it’s not the same as just mixing some colors and slapping it on!

Now here’s a quick thought about coming in on the surf. First of all you really should never be so close to another kayaker and you don’t want to ever get behind someone on the same wave. They are going to slow down or turn and you will be right on top of them. Ok then, what if you already made that mistake and are racing toward them? Well, my best advice is . . . Roll! Putting your upper body in the water will slow you down fast and if you make the choice fast enough you should drop off the wave.

In Penrhyn Mawr I had my first experience using that slick one hand defection. I saw the kayak coming straight for my head and instinctively just put the palm of my hand out and defected the oncoming kayak away from my ear. As an afterthought it was pretty cool, but on the otherhand I don’t fancy getting speared in the head either……. or in this case……crushed!