Can’t Take A Punch?
Published October 27, 2011 | 
Remember the bad old days when kayaks used to weigh a ton? Isn’t it wonderful how they are so light and easy to carry these days? Bah, humbug! When I decided to my “100 Miles To Winter” paddle for the Devil’s Lake State Park Centennial, I decided to do it in my old, heavy, 1996 NDK (Now Seakayaking UK) Romany. In fact, any time I think I’m going to be leaving gel coat deposits on the beaches and subsurface rocks.. I grab the Romany. I don’t dare take my Rockpool Alaw Bach. It’s my favorite kayak, but it’s made the modern way and I’ve already worn 4 holes through the hull. Not to mention the cracks! I don’t dare take my skin boat.. When I take it out, I have to carry it out into the water far enough that I won’t possibly tear it on a hidden stone. In addition, I like paddling near shore, especially in bouncy water and there is always a risk of hitting or dragging my boat over something. With the old tank, I’m not all that concerned. It’s tough, and repairs are easy. Continue reading
Back Support
Published July 28, 2010 | 
Over the last couple days I took a bit of time to fashion out a new back support for my the Romany I’ve been working on recently. You may remember I was just about ready to give it away. Well, after repairing a hole & going after all the weird grey gelcoat patches, and now adding a nice comfortable back support it’s starting to turn into a boat worth owning. Continue reading
Posted in Kayaks, Paddling, Repairs & Modifications | 
backrest, dragonskin, h20glue, kayak repair, minicell, repair, seatfixin’ the ark
Published June 30, 2010 | 
I said, “Just tell me something before it’s too late and we’re gone
I mean just how safe is this boat we’ll be on?” – Sting
Today my workload is a bit heavy, not least of which is that I need to commit to a kayak to take to the Door County Sea Kayak Symposium coming up in about a week. As usual, the level heads of friends, well-wishers, readers & psychologists have convinced me that doing some repairs on my old NDK kayaks is probably a better choice (and more valuable) than selling them off for something new, and maybe not so tough. Continue reading
Posted in My Paddling, Paddling, Repairs & Modifications | jamestown distributors, kayak repair, ndkDairyland Boatwerks – Dealing with Oxidation
Published April 3, 2010 | 
My old warhorse has seen better days. It’s been some years now since I bought my 1996 Nigel Dennis Romany Explorer used at Rutabaga in Madison, WI. I’ll never forget how scary it felt to drop the $1500 back then on of all things, a kayak! Now after years of paddling, some harsh landings, intimating crashes, and just years of sitting out under the Midwest sun, the warhorse was in desperate need of care.
the fix is on
Published February 15, 2009 | 
We’ve gone deep, deep down into the bowels of the ship. Well, on the inside of a kayak anyway. You have to take a bit of pity on the poor guys who spend their days with their heads jammed inside a hull breathing fumes and bending every which way to seal a seam or a bulkhead. What a job. It reminds me of that bit about knowing what’s in a hot dog.
So yesterday I continued on my self taught kayak repair course. Continue reading
Everybody I know has to face the trains
Everybody I know makes the same mistakes
– the vapors
One of many life experiences most of us share is that of walking the railroad tracks. Often walking the rails is simply a quicker way to get from point A to point B on the hoof. Sometimes the tracks are just thankfully new scenery on the way to getting to the same old place. Sometimes the tracks are simply a place to walk off the demons of the day. On a few occasions while walking the tracks I’ve had to climb a poison oak laden slope or crawl through bramble to get out of the way of an oncoming locomotive. From a position of safety I could just watch the train go by. In real life we are hyper-focused on the subject of the day, the walk. Meanwhile all sorts of little things flash by us in the windows of the passing trains. They flicker by us so fast our conscious mind has little time to itemize what we are seeing through the passing glass. Then hours or days later we suddenly realize something obvious that we should have seen right off. . . “Was that goat in the window wearing a pink tie”!!?
Continue reading →