Posts Tagged ‘scotland’

It was nice to see Justine again. On Tuesday she flew over from Manchester to Chicago, then hopped in a rental car and drove straight up to Wausau for the Open Boat Nationals that begin tomorrow. On the way she stopped in at the house for a quick chat.  My hope is that we’ll get a chance for another quick chat when I get over to the UK in September.  It’s a very weird thing how we make friends at such distances, stay in touch by email, blog and twitter and then only stand in the same room once or twice a year.  Speaking of distant friends, I’m twisting one distant friends arm to come and paddle a bit of the west coast of Scotland with me. Lord knows he’s done it enough.. Someone’s got to keep the silly mid-westerner safe in those tides!

Many miles away there’s a shadow on a door
Of a cottage by the shore
Of a dark Scottish lake
– the police

A new day, a new bowl of Haggis! Well, something like that anyway.  Thanks to everyone for their emails and encouragements. It’s hard sometimes to translate emotions to print but I’m certainly not down or out. Speaking with Kelly last evening I’m sure he’s more disappointed than I am, at least in the fact that I can still get my stuff together continue my Nessie hunt. The only real change comes in that I have to pick up on some logistics and at this point, maybe even those original plans will still go through. Plus there are lots of good folks around that I’m sure I can pester someone to give me a ride to the water’s edge.

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You either run or you hide
Now you slip now you slide
You say you will, but you won’t
You either do or you don’t
– buckingham

Things come up and things change.  That’s the nature of life.  Unfortunately things did come up and Kelly let me know today he won’t be able to make the Scotland trip.  That’s too bad too, I’m sure we’d have had a flippin’ good time.  Ok then, we rearrange the pieces on the chess board and have another look.   Can I do this solo?  Why not?  Maybe another crazy paddler would jump in and join me, if only on the slightly open water bits. We’ll see.

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I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment’s gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
– kansas

It’s that time again.  The time where I can’t let another day go by without making one decision or another about my upcoming paddling adventure. This time of course,  it’s Scotland.  Some of it is easy enough.  Buy this, buy that, read this, read that.. take notes!  What is different is that with a little experience I’m trying to travel as lightly as I possibly can.  Traveling light is harder than you may think given my past BCU training.  You come to believe that anything less than everything is irresponsible. I still remember the days when I carried practically 2 weeks worth of gear just to teach a class because that’s what a “hard core” coach did. Or at least I thought so.  Read the rest of this entry »

Here comes the super copter
Here comes the noise it makes
The demon was an idea
The demon is awake
– soul coughing

If you stare at the skies long enough you are bound to see something.  If you stare at a computer screen long enough you stop seeing anything.  I’m getting there.  My deadline for Scotland is not all that far off anymore…Just like the last time I planned a trip overseas time is starting to compress a bit.  It’s not the trip mind you, that’s the easy part. (Well almost, but let’s save that shall we!?)  In time you realize as more experienced paddlers once told me, that you simply can’t plan too much.  Regardless of what madness you conspire, reality will put your  “plan” in a potato sack and kicks the hell out of it. At the end you open the bag and realize your plans have become unrecognizable.  No, what becomes compressed and hyper-stressed are the demands of the “real” world.

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I don’t want to dissect everything today
I don’t mean to pick you apart you see
But I can’t help it
– Alanis Morissette

Some things are a matter of opinion.  Some things are just facts.  If you’ve followed my various adventures with PFDs over the years you’ll know I come to this fact with just a bit of resistance. When it comes to PFDs, Kokatat wins.  Sure other companies make some nice pfds for certain applications. Yet none of them seem to focus much on open water paddlers.  Here’s a simple test.. Who offers well a thought out VHF pocket on their PFD?  Well, who offers any sort of VHF pocket?  It’s such an odd thing to overlook you’d be tempted to call in Molder and Scully to root out the conspiracy.

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Lord Byron had a lot of luggage
He took it when he traveled far and wide
He didn’t get to bathe very often
But he liked to change his clothes all the time
-warren zevon

Do I really have to think about gear? September is a long way off at the moment but that does not mean I don’t have to start taking a bit of inventory. For the most part over the years you collect all the gear you need for a few weeks on the water. Still, over time things break, fall apart or get left in far off lands and need to be replaced. No one wants to paddle in the shadow of the “Paps” without proper gear.

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