Never too late to make new friends though.
I enjoy my own company, and donāt have enough time to improve on the things I want to do. Over the past three years, I only got out in the kayak about 20 times during each season. I refurbished my bicycle to get back out on the trail and didnāt get out at all last year. When I do go out, I will at my pace not at the pace of people who want to have fun.
The issue is that Iām not in sync with the mainstream. Iām happy with it that way. Like string says, at our age, you might just want to do things your own way. I bicycled for 10 years trying to introduce people to it, and 15 years doing the same with kayaking. The result was that I got faster, and they got slower or quit.
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I donāt know about paddling in general, but canoes seem to have disappeared around here. I paddle a canoe and although in certain environments kayaks and canoes can paddle together in most cases they donāt mix well.
That said, while I think I would enjoy meeting Pnetters, I simply donāt have time. Sure, Iām retired, but my focus in retirement is spending time with my wife, adult children and grandchildren. Before I retired I literally spent years away from my family due to Uncle Samās travel agency, so my family is now the priority. Thus, my priorities just donāt allow for time for Pnet/com gatherings.
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Pat, this is crazy but at this moment, nothing makes me better realize that I need to do stuff with you again as much reading that smart-ass remark you almost said to that guy.
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No time like the present. Time passes quickly, so do it.
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Agreed - Itās been too long. See you at Canoecopia?
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Understood, davbart.
When I travel I, like most here Iād bet, notice cars on the road carrying boats. Except on the road to the the BWCA, I see theyāre mostly carrying kayaks. There are some local exceptions. Thereās a sort of pendulum swing to this over the years.
There used to be lots of back and forth banter on this board about the superiority of kayak v. canoe. Being a dedicated canoe guy, I played my part for my team, but it was all pretty much tongue in cheek. I think weāre mostly all cut from the same cloth and the types of waters we most often paddle plays a big role. My own thinking is that there are days and situations best suited for canoes and others where a kayak makes more sense. The major arguments/jokes made in favor of kayaks was speed. (Though Iāve canoed past a many kayaks over the years - especially when longer distances were involved. Kayakers often need to take more breaks for āleg stretchesā.) Especially on a windy day or in heavier waves and without gear, and compared to a solo canoe, thereās no denying a kayak can cover the miles darned fast.
One speed jest that I recall and still brings a chuckle was a post from ScottB (remember him?)
He said he went down to the river today for a leisurely walk. He passed a couple in a canoe. Thatās all.
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ā(Though Iāve canoed past a many kayak over the yearsā¦)ā
Must have been old geezers sightseeing.
And rec kayakers sunbathing - Seriously, a good solo canoeist in a canoe with a reasonably high aspect ratio and length, paddling over a distance can cover distance as well as most kayakers. Generally speaking, the rec kayaks are not any faster than most any canoe. Tandem canoes double the horsepower without doubling the wetted area. Theyāre faster yet if the paddlers are competent and want to go fast.
And, of course, not every paddler is a racer or paddle outing a race. In fact, very few are. Its often pretty easy to out-race folks who hadnāt heard it was a race. For me at least, a canoe race puts me in mind of a Mark Twain remark when he referred to playing golf as āa good walk spoiled.ā A race, to me, is a pleasant paddle spoiled. Iāve run in formal races only three times and won 1st (with pnetter durangoski in the tandem class) in one of them. Some people enjoy it though, and good for them. I respect their discipline.
But every time Iāve raced thereās been some point along the distance where Iād see a channel leading back into a pond(?), or what looked like it might be the remains of an old logging dam, or something that I wanted to investigate, an animal I wanted to get closer to, a bird that I canāt quite see clearly enough to ID, somethingā¦ - and then thought āNote to self: Its a race.ā Thereās nothing left at that point but to just blow off the enjoyable part and put my back into it again, keep the cadence up, avoid the suck water.
Iām not an especially lazy man. I can work hard. But Iād rather canoe.
Must have been old geezers sightseeingā¦
And a fine one at thatā¦ You did a great job on the restoration. I had a friend who had a Summersong (in gray - it, too, was a beautiful boat) that I tried for an hour or so. In the hands of a racing paddler, I bet that could win some races. Killer glide. Did that one see the Raystown 'vous?
Another friend had the Summersongās little sister, an Autumn Mist, that I spent a lot more seat time in, as we would sometimes swap boats on river trips. So far I havenāt seen a Sawyer that I didnāt like.
Iām sortaā like a mirror image of you, I guess. Iām known as a canoer, but when Durangoski passed he willed one of his kayaks to me - a QCC700. His son couldnāt store all the kayaks and canoes he inherited.
But we are drifting from the topic, though that is one of the attractions that Pnet/com gatherings. Though we never had any manufacturerās representatives like Raystown, we had plenty of folks who brought some rare and interesting boats that we swapped for a bit or got to try during lunch breaks from paddling. (Well, come to think of it, McWood was almost acting as a representative of Kruger Canoes - and later Placid - and came to the Ozarks for maybe 5 years. I know Iād never have gotten a chance to paddle a Kruger otherwise.)
Even now, DeepBarney paddles a classic old Dagger canoe. You donāt see those every day.
This is what Pblanc brought last timeā¦ bet you havenāt seen one of those elsewhere - an MJM whitewater boat from the designer (John Berry, if I recall correctly) of the Mad River ME and Flashback. Thatās Brian in a Wildfire (more common, but also a very fine canoe) in the background
I paddled the Neuse River a few times with a bunch of kayakers to raise funds for cancer research. One year I paddled a Wenonah Voyager and the other years a GRB Classic XL, we werenāt racing but we paddled about 30 miles a day, and I was usually at the next nightās camp first. Thereās some really slick and efficient canoe hulls out there, especially compared to heavy plastic kayaks.
I did take the Summer song to Raystown. Mike Mcrea said I did a nice job on the restoration.
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Roto-molds are not kayaksā¦they are Roto-molds.
I had an Autumn Mist for a bunch of years, probably took a Magic to Raystownā¦Only went once, but shared a rental house on the property at the lake with ScottB and a couple others for a nightā¦
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Why would you say that , any decent plastic kayak is rotomolded
well he and me and a lot of others followed your project with your picsā¦ it was an ugly beast when you got it if I rememberā¦
No true Scotsman (kayak)?
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Yes, I think Iāll go to Canoecopia this year. I skipped it last year and barely attended the year before that.
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