Brings a smile, sort of… About that time I was given a small wooden Viking ship model as a birthday gift by an aunt. I kept it for decades, but in the end it was just something I carried around. When Walt (wgiven - a Pnet paddler and one of the original Ozark rendezvous paddlers) passed away and we were remembering him, we recalled that he had once mentioned around a campfire that he wanted a Viking funeral, cremated adrift in his boat. That, of course, didn’t happen.
So at the last rendezvous we had where we camped, as we had with Walt, at the Round Spring group camp, the last place all of us had seen him, we gathered around the campfire and burned that Viking ship model in remembrance of him. Here’s to the hope that the smoke of that fire carried the spirit of our friend to Valhalla.
Doug, was the cabin curser for when a good fish got away?
Only when a big sailfish threw the Hook, and he didn’t want me to hear the vocabulary! Spell check hasn’t figured out when the wrong spelling actually spells a real word. They need to improve spell check! 
That sounds like a canoeswithduckheads saga in the making.
I could afford it, in part because I am fairly frugal about other things. Since I sold it after 7 years for $1800 it only ended up costing me about $200 per year in the end, well worth it from all the pleasure it afforded me. Was an impulse buy and one I never regretted at all. In retrospect it did cost $100 more than the first new car I bought in 1978
The Discovery and the Guide are both fine canoes IMO and you are right they take a licking and keep on ticking as they used to say. Mine runs around 80 lbs and I’m almost 66 years old and 80 is like 200 used to be.
I built a lift device that makes it easy and it comes with me on the rack.
It can be seen here along with all the mods I made to it. The lifter starts around post 19.
First was a 14’ sailboat in the mid sixties followed by bunches of sailboats, handful of powerboats and gobs of kayaks.
Sealution II
I liked it a lot. Sold it for a Chesapeake stitch–glue that had more volume in the bow as the Sealution tended to bury it’s nose when paddling in following seas.
Can you explain? Haven’t paddled one.
Easy to handle in both short period wind waves and longer period ocean waves. Self & assisted rescues are simple with perimeter deck lines (was not standard on early North American sea kayaks), slightly reduced size cockpit means less to dewater, & slanted bulkhead behind the seat directs water out of the cockpit during a rescue. Designed to hold an edge while paddling for great secondary stability.
Different models available based on a preference for more or less rocker. Even the reduced rocker models, i.e. NDK Explorer, have enough rocker to allow easy surfing.
Probably not an ideal first kayak for untrained paddlers as initial stability may be uncomfortable for the first few paddles…
Built for serious rough water conditions which are common around the UK. As the old Timex ads used to say, “takes a licking, but keeps on ticking.”
Maneuvers like a dream on flat waters with almost no effort assuming you have basic paddling skills.
home made plank pond boat that leaked. Called it “Suicide”
A fiberglass River Jammer. We called it the Fat Sally and left green paint on rocks in every river in New Hampshire.
Sevylor Tahiti Classic. I still have it, in a four-foot duffel bag which also holds the pump and an old PFD; probably an unused patch kit, too. It hasn’t seen daylight in over 15 years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t take air and perform as good as new (PVC never dies). Floats like a leaf, spoils you with comfort, tracks like a–well, let’s not get into that.
I try to give it away from time to time; no takers yet, hint, hint.
Look up the history of Valley kayaks. Specifically the founder.
A Sawyer Cruiser in 1980. It had been wrapped and both sides were missing. I paid $25 for it and repaired it after building sailboats for a living earlier.
i paddled that canoe for years and sold it for $400.
Mad River Explorer (royalex) 1986.
I still have it and am about to replace the wood for the third time. It started as a solo whitewater boat fitted with saddle and thigh straps and filled with flotation. Saw some class IV rapids. Later on it became a fishing canoe, fitted with small Spring Creek foam outriggers for stability and and a transom for a trolling motor.
First paddling craft was a Valley Avocet RM. I started rowing and sailing before I started kayaking so I had already gone through the gamut of rowing shells from an Alden Ocean Shell through a Peinert X25 racing shell and sailboats from a Sunfish to a Capri 22 and then a Herreshoff 12-1/2 (Doughdish) by the time the Avocet arrived on the scene. Many more kayaks and sailboats followed.
Brodie"
You had a Herreshoff 12-1/2?
I’m really envious. Cool little boat. What did they call Herreshoff, the genius of Bristol or something like that?
I met some Madison rowers through cycling. Never tried it myself, though I always wanted to.
There is a 1963 Herrschoff Marlin Classic 23’ for $4,000 on the Charlotte, NC craigslist that I would love to own, but can’t justify buying at this time as I would have to buy a trailer or pay to have it brought here, and rent a slip too. If I lived on the coast the temptation would be overwhelming. Just incase someone is interested here are the photos of it. I am also adding a photo of a 1975 Herrschoff Eagle 22 for sale near Charleston, SC. Yes I have a passion for boats, and can’t help looking. When I win the lottery it won’t take long for me to blow it on boats!!
There is the Herreshoff Eagle 22’ 1975 for $11,000 in Charleston.
“The Wizard of Bristol”. Any sailor who is ever in the vicinity of RI should visit the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol - well worth the time.
I owned a Marlin as well. Very cool boat but the 1950s rig modifications made the boat a little quirky to sail. Fantastic deep cockpit though. I’ll see if I can dredge up some photos of both. The Marlin was a 1965 and the Doughdish a 1981, I’m sure both are still going strong.