Before the evening was over she bought my kayak. It was with some sadness that I helped put it on her truck, I'd had such wonderful adventures in that boat over the past 5 years. I did feel good knowing that Sara is really going to love and appreciate her as much as I had, and I felt especially good about it when a week later, Sara emailed me that she LOVED IT.
I know my new Explorer will also bring me as much pleasure; as soon as I stop feeling like I'm sitting in someone else's kayak. I'm still not quite used to looking at the different colored deck. I went out again early Saturday morning and put some miles in, getting to know each other better.
Later that afternoon, Paul and decided to drive up to Boone to visit our daughter Tana who was going to be off from her summer job on Sunday. We camped out on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and then the three of us spent Sunday hiking along the ridge. It was a great weekend.
This weekend, Alan came home Friday night; he had a little cold and needed to get a good nights sleep. He also wanted to get out in the 'Dawn Patrol for some sailing with us. I left for the lake early Saturday morning to paddle, then met up with them in the afternoon. Our friend Ken also came out in his home built Core Sound 17. We had some great light winds. Then a squall came through. The guys couldn't have been more pleased. The picture below shows my feelings as I saw the winds coming. I did start to enjoy the faster ride.
Today (Sunday) was very hot, yet I still wanted to get in a distance paddle. To keep from overheating, I just paddled and rolled, and paddled and rolled for 5 hours. After reading about the Captn's problems with heat in the MR340, I was careful to pack a small cooler and lots of water. Alan took the boat out again and went sailing with a friend, and Paul wanted to work on some boat related chores. I've decided that when you have a wooden home-built sailboat, the hobby is in the maintenance, not actually in the sailing :)
Next weekend, if we can keep the Tropical Storms away from the coast, I'm off for a weekend paddling camping trip.
3 comments:
SB, your sail boat is gorgeous.
i have a dream catcher. can you point me toward a good path to aquire a greenland paddle that will fit me and my hull on the water? i'm concerned about sizing. i have a friend that makes paddles, but i'd like to consult the man who made yours. it has been a while since you posted about the greenland paddle when you did the move that way. thank you for your blog on group safety. i work for the outward bound school in minnesota near ely. greg.
Cool post! You may be interested in a story that featured in the Pitch this week about the Missouri 340. Here is a link if you would like to check it out...www.pitch.com.
Hey there- I enjoy reading your blog when I can find the time. I first found it because I was looking for other women in their
40's and 50's who do triathlons. I really want to do one sometime. But, I have a question for you. I want to buy an inexpensive kayak to go to one of our east Texas lakes. I am just going to get one at Academy. If I get into this, I can get a more expensive one later. My question or questions are as follows- should I get one you sit on top or inside. How long? The one I planned to get was a Pelican that is 10 feet long and you sit inside. What do you think?
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