hO-Boy did that last post open up a nest of vipers

At least on my porch it seems.   I started listing out the things I wanted to do to fix Serena, and that list is now a full page in length.   BUT, I did start digging into what I will need to make some of the changes, at least the ones that have a dollar figure attached and THAT list is still under $300,    I could leave the whole thing alone for a whopping $0, or I can make her into something more suitable to my liking.   Not that I don’t like her, but that I know now, what I did wrong then and can correct things.   Each boat is a learning process is what I am finding, and I seem to recall Brian at Cape Falcon Kayaks told me much the same thing.   He also said that before any boat gets its maiden voyage, you are already planning the next one.   That rang true for Duh!kee, and it rang true for Serena.   

While I have purchased the forms to make a strip-built kayak, I haven’t started on it, other that to make the strongback used to hold the forms (and the horses, but those are utilitarian, not just for one boat.). Why haven’t I started on that.  WOOD.   As in, I have the log, but I have not taken it to the sawmill to get cut up, and until then, the whole project sits on the back burner.  Why, if I have the log, haven’t I taken it to the mill?   That, I dunno.  Lazy.  Not enough interest.  Too many distractions in my life.  all of the above?   Probably that last.   And I know that a strip-built boat is a months to years kind of project and I want dedicated space for that (though that is actually more of an excuse.   I could make it a MONTH project, but I don’t like rushing on something as intricate as that style of build.   And Skin boats I can design, layout and build in a week. Serena took me 2 weeks from first cut to last coat and I took my time on her.   (and still managed to NOT see that damnable rocker that drives me nuts.) Duh!kee took a little longer but she was my first and I had zero clue what worked and what didn’t, and that was also how she gained her name:  I had many a “DUH!” moment when building her.  And she is still the Flagship of my little fleet, even if she sits in the top rung of the rack and gets dusty, she is on her throne. ( she was first for many things.  The first to try and kill me.  The first one I sank while still upright.  The first to be made for a race she has never raced in.   The first of many, but not the last.)

Current fleet is Duh!kee,  Serena, Ghost the SWAG boat, and Jefe.   Jefe is strict WW boat, sucks ass on flat water, but will run a wave train like a cork.   I am fingering the idea of trading the Jefe for an oldschool WW slipper boat, like the Pirouette I used to own (that I am kicking my backside for selling).  While I did good taking the Jefe down the Elkhorn, I honestly think I would have had a better time in the Piro.  and of course, the only TRUE way to determine that would be to get a replacement of Piro, and try it.  BUT, you go with your guts and the Jefe just didn’t “FEEL” right to me.

Yah, I know, I know.  Dio! There is more important shit going on in the world!!!!

And you would be right!   But, And I think I can say this with sincerity and to ALL, You can’t stop this trainwreck, and I want to maintain my sanity in the meantime.  Kayaks are my current form of sanity.  Just like Motorcycles were back in the Nineties.  Just like X/1-9’s were in the early nineties.(with a brief foray into them again 2005-7) If I don’t have something tangible I can do something with physically, that is NOT geared to keeping me fed or roof over my head, I go a little nuts, and while writing does that to some extent, I need PHYSICAL too.   Paddling my ass off across a lake or fighting to stay upright in water that is more foamy soup than water is that.   At least in water, I don’t have to worry as much about getting run down like I did when motorcycling.  

So, y’all need to find your place to ground and center.  Building and using kayaks is mine currently.

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