17.35

West Haven.

With the month of January comes a period of time where I tend to slow down as far as my kayaking trips go. Sometimes I do boat maintanence, sometimes I do nothing - and sometimes it's business as usual. But this year, 3 more kayaks were added to the fleet...

I was asked recently why the need for so many boats.

It is certainly a valid question and one which required a lengthly explaination - which I will make mention here.

Because I am blessed with having another place in the Lower Naugatuck Valley (as opposed to where I am writting this from today) I am able to partake in everything the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rives have to offer, along with the Long Island Sound. No one boat can cover all this, and then it complictes matters when folks want to tag along - be it my wife, or parent, friends, or even the occasional society lady who wants to get away from it all for a bit. So, what say 5 singe boats could do - now 10 are needed - the extra 5 being tandem kayaks...

Then there's the specific use boats for river clean up / wildlife monitoring... add 4 more to the list so I can do this year round - and there you have it...

17.46

I spent much debate and energy in what would be my last purchase: A tandem expedition sea kayak... My first choice was the Wilderness Systems Northstar. Not the pro version, just the regular one. But the fear of becoming another statistic on the unemployment rolls prevented me on grabbing a blem yellowboat. I thought about it some more - then let it go... Other contenders included the Northwest Kayaks Seascape II and a new tandem which Necky came out with.

Meanwhile, I got married - and shortly afterwards introduced my wife to kayaking. All of a sudden, there was not only an urgency to get a tandem offshore boat - but a legitimacy to now do so. Let me tell you, kayaking in a tandem with your mate is about as romantic as it gets. Trust me...

I started searching with a vengance - and the first boat found was a used Tsunami X-2 Starship which a cat named Micco had in West L.A. I was instantly sold - but I had 3 months of downtime before the money would roll in - so this was kept on the back burner. Then, I found out about the Swift Double made byPaddleyak in South Africa. Johan Loot's is quite the characther and answered all our questions via David at CT Outdoors - and while this was a phenominal boat - the shipping costs made it prohibitive. Meanwhile, both me and Julia were re-examining the images sent of the X-2 Starship and started wondering just how much abuse this boat had been through. Around this time, David let me know about another blem Northstar - this time an orange one - and my mind was made up. Get it. Well, unfortunately - we missed that one. I then found a Northstar Pro for sale up in Newton Mass.The price seemed good and I was determined to get it. Iwent back and forth between this boat - the used pro - and a new regular northstar - and finally just as I thought I was cracking up - I realized something: The regular Northstar had a wildly rockerd hull - while the pro verson did not. Decision made - I went up to CT Outdoors and placed an order immediately. Rockered is good. So is plastic. Way more durable and forgiving than fiberglass or kevlar...

So, by the end of Februay - the tandem sea expedition kayak will be delivered and accepted.

 18.05

The other two boats brought in were a Spirit 4.7 Duo made by the now defunct Dimension - which is like a mini X-2 without the hatches and an AIRE Super Lynx demo boat which I had some options added.

I believe I did 88 trips last year, and used every boat at least a couple of times. This year it will be over 100.

Kayaking for me is more than just a way of life, it is my life -and if I can turn someone else on to this - than it's a blessing as well...

18.20

In February, I'll talk more about winter kayaking - which in a way I enjoy the most. The silence, the clear evening skys make this timeof year very special for me - just as long as the river does not freeze solid - nbut then again, downtime is good to.

For the Air, Trees, Water, and Animals...

 - Big George aka Earth