May 20, 2008

It is the Memories that I keep.

I haven't posted much this year, but I would be remiss in not acknowledging the the hand off of my first kayak.

The Guillemot was there on my first trip and took me on my very first Bill Dodge trip. She went with me the first day I paddled with my kids, and was there the day Greg Welker taught me how to roll.

My Guillemot seemed more submarine than kayak at times as she speared through every wave no matter how small. Even the most experienced kayaker couldn't paddle her far without the rudder. She loved to turn.

Excluding a few trips in Japan, she saw me come closer to harm than any of my other kayaks and brought me home safely. But before I had 50 trips under my belt I felt my skills had outgrown her and was looking to move on.

She rested quietly under a tarp for many years, coming out for a short period as my daughter moved up from her Necky Gannet. But for the last 5 years she languished under the tarp.

In the winter of 1998 I spent every spare moment after work and all day Saturday's and Sunday's placing cedar strips of wood next to each other until finally coating her with fiberglass and epoxy.

And on Jan 1st 1999 she made her (and mine) maiden voyage. I was lucky to live through that day.

I wish I could have paddled her once more. But it was a tight fit back when I weighed 165lbs. There is no way I could fit in the boat any longer.

The boat consumed so many hours in her assembly and brought so much pleasure over the years that it became invaluable to me. But she was wasting away under that blue tarp, so today I gave her away.

In the end it isn't the wood and fiberglass where the value lay, but in the memories that I keep.

Woody

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