SunDog

Can't teach an old dog new tricks.

We've all heard that one. Well, this old dog is going to try just the same, thank you.

Just turned 61, pretty much retired, but mostly just plain old tired, bored with sittin' at home babysittin' dogs and cat. No money to speak of to paint the town every nite even if I wanted to. Well, a little goes a long way when you don't do nothin', an' I don't do nothin'. Well, not a lot, anyways.

Or that used to be the case.

My birthday gift to myself this year wuz a kayak. Single seater, twelve feet long, sunburst orange color, made by Old Town. Kind of a pretty kayak- at least, compared to the ol' Grumman 17 foot double-ender I've been paddlin' since April '72. I got that canoe off the showroom floor and paid a lot of '72 dollars for it, complete with number three Duluth bag, tent, sleeping bag, eatin' and cookin' utensils, paddles and life jacket. Oh, yes, there was also a number two camp axe in that pile as well. Lots of miles under that canoe now, a few rapids and many, many lakes an' streams all over Minnesota. But even as I paid for the Grumman, my eyes wuz on the 'glass kayaks on the showroom floor and walls and... you know what I mean.

Sleek lines, small cockpit and single shaft double-bit paddles, spray skirt and light weight.

However, life has a habit of gettin' in the way of things. It got in my way by wreckin' my back, laying me up for three years. Now weight restrictions and mobility problems have pretty much relegated the old Grumman to the side of the shop. Unless the Kid wants to use it now and then.

Water has a way of getting into one's blood, though, and I heard its call, felt its pull.

Since I'd always wanted one, anyway, I went shopping in town. Not a big town- has two stores with kayaks and I aint drivin' to God-knows-where for a kayak, but I found one. Well, several. But most were well beyond my price range. Unless I wanted to spend a few months income or a year payin' for it on credit card.

No Thanks.

Took a good chunk of the bank account to buy, but I bought it- all 12 feet of it. Plastic, but what isn't these days? Recycled milk bottles or pop bottles or water bottles, whatever. So what- I'm 61, ain't gonna live forever even if I try. So what the hell, hey? It'll probably out-live me, still. Only cuz I ain't young no more.

A kwik spin on a nearby lake an' I was hooked, regretted not gettin' this years ago. Oh, there were a few problems encountered: like scrapin' my knuckles on the deck with every stroke of the 220 cm paddle. (I got the short one cuz I'm a river dog an' a long one'd just get in the way.) And I was kinda disappointed with the speed factor and the trackin'. It didn't track like the canoe- has a bit more rocker- and short length with no keel doesn't help trackin'. But I like its looks more'n most the others I saw- got canoe in my bloodlines and they look good to me. So sittin' in the cockpit lookin' over a bow shaped like a conoe is kinda like bein' home to me.

Couple things I felt I needed right away, too. And after talkin' with a couple of guys, one thing to dump is the safety rope: kayaks don't run away when capsized like a canoe does (they head for greener pastures). Then I learned I needed to be able to get back in if I tumble, an the easiest way short of Eskimo roll is a paddle bladder for outrigger. And I couldn't get the packs to sit inside right. Just to big. So some kayak shape packs are in order.

And where the hell does the camera go? If I can't take my cameras, I ain't goin'. Period. So for now they get to sit in a plastic bag in the hatch-covered area. I reach around and grab when I want it. I will be gettin' a pack for between my knees to keep them in. One, anyway. Depends which I'm using- still or vid.

Another thing I felt was kinda 'wrong' wuz there wuz too much freeboard, but I think that'll disappear when I get a camp load in it. I weigh 160, so another hundred pounds will still be way inside the margin of safety.

I picked a perfect day for the first try-out. Well, not that I chose it, God just gave it to me. Calm waters, no wind to speak of, sunny and not too hot, but not cold, and no crowds (I hate crowds) of people to get in the way (or witness my screw-up gettin' in the first time). Only I didn't screw up an' capsize. Got in right away, no problems. Paddled away, no problems. Well, not really. I think the canoe'd've been a bit easier gettin' off the sandy beach. Still, made it. Didn't take long to get used to the paddlin' technique- I'd done it a few times in the Grumman- and soon I was just enjoying the day and lake.

But that doggone bug bit deep an hard an' now the local merchants 're gonna make a few bucks from me. It sure won't hurt to find some kind of waterproof bags for gear, new tent, sleepin' bag........

SunDog