Tomorrow, I have a refresher on teaching our comp course (because I haven't taught it this year), and then, well, we'll see.
Our rec center was having a used equipment sale yesterday, so I got in line early and bought a used kayak.
And I need to get some new cord stuff because that's worn, as is the seat. And I need to buy a paddling life jacket and a paddle.
Still, the price was right, and I have a boat.
Definition: Boat: A hole in the water you pour money into.
Is it rude to ask what the right price was? I've been thinking of trying out kayaking for possible addition to the list of outdoor activities with expensive gear I enjoy... It looks fun, and would be a nice upper-body complement to the cycling and skiing I do.
ReplyDeleteShane, It was well used from the Rec Center and cost $300. Not rude at all! But WAY cheaper than new ones! I expect to spend a fair bit for a good paddle and a life vest, and also bought a thing for transporting it on top of my car. Those things I would have spent for even if I bought a totally new kayak. I'll also need to replace some of the bungee cord stuff and a handle, and that I wouldn't need to do with a new kayak.
DeletePS: How about christening her "Wife of Bath"?
ReplyDeleteYay, summer! Hope you get some R&R with your boat. :)
ReplyDeleteClearly it is Custance's boat, whatever name that boat had! (I was going to say it was patient Griselda's boat, but I have the stories mixed up.)
ReplyDeleteIs it tough to control a closed cockpit? Have you gone and taken the rolling classes at your local pool? Around here they make you pass that class before you can rent a closed kayak, so I am looking around at the sit-on-top models (the class freaks me out.)
Did you buy a rack/trailer, or do you have a truck or travel-ready vehicle already? Figuring out how to lift and transport a kayak by myself on my bug has been my major obstacle to getting one. That and the stacks and stacks of grading.
Sisyphus, I'll be paddling on quiet midwestern rivers and little lakes (which I've done when I rented these), and so it's not closed, and I haven't ever used a skirt thing, nor do people around here tend to use skirt things. When I've fallen over, I've also come totally out. The boat floats, I float, and I pull over to shore, haul out, turn over, and start over. I won't kayak when the water is super cold or scary high because I won't.
DeleteI bought a "hully roller" and am hoping that will make it so I can get it on top of my car, which is an Outback (because all professional women in the upper midwest seem to drive Subarus!).
Congratulations! I hope you have many hours of fun with your new craft. You've gone and put Stan Rogers' song "Man with Blue Dolphin" in my head (because of the lyrics "And even afloat she's a hole in the water where his money goes, every dollar goes, and it's driving him cra-azy" -- http://rock.rapgenius.com/Stan-rogers-man-with-blue-dolphin-lyrics).
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
DeleteI rather miss walking the grades to the registrars office - there was something nicely satisfying about turning in the papers. But you can't do it in your Jammie's, which is a serious disadvantage.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the kayak!