"Too much of a good thing is wonderful" Mae West

Power boaters and sail boaters claim that the two happiest days of their lives were when they bought their boats and when they sold them. This, generally, is a result of the bigger-is-better mentality of many boaters who end up with a craft that owns them as much as they own it. Something akin to this happens to kayakers...like me.

I got hooked on the sport quickly and set out to get a boat. I purchased a Kevlar Perception Shadow (no longer made in kevlar) with rudder and smart pedals...a happy day. I loved it. I even took it on a day trip to Port Washington in 3 -4 foot following seas. It was a great outing.

Now that I was real kayaker, I realized that I "needed" a more traditional boat. All it took was a check and a postage stamp, and boxes arrived at my home. I stitched and glued and assembled and produced an Arctic Tern...another happy day. Now I needed a rack for the garage so I could store my little fleet.

Things went well until Leslie coaxed me into trying her boat. It was shorter and had lots of rocker and turned on a dime. What fun. This was when I was starting to be interested in rolling and knew I "needed" a boat like hers. So off to the boat store to test paddle those fiber glass Greenland-look-alikes with hard chines. I was disappointed in them. Then, JB pointed out an old Romany for sale. What the hell, I tried it...and immediately fell in love with the way it handled. Another happy day. I added a hoist to my garage.

The Romany rolled so well that I got into Greenland style rolling using a stick. It soon became obvious that I "needed" a more traditional boat. So, off to Mark Rogers at Superior Kayaks in Two Rivers. A week later I arrived home with a slick new skin on frame boat...another happy day.

It was about that time that Lady Linda announced the code of the garage which proclaimed an imaginary line over which no boat, paddle, pump or anything else of mine was to cross. Mean while, my Blazer sat on the driveway exposed to the elements.

So I meditated, prayed, considered, debated and wondered what to do. Then I thought about what my wife had said, and fear won out. I needed one more happy day.

Know anyone else who could use a happy day? Perhaps the purchase of a Perception Shadow would do it. I know it made me happy.

Paddle safe.

DS