One Enchanted Evening,
You Will Meet A Stranger

If you are old enough to remember the song, it tells how during a certain evening "you look across the room" and there he/she is. It was like that with us. I had been shopping for a new boat and had my eyes on several models. I was up at Rutabaga and had already test paddled several hot models, but I couldn't make up my mind. Then, JB pointed out a sad, oft repaired little Romany sitting on the used for sale rack. As I had some time and could not decide on which hot new boat I wanted, I took the Romany, patches and all, onto the pond. I believe I was only 50 feet from shore when I called back to JB, "This is the one."Since that day, we (the Romany and I) have spent lots of time together. My paddling log, which is typed and only has brief entries, is about 30 pages long. Still, I continue to look for a longer boat for group and trip paddles so that I don't have to use that little extra energy to keep up. If and when I do find that boat, the Romany will stay with me.We've been through much together since that first paddle. I give her UV protection and she takes care of me in the rougher stuff. There is some flaking off the floor of the cockpit from one of the many repairs her former owner (Brian Day) performed on her, but she's mine, and I am keeping her. Same for Lady Linda.

Paddle safe...
DS


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