Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Kayaking Expense...
Dubside is Onto Something

Everyone knows Dubside, the soft spoken bearded man in the inflatable boat which he can roll like a jet fighter. Most know that he is also known to do commando kayaking. That is, he takes his collapsed craft on the bus, rides to a water site, sets up and goes out on the water to do his thing. Then he packs up and takes the bus home. He has the boat and a bus schedule. Talk about keeping it simple...and inexpensive.

Once we get a boat and a set of paddles, tops and cold weather stuff, we've pretty much made our investment in the sport. There will be some replacements needed down the road, but unless we keep switching boats the coast is more or less fixed. Right? Wrong. We have forgotten about the most expensive piece of equipment:

Das car. These suckers cost much more than any kayak and depreciate a lot faster (never mind the gas that goes into them). This all comes to mind because my 2000 Blazer wouldn't start yesterday (I was going to paddle), and I had it towed to the local mechanic. Turns out it needed a fuel pump. Fortunately, I had a small fund from which to pay for it, the fund for my next boat.

It is not terribly practical to do commando kayaking where I live. What is now a 20 minute drive in each direction would probably turn into hours. Besides, I need a car for some of the other work I do. So I keep patching her up because it is cheaper than buying another vehicle. I just wonder if I will ever get that other boat.

Paddle safe...

DS

5 comments:

JohnB said...

Just goes to show you the value of having a RTA that you could call and have them pick you and your boat up and take you to the launch site. From there I'm sure someone would see that you got lunch and a ride home. (RTA = Regional Transit Authority).

LOL!!!

Ready for a southeastern Wisconsin Tea Party?

Captn O Dark 30 and Super Boo said...

blazer vs. cherokee. i feel your pain. just sunk another fist full of dollars into my 1999 jeep cherokee. same thought, cheaper then a new vehicle. i need my portage wheels (vehicle)

JohnB said...

hmmmmm. . . do I detect a pattern here? In the last 6 weeks I've put about $1200 into my 1999 mini-van--great set of portage wheels, but does need maintenance occassionally.

2000 blazer, 1999 cherokee, 1999 town & country. . . the $ spent are less than a new set of wheels, at least at this point. My last one died at 256,000 miles, figure I've got another 100,000 to go on this one, but I doubt the body (vehicle's not mine) will last that long.

Captn O Dark 30 and Super Boo said...

I'm at 180,000 and some change... hoping for the same.

DaveO said...

My '03 VW has 150k and I'm hoping for double that. I used to own a folder, a Feathercraft like Dubside's, until the airlines decided to make it such a hassle to move it (extra fees and inspections galore)that I said to hell with it. Now if the bus or train could get me up to Lake Superior........