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 | The maiden voyage. We paddled a 2 hour trip down the Youghiogheny River in Pa. She handled *beautifully*!
Very, very fast and unexpectedly stable on edge. I was so comfortable in her, I took some time to do a little fishing.
You see my buddy Tom in the foreground in a rented kayak. That's the last time he did that. He bought a kayak a few weeks later. My wife and Tom's girlfriend were in a canoe behind us and were gracious enough to be the camera crew throughout the trip. |
 | That's a picture of a happy kayak builder. :) |
 | The next big trip was to Lake Arthur, also in Pa. Since I started this project, I had hoped that
one day Ross Leidy (of Blue Heron Kayaks, Kayak Foundry, etc) and I would be able to put together an outing. Well,
after quite a few weeks of trying, we were finally able to meet at the lake for a nice fall paddle.
Ross brought 3 of his boats including the Outer Island, which is quite literally the boat that inspired me to build mine. |
 | More Lake Arthur fun. |
 | After trying a greenland style paddle, I can definitively say, I like euro paddles better. Greenland paddles look cooler and match the boat, but I like euro. Sorry. Then again, I built a strip kayak out of poplar. I guess I tend to stray from the usual. |
 | Here's a decent view of my spray skirt on the boat. It was pretty chilly that day and I wanted to stay dry. Spray skirts were a must. |
 | That's Sean, from my office. He's a white water kayaker, but here he's paddling on of Ross' sea kayaks. |
 | Kayaks everywhere! Nice one-handed paddle technique, Tom. |
 | Tom and I in our boats on Lake Arthur....does life get better??? |
