Last weekend Linda and I attended Midwest Mountaineerings Spring Outdoor Expo, which years ago was known as the Great Minnesota Canoe Event. The event includes an auction of used canoes and kayaks. As we wandered among the kayaks scattered across the lawn, my eye was caught by a bright yellow Aquaterra Sea Lion lying next to an Aquaterra Chinook. You dont see many of these any more. My first kayak was a Sea Lion, purchased from EMS for about $1150 in the spring of 1988, 21 years ago. During the three years I owned it, I added perimeter lines and shock cords for spare paddle storage. Then I sold it to a Minneapolis cop at the Canoe Event auction for about $650 and bought an early Wilderness Systems Sealution. In 1995, I sold the Sealution and bought a Romany Explorer, which I still own. The last time I had seen my old Sea Lion was Memorial Day weekend of 1994. I was kayaking on Lake Superior with a group about ten miles east of the Pigeon River. It was our last day, and as we paddled toward the takeout, we encountered a small group of paddlers going the opposite direction. As kayakers did more often in those days, we stopped to chat, and as we talked, my eye wandered over the kayak next to me. Thats an interesting arrangement of perimeter lines, I thought. Then it dawned on me that I was looking at my old Sea Lion. I mentioned that I was the former owner, and learned that the fellow paddling it was the brother-in-law of the man I had sold it to. So it was with a sense of dij` vu that I walked up to the Sea Lion last weekend and noticed that it had an interesting arrangement of perimeter lines. Thats my old kayak! I said to Linda, and pointed out the details that I recognized as my own handiwork. Are you sure? she asked. She had never seen it before. Im sure, I said. I know my own work. Later, we looked inside the cockpit. There was all the proof I needed: my name and former address in faded black letters -- not only there, but on the inside hatch covers. And the cockpit cover and nylon spray skirt were the ones I had sold with the boat. We turned it up on one side and looked at the bottom: no ripples. Remarkably, it looked like it had hardly been used since the day I sold it. After the auction, we met the new owner, a young man named Noah (I think he should name his kayak the Ark). He asked what the spray skirt was for. We explained, and recommended that he take a basic kayaking class and join a sea kayaking club, such as the Inland Sea Kayakers, which he seemed agreeable to. I suspect that my old friend was mostly dry sailed (dry paddled?) in somebody's garage for the last 15 years. It's nice to see that it will once again be in its proper element and, hopefully, provide pleasure for its newest owner. Chuck Holst __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4047 (20090430) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
A true "Hallmark moment". I'm surprised Linda didn't buy it for you. johnb -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Holst <cholst_at_bitstream.net> Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 4:49 PM To: Paddlewise <PaddleWise_at_paddlewise.net> Subject: [Paddlewise] Old Friend Last weekend Linda and I attended Midwest Mountaineerings Spring Outdoor Expo, which years ago was known as the Great Minnesota Canoe Event. The event includes an auction of used canoes and kayaks. As we wandered among the kayaks scattered across the lawn, my eye was caught by a bright yellow Aquaterra Sea Lion lying next to an Aquaterra Chinook. You dont see many of these any more. My first kayak was a Sea Lion, purchased from EMS for about $1150 in the spring of 1988, 21 years ago. During the three years I owned it, I added perimeter lines and shock cords for spare paddle storage. Then I sold it to a Minneapolis cop at the Canoe Event auction for about $650 and bought an early Wilderness Systems Sealution. In 1995, I sold the Sealution and bought a Romany Explorer, which I still own. The last time I had seen my old Sea Lion was Memorial Day weekend of 1994. I was kayaking on Lake Superior with a group about ten miles east of the Pigeon River. It was our last day, and as we paddled toward the takeout, we encountered a small group of paddlers going the opposite direction. As kayakers did more often in those days, we stopped to chat, and as we talked, my eye wandered over the kayak next to me. Thats an interesting arrangement of perimeter lines, I thought. Then it dawned on me that I was looking at my old Sea Lion. I mentioned that I was the former owner, and learned that the fellow paddling it was the brother-in-law of the man I had sold it to. So it was with a sense of dij` vu that I walked up to the Sea Lion last weekend and noticed that it had an interesting arrangement of perimeter lines. Thats my old kayak! I said to Linda, and pointed out the details that I recognized as my own handiwork. Are you sure? she asked. She had never seen it before. Im sure, I said. I know my own work. Later, we looked inside the cockpit. There was all the proof I needed: my name and former address in faded black letters -- not only there, but on the inside hatch covers. And the cockpit cover and nylon spray skirt were the ones I had sold with the boat. We turned it up on one side and looked at the bottom: no ripples. Remarkably, it looked like it had hardly been used since the day I sold it. After the auction, we met the new owner, a young man named Noah (I think he should name his kayak the Ark). He asked what the spray skirt was for. We explained, and recommended that he take a basic kayaking class and join a sea kayaking club, such as the Inland Sea Kayakers, which he seemed agreeable to. I suspect that my old friend was mostly dry sailed (dry paddled?) in somebody's garage for the last 15 years. It's nice to see that it will once again be in its proper element and, hopefully, provide pleasure for its newest owner. Chuck Holst __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4047 (20090430) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 2:49 PM, Chuck Holst <cholst_at_bitstream.net> wrote: > > ... The last time I had seen my old Sea Lion was Memorial Day weekend of > 1994... Neat story. I'm finding myself more interested in nostalgia lately. Every now and then I drive by the house my family lived in when I graduated from high school. It's in one of those timeless 1940s neighborhoods where almost nothing has changed in the intervening years since I left for university in 1961. My muthah-ship sits in an Oak Harbor marina that is only 10 miles from the first engineering project I was assigned to in 1964 for the state highway department. So... what inspired me to respond to Chuck's post was that yesterday I was going through one of those cedar boxes I once kept on some dresser or other somewhere and found a delivery permit issued to me as captain of my own fishing vessel. It allowed me to land salmon and other fish caught beyond the 3-mile limit; the only "license" we needed in the 1970s. The fishing boat's name was F/V Sea Lion. I love co-inky-dinks. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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