just slidin’ through

roughly 5 more weeks fo days growing shorter, then we start the uphill climb again,,,    Cold for much longer than that 5 weeks of course, but once the days start getting longer again, I start cheering up.   

Fair weather peep?   Not really, more a summer child and prefer such.   Foul weather doesn’t bother me like that, its just the ‘chill you to the bones’ cold,,,   Hell, I even go camping in this shit, not because I LIKE to, but as practice for when/if,,,   We don’t get to choose our battle conditions and if you haven’t some idea how to handle things when they aren’t optimal, you are going to have a hard time of it, period, end of argument.   

Thats why I DO try to kayak when the weather isn’t on my side.   High winds, rainy/snowy, waves,   (everything but natures fireworks shows,,, or freezing rain, don’t like that sheet of ice building up on the deck,,,). And ya may recall that thunderboomer that caught me out in the middle of the lake?   Best time I had while soloing all damned year.    Laughing like a loon while mama nature threw Blue Jean and I some hurdles: and we came through with flying colors.    Had I been on a bigger lake with more space for the waves to build up, I think we would have been just as successful, seeing how BJ loves rough stuff.   (Found another model with very similar traits.  TideRace Xtreme.   More a surfer than expedition boat, like BJ is.  Not fast in the straights, but will handle wallowing waves with a passion.   NO, ain’t lookin’ at buying, I have my sights on something different, more an all-arounder. all in good time: I’m patient,,,)

Todays efforts are frivolous, kinda sorta.   Noted that the front hatch on Lizzy doesn’t seem to hold pressure like her back hatch does (the back hatch will hiss everytime you pop it, if there has been temperature changes since the last time.  It even pulls in tighter when the temps drop, and you can see the hatch cover bowing in.). and the front hatch has a funky odor to it, and water stains/mold stains of some sort.   I know there are some cracks in the gel coat up there, right at the keel-line, so today is ‘Fix Lizzy Day”.   First order is to pressurize that compartment, somehow, and do a bubble test.

Sure as shit! that crack is bubbling like mad.   I never saw water up there the times I have had her out, but even a seep will pick up pace over time,,,   I expect to get wet kayaking, but I want my gear to stay dry, FIX THAT CRACK. (since I’m doing one, best do all you can find.)   

BUT, its flippin cold out and epoxy takes a lot longer to cure when temps drop below 70.   Set up a hair dryer on my Honda Genny and have the dryer in the hatch blowing warm air around.  Thats helping quite a bit.

And I have a better color match this time around.  (Something I am REALLY digging on Composite kayaks,,,  Ease of repairs.   Not like the surgery I had to do on Duh!kee, or the welding on plastic boats.   It takes a bit longer and needs meticulous efforts, but the end result is ‘as good as new’,,,   And the longevity of these boats,,,   Makes the initial costs much easier to swallow.)

It’s warming up a bit today, and the wind isn’t kickin’ around like it was yesterday.   Since Lizz is on the horses for a couple of days while I polish up this repair, BJ is on the racks, and the lake is caling.  More like my shoulders and back are begging for some exercise not just motions on a wobble board.

coffees ready, time for a cuppa and make up my mind what/where,,,while I wait for epoxy patches to cure properly.