Somedays the bear gets you,,,,

And today, that bear was a sneaky one. Got around me and then right in front of me and I fought and fought,,,,

to no avail, couldn’t get this one under control.

This bear, goes by the name of a ‘dumb’ motor controller and is probably going to take a group effort to tame and get back in line. I spent a bit of time this eve on the phone with Tech support, hoping that maybe they had some clue if this was user error or some other obvious dumassery.

Nope,,, even the support peeps were like “well, it shouldn’t have done THAT,,,”

yeah, no shit huh?

So tomorrow, I get to call them back, referencing the problem number and we are going to walk through some tests. Me on this end with a DVM doing the manual side of things, them with the technical manuals on thier end directing my hands,,,

AND HOPEFULLY, get this bear back in its box.

but my brainium hurts. I went at this thing every way I know of and that problem just wouldn’t budge.

And to piss me off more, Everything was working perfectly at first; I had high hopes to be able to wrap this mess up quick,,,,

Dashed on the rocks those hopes are,,,, they rode a 40′ swell right into the beach and rocks and are now laying scattered up the coast line of this job,,,

I’ll lick this mess yet, but definitely had to call support in this instance. I don’t like doing that, but even the techs were asking ‘why didn’t you call us earlier?” and I had no good answer,,,, Stubborn I am, and thats the only real reason,,,,(and I fully expect the issue to be ‘something I did wrong’,,,, I’m not above admitting my own errors,,,,)

One of the things Brudda B and I discussed while camping, (thats open for public release, not all of what we talked about is,,,) was ‘what to do with Lizzy,,,,’

Final solution is, Do as ye will. I have been watching three other ‘sales’ of a Nordkapp HM (what Lizzy is) and they ain’t movin’ for love or money

I bought a white elephant.

SO, whats the White Elephant solution.

Cut that Cockpit coaming out, make it a keyhole arrangement as I prefer. This isn’t as nightmarish as it may seem, I won’t even need Gelcoat ‘to hide’ my cuts.

My biggest problem with Lizzy is that cockpit. It feels restrictive as all hell. Can get in it, but getting out, I bind up just above the knees and that concerns me ‘in the event of a wet exit’. I’ve one other boat that does something like that and I did get bound up on an emergency exit: Duh!Kee. (and part of me is thinking that was the birth of my flat water anxieties) I did get out, but only on second try and already half out of the boat to begin with. Very disturbing situation that could have been much worse if there had been waves/swells. She even stole my shoes, right off my feet during that fiasco. As an example of why this is an issue, I will illustrate an wet exit I experianced in the ARC on BuckCreek. When the boat went over, It happened FAST; so fast, I was IN the water before I could even react and never felt the boat leave my hips or the skirt come loose from the boat. So fast that I came up with the paddle in both hands still paddling,,,, Much safer situation than being in a boat that could trap you in itself in such a way that you couldn’t effect a roll (like when I capsized Duh!k.)

SO, cut that coaming out, build anew, and give her a go again. Her value is what I make of her at this point, not what I can get out of her. (and if someone reading this feels otherwise, get with me in email or comments and let’s talk. I would rather leave her intact and to someone with love for the boat than destroy her intrinsic value of X to become Y)

BUT,,,, What to do about the skirt and cover I have for her. They won’t fit with the new cockpit. Sell those, there IS a market for them as I found the last time I listed Liz for sale. Sell that bloody bilge pump too as there is a market for them as well. (that WILL need gelcoat to ‘hide’ the hole it would create, OR I make a day hatch out of that hole )(will do that)

WHY? Lizzy (gonna have to change that name) is no tippier than Duh!k, very similar in handling. Duh!k has only put me in the water that once and in hindsight, was circumstancial: high winds, wide blade paddle in wrong position, green newb in cockpit. I have more experiance under my belt now, do have a roll and practicing it, and I don’t use a euro blade anymore (except on white water which these boats don’t see)

And I DO want a 17’+ long boat. Maybe her hatches are too small for winter camp gear, but they are solid, no leaks. She is FAST, and that is what I want far more than a battle barge that will haul all of my gear (thats BJ’s job)

AND (2nd WHY) I want a race boat. Lyssa is a great little boat, but I am technically TOO big for her. My wieght is just below that max payload she is rated for and so putting anything in her along with me maxes her out. And it shows in her performance when I do. She’s an all arounder dayboat for me.

I know, I know, I am talking in circles trying to “justify what screwed me up more and left me breathless on a shredded bed‘ here. Fact is, there is the “you let a boat defeat you” vibe I would have to deal with if just up and sold her. And I can still turn around and sell her later if I find I still don’t like her (have never been able to get comfortable enough to really get to know her, due to that ocean cockpit .) Her value as a boat won’t change any (seeing how they aren’t moving anyways,, zero is still zero) and maybe with a keyhole cockpit, someone would find her interesting at least,,,,

and that gives me a project that I can play with over the next couple of months when things are less than conducive to paddling (will still, especially after that drysuit comes in,,, but you know what I mean.)

Bzzzzzz goes saw! No turnin’ back once that first cut is made.

Posting this on Dec 27th 2023, First cut starts 01072024. IF you would like to buy an original ’92 Nordkapp HM that is sound, contact me before then!

Ge’lawd what a hole,,,,

Without jumping and tossing my opinions out there, this is REFRESHING to see, two highly intellligent people of opposed view points discussing RATIONALLY, those points. No mud slinging, some ‘hot spots’ of sorts, but RATIONAL,,, DEBATE.

Now, I said I wasn’t going to toss my opinion in, but, well, maybe just a little.

They are both right in so many ways, and both wrong. I think they miss something, some premise that would tie it all together, something they make an assumption about, right out of the gate and due to that can’t see the others interpretation;

GO, watch, laugh a bit and there are many points where the humor is geniune, without attempting to be humorous. There are tensions at points, because, this is always a serious subject and people have died for these things in the past (are still in some parts of the world.) Give it a listen, think, and thats the biggest thing, THINK,,,,

Anywhoos,,, The battery on my keyboard just started flashing at me, and I want to go back and listen again without the distractions of work and kittehs.

More later,,,,

tapping this out on Christmas Eve, and will schedule it for after tomorrow.  Y’all need to spend time with Fams-n-Frens anyways,,, stop trolling the interwebz for at least one day,,,,,

Took Rio out for my ‘mission; paddle search’ mid afternoon on Sunday (Christmas Eve)  Lovely weather, 66 degrees out, little wind, more breeze than wind, and that water, while cold wasn’t hatefully so: a pair of neoprene gloves were perfect to keep the front feet warm. 

Rio,,,   She’s ‘interesting’,,,,   She definitely prefers aggressive paddling.   Get a little timid on her and she gets that bit in her teeth and you’d best just hang on.    She can flip heading without changing bearing in less than 2′ of travel and not change direction of travel.   Eye blink and you are looking backwards.    If that happens in some chop and current, that may be a two axis pivot, not just one.  (You’ll be making like an upside-down fish)  

But man, You dig in that blade, get some authority in your position and she flat FLIES on water.   Edges like a long boat and will grab an eddyline as if she had hooks in it. (amazing for a boat with no chines!)  She ferries like a dream and while I haven’t the surfaces to try here, I would say she will surf anything that has a face, not just soup.   I was holding her in a small drop and only needing to dip the blades enough to keep my speed up (matching water speed so I wasn’t actually moving anywhere)   Dip a little faster and I attained the upper drop, ease off and back down in it.   A little right edge and slowly drifted left, a little left edge and slowly drifted right.  and no paddle needed for either.  

Only problems I had:  Skirt had shrank since the last time I used it.  Took about 10 minutes for me to get the blasted thing on the cockpit rim.  (I kinda knew I was in trouble at the truck because the tunnel was real bitch to get into, and I have lost a little weight since I wore it last.)   That difficulty set up my brain for anxiety (if hard to put on, may not hold when needed.  Applies to bungee skirts, not rand skirts, which are ALWAYS a bitch to put on and probably just as much a bitch to get OFF.)   And I didn’t do my ‘get wet first’ exercise,,,,    I didn’t because I knew the clock was ticking (short days) and I wanted to get downriver to find that bloody paddle.   Shoulda taken that extra couple minutes: that skirt would have been wet and stretched out easier. My mind would have been more intune with ‘you’re already wet dummie’ and not anxious about getting wet, so getting reacquainted wouldn’t have been the chore it became.

As for sea-legs and Rio,,, hell, that boat is just as stable as Blue Jean if you do what you’re supposedta.  Hit a submerged treelimb (while I was still feeling anxious) and she just slid off it and didn’t do anything silly.  Goosed me a bit, but that was that.   While she tracks like a squirrel, and is fast about it. keep that blade in the water and you have control of her and she’ll go where YOU want, not all whim and whimsey.   Want to pull a 90? let that paddle fall behind your hip and WHOOOSH, you are off at a tangent.   Found that out by accident, but good to know. 

She’s FAST,,,   not straightline fast (though that kinda to when in current) but handling like a sports car fast.   May not exceed the speedlimit but never leave your lane either.   (May be why I like her over the ARC,,, She handles like a Fiat X/1-9, quick and nimble)

I may end up liking whitewater at this rate,,, (Still your beating heart B, I said MAY,,,,)

No pics,, No GPS tracking, No Action camera footage,,,   Hell, I didn’t even take a water bottle and noted its absence at take out: Mad thirsty.   And no, Aint gonna be drinking out of the Cumberland ( There are cows that get in the water upstream from my put in,,,  Think about it,,, BLECH!!!!)   All I wanted to focus on was finding a paddle and getting familiar with the boat again.   Hindsight, I should have reversed objectives.  

And no, Didn’t find that paddle.   Likely a bit further downstream than I went given the time I had before ‘Can’t see’   (and Had I thought about it, its nearly full moon tonight, could have stayed out a bit longer.)  thinking about taking Blue Jean out for a spin Christmas mornin (Before I have to do the family runnin’ round thing in the afternoon) and if so, I will go further downstream and see what I can see.

Up early, by choice, good breakfast in me belly, kittehs content in front of the woodburner beside Voodoo. Happy buzzes and dawg snores fill my home.

A mission today, of a sort,,,, Da’s friend lost his paddle on the river last week. He found half of it yesterday, a quarter mile downstream, but didn’t see the other half. While not a high dollar one, he isn’t exactly well to do either and a paddle is an expense he would struggle with. (He bought the boat from my Da for a song, but thats another story altogether.) So, today, I take Rio out on the local river and see what I can find. No promises of success, but effort will be made, and I get to play in some current at the same time. (gee, it sure would be nice if that drysuit were here,,,, LOL Not really needed, what I have will suffice and I am close to home if I start to feel chill.)

Talkin’ to Sis last night, talking about gifting,,, I said “I prefer to find things that the other person would enjoy but won’t spend the money on themselves” and that can be a hard thing to come up with, especially if you aren’t deep in thier lives to know what that something is. Another form of gifting that I use, but didn’t say then, is: Make it! Make something, even if it’s just a knickknack or shelf occupier. Me being me, I usually try to make some functional item, utilitarian sort of stuff, not knickknacks,,,, Say, a kayak paddle (not this time, different breed of boat ) Things like this don’t need to be perfect either,,, j

and then I get into the whole ‘why do we gift anways?’ question. Some say its in respect to the gifts of the three kings. or a reflection of that tradition. Seriously, this may be the facts, but it has become so commercialized and out of touch,,,,,

I’m gonna let that go for now,,, too many third rails laying under the surface of that subject.

Last night, when talking to my sis, I think we gifted each other with what we needed to. Confirmation of our status with each other as Best Friends/Confidants sans reproach. We used to fight like dawgs when we were kids, really rough stuff too. But when someone from outside decided one of us was an easy target,, that person found out that it wasn’t going to be ‘the one’; nopes, they had to deal with ALL of us kids and we were very much the ‘fair fight? whazzat?’ mindset.

Now, years down the road, I find we have been forged in iron; self willed, stubborn, ornery cusses,( but big softies under it all) ,,,,,

I don’t know where I am going with all this,,, I just opened the valve with the intent of wishing y’all Merry Christmas. Yet I feel there is something in these thoughts that carries that message much better than just mere vocalizing of a cliche,,, And it has become cliche in so many ways.

Most people don’t even see the bastardization of the word now. Christs’ MASS,,, how this is very much a religious thing. While I don’t follow any one particular faith (organized, oldskool like) I do have my beliefs, even FAITH if you will,,,,, apologies,, won’t preach to anyone, especially not broadbrushed in a blog.

There is a very magical time about this part of the year. I may not be able to spend it with those I should be spending it with, (reasons, not choices) and that is why it hits me sideways. My conversation with my Sis last night turned the blahs into happiness: I can hope she can say the same today.

Valves open, but whats coming out is a discombobulated mess,,,,

Y’all have a VERY Merry Christmas,,, I come back with something not stir fried Toosdea,,,,

“Russia has cornered the rats and they’re panicking.” RTWT its worth your time

More tomorrow

Dio went and did it.    Thanks goes out to Bossman, Son of Bossman, Mike in FLA, and one other that wishes anonymity,,,,

I bought my Drysuit.

Shipping from Chineee,,, and not top of the line, but for the type of water fun I do, this unit has good reviews,,,,

And it didn’t cost me a Grand or more to get.

These have been getting people on water that normally have to make other accommadations (like layered wetsuits and still freeze your cojones off) or forgoe paddling altogether,

and it didn’t cost me a Grand or more to get,,,,

Granted NOT in my front feet just yet,,, I only ordered it today, and I used the CrdCard so that IF things go sour in the transaction, I have some legal recourse, BUT, the money that is spent was bonus, donated, and gifted, so I did not break my finances.

If it works well, and I find that I am getting more paddle time in during not so friendly months, LATER, I will figure out how to finance one of those high dollar suits with lifetime warranties,,,, (honestly though, I feel that the hype around Gore-tex is just that, HYPE,,, Sweated a few times in my drytop which is a goretex make,,,, When the ‘burped’ top starts to inflate from moisture and heat, I think its safe to say ‘it ain’t breathing’ as advertised.) The whole point of these things is to keep you dry and that is what keeps you warm (as long as you dress accordingly underneath it,,, I has that stuff.) I found that wetsuits are good, but there is a ticking clock attached to them, even in GOOD conditions. I didn’t go full hypothermic, but I was a jittery teeth chattering mess, and the water was 70 degrees. Three hours with little activity (spotter in a pool for rolling classes) and my core had dropped to near danger levels. 20 minutes in a warm shower helped immensely, wetsuit and all. With that history of my suits in mind, I calculate VERY CAREFULLY when I will or won’t go on water now. Hopefully that will change a bit with the new drysuiit. (there is a rule of thumb called the hundred degrees rule. If the water and air temperature add up to less than 100 degrees(Faranheit) start dressing heavy. I modify that rule to 120, because I have been in a situaton where the 100 degree mark was ‘right there’ and I felt I was in danger still, despite being dressed for it. Least to say, I didn’t stay out long that day, and it felt warmer in the water than above. I was dressed for immersion, not exposure and the cold rain was rinsing through my wetsuit chilling me down FAST. (maybe the rain temps brought that number to well below the hundred number,,, Dunno for certain, but it was KOLD,,,,)

And I didn’t go out today as I had planned this AM,,,, temps are still below 40 outside right now and won’t get to that high 50’s mark until mid afternoon. Water temps are low 50’s high 40’s right now (higher near shore, colder out in open water) and

well,,, Thats what inspired me to go ahead and pull the trigger on this drysuit. I know my limits in gear and where the weather is sitting is borderline. If I were in a group, hell yes, lets go,,, I solo, most everytime,,, Has to mitigate the risk, and like flying; take offs are optional, landings are mandatory. I opt out of the take off so that I don’t have to worry about that landing (that could be the crash,,, where you still end up on the ground drowned.)

SOON,,, just have to wait on international shipping times,,, (note: fellow paddling bud bought one lastyear (two?) and had his before the predicted arrival, I’m hoping for similar but won’t be mad if it takes (a little) longer. BUT, I am ready to file for recourse if things start to seem shady,,,,)

SO, not paddling for Dio today, but I do have the ERG and that will suffice for now. mehbe t’morrah,,,,,,