Kayaking...

So this winter has really had me down a bit. I don't particularly care for the winter. I've been biding my time by playing video games, watching football, and building Lego sets. Lately, I've gotten a few other things that will occupy some of my time...the wood burning kit and the trebuchet kit.

I also have a new thing to occupy some time in the summer with my unicycle.

But getting the nice life vest for Christmas from my parents has really got me hyped up about getting out in the kayak again this spring. I, of course, was looking at kayaks online yesterday, and something popped up that really made me feel better about keeping the TK-1 around. It's now sold at several of the Big Box stores...like Dick's Sporting Goods and MC Sports. Now, I know that doesn't mean that it's a super high quality awesome kayak...but it DOES make me feel a bit better about the overall quality of the product as I don't think that Dick's and MC would sell things that are absolute junk. So seeing the TK-1 on those sites made me feel more comfortable about having this as my main boat for a few seasons.

Now I've just got to think about getting Cathy her own life vest and getting the skeg for the TK-1. After that, I'll just need to start trying to figure out where the best place for us to go for the first time together will be. I'm leaning a bit towards that Sleepy Hollow State Park that I didn't get to make it to this past fall. It seems to be a good sized lake for starting, and the fact that power boats aren't allowed there will be nice for Cathy's first time out.

I'm still leaning towards going with the Sea Eagle boat as my next kayak...when and if I eventually upgrade. Probably a 340x, but maybe the 380x. Either way, those are both good boats from the reviews that I've read. I still don't think that I'll be upgrading to a hardshell anytime soon, as the cost of them isn't that bad...but the cost of the things to transport them is pretty high. About the only way I would think of upgrading to a hardshell would be if I got a great deal on a used one. Granted, the Sea Eagle is quite a bit more expensive than even a decent small hardshell, but when you throw all of the extras that come with the Sea Eagle along with the three year warranty and the fact that you don't need any kinds of racks or anything to haul it around it seems like it's still a pretty good deal. Who knows though...but that's neither here nor there right now, for I look forward to getting back out on the TK-1 this coming spring...

...now, if only this stupid snow and ice would go away...