100 Boats In 100 Days: I'M BACK!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I'M BACK!

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I was at a place that didn't have cell coverage nor an internet connection for any amount of time. But that was the story while I was in up state New York, which will hopefully explain the seven day gap in my blogging. It was a gap in blogging but not a gap in paddling to be sure, I'll be getting all of the reviews and reports up as soon as possible. With any luck I'll finally have time to get some video and pictures up as well. While I'm trying to get caught up with the out of town posts I'm falling a bit behind on what I've paddled since I got back. While I work to get the reports and reviews posted you can keep track of what I've been paddling with the list below.

Day 28 - Pyranah "Master TG 265" general purpose white water kayak
Day 29 - Old Town "Penobscot" open canoe
Day 30 - Old Town "Discovery 158" open canoe
Day 31 - "Vampire" racing kayak
Day 32 - "Qaarsut" greenland inspired sea kayak
- Return to San Diego -
Day 33 - "Admunsun" standup
Day 34 - Ocean Kayak 'Scupper Pro'
Day 35 - P&H 'Scorpio LV'

3 comments:

UnknownMay 20, 2009 at 7:41 AM
Welcome back!
ReplyDelete
Replies
Thom UnderwoodMay 22, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Your commitment to keeping with the 100 boats in 100 days vision despite the difficulties in your schedule shows your character. Your ongoing commitment to developing your kayaking teaching skill set shows your commitment to excellence and professionalism. Congratulations on both. It is a privileged to know you and paddle with you.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Aaron StachovakMay 23, 2009 at 8:36 PM
Thom, having known Jake a little longer - I would say his commitment is a sign of his hard head not letting him quit!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

What's this all about

I was inspired by a Southern California paddler, Mark Sanders, who last year managed to paddle one hundred days in one calendar year. Paddling an average of almost two days a week is quite a feet for the average person that has to maneuver around work and family schedules to find the time to paddle, and I was impressed. Late last year as Mark’s paddle reports number 94, 95, 96… came in on the CKF club e-mail list I got to thinking that because I live so close to the water and as a instructor/guide at Aqua Adventures I have access to an entire fleet of kayaks, canoes, and other paddle craft, there is no excuse for me to not paddle almost every day. So, on January first of this year I set out to paddle something every day. Not necessarily always a kayak, because of the nature of our fleet we have open canoes, surf skis, and paddle boards available too. I figured it’d be good to mix it up on a different craft now and then to broaden my skill level in those areas, and just to get a little variety. To keep myself honest I set a minimum time limit of one hour to be sure that I couldn’t just dip a blade and call it a day. By mid March I had only missed five days in the year and was on track to finish my first hundred days within a month.

As I paddled up to our dock one morning before our Southwest Kayak Symposium I eyed the huge fleet of boats and boards that we have pondering what an enormous chore it is to keep all of those boats floating, much less in top operating condition. Then a thought struck me that I could paddle a different boat every day for almost a hundred days just from what we have on the dock. A quick count from water level gave me an estimate of about 85 boats in our fleet of rental/demo equipment. Add a half dozen more demo boats in the store we already have about 90 boats that a person could paddle. After thinking about it for a bit my plan was hatched to try to do just that. – Paddle 100 boats in 100 days -- To add to the challenge I want to rule out any duplicate models of boats we have, meaning that I will be paddling 100 completely different boats (brand, model, material, etc.) during the 100 day challenge.

With so many boats in our fleet it’s a constant challenge to familiarize myself with the specs and performance of each boat. With experience one can predict what a boat will be like by looking at it but nothing compares to putting your butt in the seat and giving it a go. Throughout this endeavor I will be taking note of my experiences in each boat and sharing that info on this blog, kind of a mini review. Before anyone pays too much attention to my reviews they should remember that this is FAR from a scientific study. I won’t be paddling the same course in the same conditions to allow for a truly head to head comparison of each boat. More importantly, because not every boat is designed to fit me (height, weight, strength, experience, etc.) not every boat will perform as it might for a person that is the appropriate size and skill level. The truth remains that nothing, absolutely nothing, can take the place of paddling a boat for yourself. So, take my reviews for what they are (my personal experience and opinion) and use that to gain just a little more info about these boats, then get out on the water and give them a try for yourself. If you have tried out a boat I mention in this endeavor please feel free to share your experience with me via this blog.

100 Boats In 100 Days

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I'M BACK!

3 comments:

What's this all about

Followers

Blog Archive

About Me