Re: thanks to everyone

Posted by Karl on Aug 23, 2005

Jeff, I built my first one last winter. Had a good time, ran into some snags that the people here helped me through, learned a few lessons, came up with a few of my own tricks, etc. Now that it's done, I've learned a few more lessons (graduate classes?). I'm working on my next homebuilt, which is a Greenland style skin on frame qajaq and I've been to one gathering of builders so far. Here are some of the lessons I learned.

Building one boat does not make you underqualified to give advice. You may have had exactly the situation happen to you that someone else is looking for advice on.

Building 10 boats does not make you overqualified. I think most of the grizzled veterans on this forum, keep coming back in some small part because you never know when you might pick up a new trick or two.

What you see is what you get, in terms of people. The one gathering I went to hooked me on hanging out with these people. Everyone seems to keep it real, and I've yet to meet anyone involved with this sport/hobby that I wouldn't enjoy hanging out and having a couple of cold ones with.

The "Wow" factor. Is there anything as cool as standing at the gas pump, and having a complete stranger come up and start ogling the boat on your roofrack, asking questions. How many of them do a double take when you tell them that you built it?

In Response to: thanks to everyone by Jeff on Aug 23, 2005

Replies:

No Replies.