Doug

It’s been a while since I checked in. Looks like you all had a nice trip. Bob, your looking great.

Congratulations

I wish I had the time.

3M buffing compounds work best for me. A bit pricey but worth it. Then wax followed by polish. Doug

A good read!. Very ambitious trip. I especially enjoyed the dialog in the trip planning. I'm currently playing in some of the same areas north of Campobello but with a nice roof over my head at night. Nice going guys. Doug

I'm glad they kept the hull white because scratches on a painted hull, removes the paint which can look pretty bad. Beautiful Woody non the less. Wish I fit in one. Doug

Or maybe your not getting any younger.

I have 3 Gearlab paddles. All received within 2 weeks time. The folks at Gearlab have had some issues in the past as they developed new products and finishes. I would not be at all concerned with your purchase. They are very serious about maintaining a good reputation and I'm sure you wil be very happy with your purchase. Doug

Tom Berg and I went through this exercise over the past 2 years and my research found the following. The deck fittings are actually improperly placed for the mini hatch in front of the cockpit. I have seen photos of the bungies crossing directly over the hatch when installed with the mini hatch. If that doesn't bother you and you don't care about having a secure place for a chart, than go for it. A re-design of the deck mold is needed to have the bungies properly placed with the new hatch installed. I also hear the the compartment under the deck is too large and gets in the way of your legs. P&H designed their boats with the mini hatch exclusively in mind and placed the deck fittings in the proper location. It is an after thought with the new hatch and the old NDK decks. As far as I know they have not changed the mold and it's not known if and when it will happen. My guess is that it won't occur as Nigel is now busy building all the TIDERACE boats in his factory. Doug

I guess I jumped the gun. It looks like only the "Message Board" was altered. I could have sworn that all the original color photo mastheads and layout had disappeared but now I do seem to have full access to them. Very strange. I guess I'm not as computer savy as I thought. In any event, feel free to remove my comments as they are redundant. Doug

If it wasn't broke, why fix it? Was it necessary to do this drab upgrade? So much went into the one we had. Can we revert back to it? Doug

#8 is alien like!

If your referring to a GP (carbon GREENLAND Paddle) don't wax it if it's carbon fiber. You need some slippage for the strokes. If it's too slippery, take some wet/dry sandpaper to it. It won't shine but won't be as slippery. Doug

Nice going CATHY