For the first time in three years of attending the WCSKS I got to go the whole weekend, and I guess I had a different experience.

As a "guest" of Pygmy Boats, I showed up Thursday afternoon to paddle one of their demo boats in a loose group from their showroom at the Point Hudson marina (next to downtown Port Townsend)to the beach at Fort Warden Park, about 2 miles to the north.

Weatherwise, after a cool Friday morning, the sun came out for the rest of the weekend. In contrast to the weather on the Right Coast, Saturday evening was the first all this Puget Sound summer that I could sit out in the open at a picnic table long enough to watch the evening pass and actually track the passage of the moon and stars.

Saturday morning I went to my second attendance at a Paul Ford lecture. He was back (with more scheduled time this year) with his lecture, "How to Build a Cedar Strip Kayak." He brings his imaginative collection of small, simple to make, jigs and clamps that help the process move along, at near zero cost. When I get around to doing a stripbuilt, I'll try his method for staple-less clamping.

Sometime, I think Saturday afternoon, a three-person crew rolled a triple-holer to the applause of the entire beach.

And then there were the lectures by the San Fransisco-based(?)Tsunami Rangers. After some serious training and acclimatization, they go out into nasty looking surf, rock gardens, and caves and play like otters.

This past June, just after finishing up my 2nd Coho, I took both boats over to Port Townsend to show them off to Pygmy. I hoped to get on their "approved builders" list, or whatever it's called, and maybe someday get connected with other people who couldn't build their own but really, really wanted one.

Pygmy looked them over, but instead of putting me on their list, they asked me to bring one or both boats to the WCSKS to be "part of their display" as I recall it.

So we came to a small barter: They took care of my attendance fees and even put me up at the barracks at the fort; I showed up every morning and dropped off my boat to have it sit in the sun and have everyone in the world run their hands over.

As it turns out, I spent about half the weekend at the beach display, generally getting underfoot, answering questions about the #2 boat, and watching the water fill with kayaks of all sorts, sometimes dozens at a time. Quite a sight to a normally solo paddler.

So I had a real good time: I met and talked with dozens of people, picked up a few more building tips from Paul Ford, paddled a couple of other boats, bought a pair of those new knee-high mukluks, and even got a little sunburn. I can often comfortably go for a week or more without speaking with anyone besides my wife or cats, yet I found the mix of being a part of the program as well as being an attendee to be a much more balanced and enjoyable weekend. Shoot, I even enjoyed the reggae music, if mostly from several hundred yards away.

I fell in love with wood kayaks. By numbers, I would guess, they are a small subset of all kayaks. I don't feel the need to think poorly of glass or plastic boats, though, in order to appreciate the wood ones. So I don't have to put someone else down in order to feel good about what I've chosen. Likewise, I don't have to put anyone else down to justify why I'm irritating myself over something else.

I spent 3.5 days with the Pygmy staff. They're good folks who were unfailingly nice to me, and I hope I'm not embarrassing them by saying, "Thanks," to them here for having me around.

So I object to your singling Pygmy out as being a principal source of your frustrations. I don't think John Lockwood, the head of Pygmy, likes my hatch restraint system much, but I'm not torquing myself all out about it. You were so hacked off that you couldn't even wait for the symposium to be over before your excoriation of Pygmy got to be the very first WCSKS-related posting here.

Your characterisation of comments made by other interested, but rejected, vendors should be rejected as unreliable hearsay.

Your attempt to flame Pygmy in public on the www yet limit potential negative response by asking for only private criticism of your rant is reminiscant of the cowardice of most grenade lobbers, as I call them, and I won't be express surprise that others will also see your ploy for what it is, an attempt to avoid getting hit by your own sprapnel.

Open your eyes. What you want for your boat or your life is out there, either capable of being purchased right off the shelf, or you can make it yourself. Don't expect all your needs to be satisfied by others, particularly any single one.

Attitude is everything.

So go again next year, maybe spend a little more time and relax that sphincter a bit. Consider volunteering time or help as part of the logistical support staff.