I was at the barbers the other day getting my bald spot trimmed up. The person cutting my hair was a gorgeous young Russian babe (yeah I know, in New Zealand we are politically correct to a fault these days).

Anyhow she asked me "vat are yooo goink to doo today?" (like all gorgeous Russian babes in all the James Bond movies she was very skilled in the art of interrogation). Naturally I folded like a pack of cards and spilled the beans: "Well, I'm going to spend the afternoon building my Nick Schade stitch and glue kayak ... I got the plans free of the internet".

The gorgeous babe thought about it for a while. I thought: well you asked... Then she said: "Soo you bild it yourselff ... out of woood .... verrry interestink ...you know, your kayak has soul".

Yes she had a point, because the kayak was built out of wood, because the construction journey was littered with minor triumphs and battles it was unique in subtle ways and it had meaning, it had SOUL.

I say the Raven has soul and long may the Raven fly.

Cheers Pete