Great job! Its good to see life brought back, pass the heart paddles and set for 300 jewels... Clear.... It is alive!

: Hey All,

: I'm absolutely thrilled to say that the rebuild is done. Because outside
: temperatures took a major nose dive over the last few days, I've kept
: working on her, finishing a few final touches to the superstructure and
: glassing. I haven't named her yet but that should happen shortly. I am
: contemplating naming her the "J.A. Rapid Phoenix".
: "J.A." are my wife's initials. I figured since we're renewing
: our wedding vows I should honor her in the old sailors tradition. (Psst:
: Just between you and I: it also helps to buy me some understanding when I
: tell her that I want to start building the Night Heron stripper, but keep
: THAT between you and I).

: I basically integrated everything I could recover from the wreck, including
: the broken seat, backrest and front hatch. If you want to compare the
: original wreck to the final kayak take a look at the first pictures then
: compare to the last four pictures.

: I have not given the JA her final fairing and graphics. I chose to save that
: for the long dark cold nights of the canadian winter that we are about to
: face. I would have launched the JA sooner but it got so cold I wussed out
: in favour of hoping for warmer weather. Well, that ain't a happening so
: I'll be launching in -10 C on Saturday afternoon. The wife will be there
: with me to take pics so you can see that I really did do it, and she
: floats.

: It seems to me that if you really want to do something, it can be done. I
: always figured that if I could build it, I could repair it, and so I did.
: The total cost to me was roughly $ 300 CDN, well worth the rebuilding for
: all the experience I picked up doing the repair and the sheer will to go
: for it, despite how daunting it seemed.

: Would I do it again? Well, uhm, only if I miss another sign warning me to get
: out and portage. You just never know what's around the next corner.

: Robert N Pruden