: Hello all,

: I went to dinner last night and still had the kayak on the racks.
: Someone saw the car and the boat and apparently went and told
: the bartender to come look, who apparently told another customer
: who told another... next thing I knew the entire place emptied
: out- chef, bartender, waitress, patrons and all- all of them
: asking questions and looking at the kayak and the car (my hotrod
: VW). As they all milled around the car I went in the restaurant
: just to see and sure enough there was not a single person there!

: I promise it's not ego- it's actually just cool to see people
: admiring something you built, and I love all the questions about
: the kayak, the Greenland paddles, the car and the wood surfboard
: and all the other stuff that resides atop my car. No matter how
: much of a rush I'm in I always try to give a little time to
: answer their questions. Living on an island that is a cruise
: ship destination I often get tourists taking pictures and asking
: questions, sometimes even as I am stopped at redlights. It does
: look funny because the kayak is about four feet longer than the
: VW. I have to be careful when making turns not to whack stuff
: with one end or the other of the kayak. One thing for sure, I
: never have to worry about anyone stealing my car. It would take
: about two seconds to find it.

: I only post it here because I know you guys get a lot of the same
: and you won't think I'm bragging, but rather just passing on a
: funny story! Feel free to post your funny story of the attention
: your wood kayak gets.

OK, Malcolm, here goes. In Mendocino last fall I parked the car outside a row of shops, with my Shooting Star on top, mounted in J-cradles, which exposed the deck like a billboard. I was looking through a woodworking store, coming and going, hiking out to the headlands and back, etc. and just generally coming and going for a couple of hours. Any time I was out on the boardwalk there would be people just standing and staring. I gave them a wide berth, just to avoid making the same speech over and over again. One thing I often hear is, "is the boat heavy?" Another is, "is it old?" Kayak builders live in a very small bubble it seems, and most of what we take for granted is terra incognita to the world at large.

And...I wish you wouldn't keep rubbing it in about living on that gorgeous island of yours. Geez . . . .

--Scott