: Great stories.
: I didn't even get my kayak built before the comments started! I had
: the kayak in my driveway, sanding down a coat of varnish, so
: there I was, ugly sanded wood, sludgy mess all over, me covered
: in water and sludge... and a guy driving past my house parked
: and walked up and wanted to ask me all about it. Nice guy, but
: after about 20 minutes I was getting pretty tired of this
: interruption of my work!

: I did have to smile to myself though later, when I took the
: finished kayak out for the first time. On my way to the lake I
: parked in front of the local kayak specialty shop where I wanted
: to buy some Croakies. You know the kind of store, the one with
: the $3000 kayaks. And I overheard one sales clerk say to the
: other, "Do you see that kayak out there? That thing's
: AWESOME!" Made me feel good.

Fun to have this thread continue. I remember a similar thing happening when I was finishing up the Shooting Star--also working on my driveway. I guy I never saw before pulls over, parks, walks up, and says something to this effect: "I just had to stop when I saw your boat. I spent my career teaching high school wood shop. Now there aren't any more vocational arts programs, but it does my heart good to see someone practicing wood craft. Beautiful work. Thanks for continuing the tradition." And that was about it. We chatted for a few minutes, and then he got in his car and drove away. These boats indeed create unique and unexpected human connections.

On another note: I spent some time last weekend at the Bay Area Paddlefest, where I got to paddle a couple of commercial glass/Kevlar boats. I liked one of them pretty well, but really had no interest in it. It was just a "product." You wouldn't say that about something you built.

--Scott