Ursus Pacificus

I finally took the Assateague out Yesterday!

It’s fast. I mean faaaaaast! Whee!

The skeg is glorious! Whee!

It makes my Rav look tiny! Awww…

Here’s hoping the weather holds out a little longer!

Well, I got 4 miles in… Took the Touryak.

Put in at the North side of Salter Grove in Warwick, paddling North along the breakwater. I exited the protected boat basin, and entered the Providence River, heading South. I turned West , into Passeonkquis Cove, and found a public boat launch. It’s on Bay Shore BLVD in Warwick, RI. There’s some parking, and a textured concrete ramp but no bathroom facilities.

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It was a good paddle, but I have a way to go to get my groove back

First up, NewsUndies finally has kitsch of its own:

Then there’s the KayakKave’s new design:

Finally there’s the “something wicked” design;

Stop by and pick up a gift for the Significant Other or Wee Ones (if you have any).

Well… Sure, it’s not the first time ANYONE’s gone kayaking this year… but it’s the first time I’m going!

I’ll be taking my Prijon Touryak,

and putting in at Slater Grover Memorial Park,

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probably around 10:30 or 11:00AM.

I’ll be staying in the protected basin, there, north of the park, and possibly heading up the Pawtuxet River a little bit. I’ll probably do about 4 or 5 miles today… kind of ease into it

The Hullavator is on. Wow… what a thing…

That’s my trusty old Prijon Touryak up there.

Well… new to me…

It’s a 2002 RAV4. I haven’t put the kayak rigging up top, yet… hopefully I can get to that at lunch today.

Of course… a silver RAV4… that’s pretty ordinary… I need to make it stand out somehow… Bumper Stickers come to mind….

I’ll have more when there’s more to report.

Check dis out, yo!

http://www.ursuspacificus.net/imgal/main.php?g2_itemId=1758

After trying out the Impex Assateague back in 2005 (and every year since) at North Cove Outfitters‘ Demo Days, I’ve finally broken down and bought one.

Here she is:

I was going to buy it from The Kayak Centre of Rhode Island, but they didn’t have any in stock, and I was told that even if they did (they had their demo thing this weekend, too) the discount would only be about 3%. That was kind of a disappointment… the good news would have been that there’s no sales tax on boats in RI. HOWEVER! The boat would be a special order, and the wait would be 8-12 weeks!

Well, I decided that would not stand. I hopped in my truck and drove all the way to Deep River, CT, where North Cove was doing their thing. Not only did they have an Assateague in stock, on-site; not only was the discount 15% (offset, however, by CT’s sales tax), but they had one in the color I wanted!

Well, Duuuuuh!

So, now I have a motivator to get the house finished, so I can go out paddling! Whee!

Here’re some more pics:

Sweet boat! Can’t wait to get out in the open water!

Oh, I also ordered a new Werner cabon-fiber paddle and got a new PFD while I was there… Grand total was just over $3000, including tax.

I’ll be doing a review of the boat, the paddle and the PFD when I finally get out on the water this year. Stay tuned!