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My new boat is HERE!

Whenever I get a new item there is a process of becoming familiar with it. There always seems to be something different from the old item and there is an anxious sense of not wanting to change my view or conditioned habits concerning the new item from the old. But by having some patience, and letting go of attachment to the old and aversion to the new, a new relationship towards the item is formed.
Buying a new boat, phone, tool, tv, etc, is for me, a practice of becoming aware of my nature of mind and conditioned perceptions and responses towards something new or foreign. Engaging my senses with open heart and open mind I am often surprised by how dropping the judgements and opinions can transform the experience of buying something new.
 
You are definitely right. As I said, it was a good thing that my old boat was already sold, b/c it forced me to move on even through the discomfort. :) I feel much better now.
 
Here is a pic of the Smarty Hatch from inside. I was wrong--it's 4" deep, not 2"! And it extends forward 12". It's about 6" wide at the top and 4" at the bottom. You can see that it really does make it hard to get in and out w/out taking your butt out of the seat! If I'd had a choice I wouldn't have gotten it, but it was on the boat and I liked the boat and at the time I thought only how handy it would be!

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Yeah, and you really don't need that much room for sunscreen and a snack. Well, I'm gonna end up having AMAZING balance LOL. I could stand up on my old boat. I guess I'll start working on that in the new boat this summer LOL. I can work on around the world when sitting behind the cockpit, etc. Surf launches and landings will be nothing eventually. ;)
 
Paws, congrats on new boat! In Belize now. Will comment more when back early March. Very soon your “ tippy” will change to “responsive”.
 
Congratulations from another SKUK boat owner. Black hulls are a bit special. You will cry when you scrape it!
 
I know I will. I got a keel strip put on it. Hopefully that will help a LITTLE bit. My friend Joel's Explorer HV is ALL black and he's already freaking out about the scratches from his spare paddle on the deck.
 
pawsplus said:
I know I will. I got a keel strip put on it. Hopefully that will help a LITTLE bit. My friend Joel's Explorer HV is ALL black and he's already freaking out about the scratches from his spare paddle on the deck.
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Scratches like that don't bother me much.
If they did, I'd think about putting on a few pieces of PaintProtectionFilm (PPF) or 'helicopter tape' - though those can deteriorate over time and be unsightly. There are businesses which specialize in removing PPF from vehicles because of that; I was surprised when I found them on the internet.
 
pawsplus said:
I know I will. I got a keel strip put on it. Hopefully that will help a LITTLE bit. My friend Joel's Explorer HV is ALL black and he's already freaking out about the scratches from his spare paddle on the deck.
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I also have a dark deck - yours is a perfect colour scheme, that deck will look pretty always. Would love to fit the Pilgrim x but I tried one and it creaked as I wedged myself in - big bones!

Interesting about the sweetie hatch, no longer hankering for one though yet to find a satisfactory deck bag.
 
Grian said:
Interesting about the sweetie hatch, no longer hankering for one though yet to find a satisfactory deck bag.
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Those 'glove boxes' might work better on a boat with a very peaked deck profile.
But I don't really see the utility of them (or of front deck bags on top of the deck)...that's where my chart and some other stuff (GPS, contact tow line) sits. Some of the items that would go in the glove box or deck bag (Clif Bar or candy, camera, neo balaclava) will go in pockets of a PFD like the MSFit tour or one of the 'Guide' PFDs.
 
Yeah--if it had not already been on the boat I wouldn't have paid extra for it. It IS a good place to safely stow the waterproof camera when in hairy conditions though.
 
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Paws, a person who refits kayaks told me that scratches are "smile lines". - but still .....

I noticed your kayak was on top of a Jeep Cherokee. Good choice. Here's a photo of mine when I traveled to Seattle one year for some spring paddling. Notice that I got the jeep color right to match the kayak. Those things matter.

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The Cherokee is my friend Joel's car. I can't agree that it is a great choice--they have terrible repair records and he just had to put in a new transmission at 60k miles! That is unconscionable in my book.

I just got a new (to me) vehicle--a 2015 Toyota Rav4. I've had Toyotas all my life and they are workhorses! :)
 
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Well it was a newer jeep and they were on hiatus for many years. As with many things "new" (except maybe Toyotas), there is a quality difference. Is that your kayak shed? What a great accessory for your boat!
 
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