Yes, yes. I know I shouldn’t buy thing while I’m unemployed; but here’s what happened.
There’s this old guy, Bill, who lives up the street. My roommate is an avid kayaker who hacked apart an old luggage cart so that he could stick the poles into the scupper holes and tow his 'yak down to the beach. Bill saw him heading for the beach on a few occasions. Roomie was out paddling one day, and Bill happened to be at the shore as he was paddling in. The bright yellow Cobra hit the beach and Roomie pulled it up and put his makeshift dolly on it. Bill said, “Hey, let me try that!” He took the toggle in-hand and pulled the kayak a short distance. He thought that that was just what he needed.
On Tuesday Bill came over. He looked at Roomie’s Cobra, and I showed him my Ocean Kayak Drifter. (He’d been looking at the Drifter in a catalogue.) I offered to let him try it out.
Yesterday (Thursday) was a gorgeous day. It was in the mid-50s, at least; and the sun shone in a brilliant blue sky. Perfect. Roomie popped the wheels on his 'yak, and I put mine atop the Cherokee. (It’s only a block downhill to the beach, but the Drifter weighs 56 pounds and it’s easier just to drive it – unless you have detachable wheels like Roomie’s!) Roomie took my 'yak, while Bill used his. I was feeling a little left out, sitting there in my jeans; so I walked up the hill for my trunks. When I returned, Roomie and Bill had swapped. I waited for them to come in, and Bill was quite enthusiastic. I went out in mine for a quick ride. Should’ve worn my drypants; the Drifter is a wet 'yak, and I was getting a bit cold “down under”.
Rewind to Tuesday. Bill said he definitely wanted a kayak, but that he should get rid of his boat first. He offered to trade it for either my kayak or Roomie’s. Now, both of us are attached to our 'yaks; no way are we going to trade them. But we went to Bill’s to look at his boat anyway.
It’s a small boat that Bill and his brother built. At 11’ 10", it’s just under the legal limit for requiring registration. They also built the trailer. At under 1,500 pounds capacity, it’s under the limit for requiring a license. (Or so he says. Maybe laws are different in Oregon, where they built it. We had a cop behind us for about a mile, and he didn’t pull us over though.) The hull of the boat is light brown, and the gunnels are white. The interior is grey. It’s sprit-rigged (cat-rigged with a spritsail) with a flat bottom. A flat bottom seems a good choice for the wide, shallow Birch Bay. I think the best description I can come up with is that the boat looks like a large, sprit-rigged Sabot with a pointed bow instead of a flat one.
Okay, it’s Thursday again. After yakkin’, we went and got the boat. It’s rather heavy, being made of wood, and it took the three of us to haul it over the driftwood and rocks. Roomie and I took it out, with me at the tiller. It handled pretty well. Not as fast as a boat with a rounded bottom, but not too slow either. (But then, all of the other boats I’ve sailed were sloop-rigged; except for the Sabots, which were cat-rigged.) We agreed that it would be a nice little boat for crabbing and fishing.
Now, this boat would not have been my first choice. I’d rather have a 14’ Capri or Lido. (Actually, a Lido would be better because of the retractable centreboard.) But Bill only wanted $350 for it – including the trailer. I agreed to buy it from him. For another $50 he gave me a 32 pound thrust electric trolling motor, and said that if it wasn’t good enough he can probably get me the 44-pounder from his brother. Well, the boat is in great condition. It’s adequate for my needs when fishing season rolls around. It’s cheap. It’s unique. (Really trick retracting rudder, too.) Why not? I wrote Bill a cheque.
Now Bill is ready for a kayak. He told me confidentially that he liked my Drifter a lot better than Roomie’s Cobra. Besides, Ocean Kayak is headquartered just down the road in Ferndale. We three went to OK.
Bill looked at the new Drifter. The new version has a slightly higher deck (I’d never liked sitting in a puddle), and it came with a space for a small tackle box and a pair of rod holders. $600. But there was a “blemished” last-year’s model outside. “Blems” are cosmetic, and the rest of the kayak is perfect. $300. We told Bill that for the $300 he’d save, he could have his wife make a cushion for him to get his butt out of the water. He can still have rod holders installed if he wants them ($45). He wavered a bit, wanting the newer one; but he finally agreed that it was better to save 300 clams.
After deciding on the boat, he needed accessories. We showed him what he needed. He ended up getting the kayak, the best seat, a paddle, dry pants, mukluks and gloves for about $620. (10% discount on everything, and no tax because he’s not officially a Washington resident.) In other words, he got everything he needed for the price of the new version of the kayak alone. I told the sales guy that he should throw in an Ocean Kayak hat gratis. No problem. I liked the hat, so I said I’d buy one. The sales guy said I could have it for “making the sale”. Cool.
We’re going paddling today around 11:00. We’ll probably go over to Point Whitehorn. And when fishing season comes around, I now have a little sailboat to go out in. 
Incidentally, since the boat is under 12 feet long, I thought I’d name it Leviathan.
), so we had a bit of a trek across the mud flats.