Desired Accomplishments for 2024 Kayak Season

Just before the kayak season I tend to list goals for that imminent season. Typically I don't achieve all (sometimes only a few) of them. It's a little embarrassing to mention these, but I am temporarily incapacitated as I await the end of the time suggested to let my cataract surgery mend. Boredom rules.

1. We have 4 kayaks - one for my wife and three others. At my advanced age I should sell at least one of those others. The three are

• Valley 17.3 Etain

• Current Designs Slipstream

• Current Designs Squamish

I should probably keep the last. It is not rotomolded like typical Squamish kayaks, rather it is composite, probably aramid or carbide i.e. very light at less than 40 pounds. It's easy for me to wrestle around and, surprisingly, doesn't seem to weathercock much, if at all. On the other hand, it's short and somewhat slow ... like its owner.

2. Although one or two of the kayaks could be sold, I still need to maintain any that might not sell. In particular, I have an injury-compromised back which requires an unyielding upright posture. The back band of the Etain allows me to lean back which I do as my back tires ... this is not good. I plan to cure that problem with some minicell foam behind the back band - certainly not a major project. I have sufficient minicell in the garage and I even know where it is!

3. I am fairly certain I will keep the Squamish. I need to outfit it i.e. likely some minicell padding at my hips and between the coaming and my thighs. Unfortunately this will remove some of my excuse for a failing roll.

4. If I sell two kayaks, not just one, I will keep my eye out for yet another kayak for guests. But I would be fairly picky, perhaps some older classic such as an NDK/SKUK Explorer or a Boreal Design Ellesmere.

5. Among my kayak paddles I have two wooden ones that cannot be broken down into two pieces. Of course, the two piece is more convenient to carry as a spare paddle. The paddles are

• a rather long Aleutian paddle

• a much lighter Greenland paddle
  

Somewhere in the garage I have a ferrule ready to use.

6. I am neither a swift nor a long distance kayaker. Nevertheless, I have a goal to kayak at least 40 days and a total distance exceeding 200 nmi. If I remain healthy this should be fairly easy.

7. I hope to enter the Sand Creek Challenge and finish in under an hour. My best time was long ago at 44+ minutes. Now it's not so easy to finish in less than an hour.

8. Recover my roll. Some years ago I had a dependable layback roll that was rather consistent, but only for just one season. Since then it has deserted me, with only desultory success. Maybe it was a particularly easy kayak to roll, a SKUK Explorer. However, I'm quite sure it's me.

I will subsequently update this post as progress is made.

Lackluster Ski Season So Far

Here we are in early February with perhaps the worst ski season I've seen at Schweitzer in my nearly 50 years skiing here. Snow cover is marginal and even the Nordic trails are in occasional trouble. This is a financial strain, perhaps a disaster, for many who count on the ski area for winter employment. At this point in time with 6" of new snow, most of the back bowl still remains closed and the Nordic trail crew has just been able to restart grooming, but just for one day. The trails have dirt patches and an occasional creek running crosswise. My guess is that the Nordic trail system will recover somewhat and that the alpine runs may limp along until season's (potentially early) end. Of course, I would like to be surprised by better conditions.

As a skiing couple, we are less concerned than we would normally be. In particular, my wife had a hip replacement on Jan. 23 and will schedule the other hip replacement around 3 months later. The first hip is recovering nicely. Nevertheless, this has obliterated her ski season. Because her surgeries have earned her such attention, I have scheduled cataract surgery to compete. My right eye will be done on Feb. 19 with the left eye on March 11. This will obviously impact my ski season as well. Post surgery, should I fall on my head or run into a tree, this would be unfortunate. The way I ski, such events remain quite possible. Perhaps Nordic skiing would be a possibility if delayed long enough after the surgery.