What gets you to the water?

'98 Honda CRV. 180K miles and charging.


Old School. '91 Honda Civic 200K miles and charging when it feels like it.


My dream ride. Hydrospider's Toyota Tacoma double cab.

2008 Honda Civic - and I've almost gone 36k miles in less than 2 years...

Dream ride - Any of the full-sized 5-6 seater trucks from Ford/Chevy/Nissan.

A 2004 Trailblazer used to get me to the water, but in June '08, I switched it up to the Civic because I was driving 50-60 miles a day and my wallet was hurting!

2003 subaru forester with malone racks... makes it easy to load. One kayak sits in the saddles, on sits on the J-rack. Two ok prowler 15s are too wide to both fit in the saddles.
doug in sequim

'97 Taco XtraCab 4WD with 156K miles.  Still rolling with original spark plugs and clutch.  Tires are 8 years old and currently have 75K on them.  Built the rack from scrap material I had left over from other projects.  The front section is bolted down for a permanent mount, where as the rear section is built to slip into the hitch receiver and be easily removed in minutes.

2003 Ford Ranger.  It suits me well, but I miss my dear departed '86 Yota.

I used to use my old '94 Toy Landcruiser, but it started to give up the ghost around 200k.  Here's my current ride:

2006 Hummer H3, 29k miles (I'll put a more recent pic up when I get home with my bigger tires on it)

Currently a 2002 Forester or an '07 F-150 w/bed extender (VERY easy on the back)

But just lately I've started to develop a blood lust for this puppy:



Think VW Syncro Westy but cheaper and more reliable.    So far I've collected the van (a 94 Astro AWD Ext) and a top provider. Now I just have to find a bunch of those round tuits. 

Look out SquareStream   

You wouldn't believe the places I've taken this or its Civic predecessor.  Average miles per year 20000.  Average on the Civic 25000.

WOw----brings back nice memories of the 2 VW campers I had back in the 1970's, in Ann Arbor while I was a student at U Mich. Great "sinbins"!!!!

2002 Toyota Tacoma. Only regret is that I didn't get one with 4wd.

2010 Subaru Forester = New Kayak ride
1994 Ford F250 4x4 = Old and now "back-up" Kayak Ride and official PB puller

Hey guys & gals. It's been awhile since I hit the water with my Douglas Fir
timbered/lashed yak since I've had Yakchik in the hospital. Here's my last
ride to the salt or river.   
 Actually we have have set of 2003 Subaru Outbacks (no pics).hope to be back on the water with my gal soon.
Rich

Main driving rig: White 2004 Forester  (with black trim). Yakima bars.

Work, clamming, dump-hauler, & local "sketchy area" fishing-shuttle rig: BEATER '88Mazda B2200 P/U w/canopy.

I have towed up to 1,000lbs behind either of these rigs, too.

Got this 2000 Toyota Tacoma a couple months ago and put on the rack.  

'00 F150 xl, work cab. 2WD, 5 spd, 4.2 V6 126K miles. 2nd owner bought at 21K miles.

 toss 3 inch thick foam pads on the roof of the cab & canopy, put yaks on top of pads deck down, ratchet straps across at front and rear of bed, restraints at front and rear of truck.

wont try beach parking at PC again.. last time, got stuck..  

Kno what? I think many of us missed the underlying question of what really gets us to the water. what is it that motivates you to go to the water? what keeps drawing you back?

in my case, it's a deep desire to get away from all the  screaming BS that comprises modern day life for me. all the stresses and strains of sustaining 24 hour worldwide operations on a 8-10 hour work budget. all the back stabbing, conniving, childish ravings and rantings of my coworkers and others around me. it's my way of trying to find a quiet peace i cant seem to find anywhere else. it's what the people at azimuth expeditions refer to as "the last wilderness syndrome". we're seeking something within ourselves that is becoming more and more rare and harder to obtain, just as true wilderness is becoming more and harder to find, too