It's official

Went down to the Kayak Shed to see Derek on Friday.  Had an absolutely beautiful drive along the gorge.  I had never been along that route and was amazed at the waterfalls and just how beautiful it was.  Pulled in to Hood River and the sun was out and the water was flat. 

Met up with D at the shop and we chatted it up a bit before heading down to the water to try out the PA.  D walked me through the boat, etc..., then I sat down in it for the first time, swung my legs up and was in the perfect reclining position to just chill in that big fat-boy chair.  We adjusted the pedals and D hung on while I got used to the primary and secondary rocker of the boat.  He let go and I was off.  I was as close to heaven as I could get on earth.  Peddling around on the little area between the Hood and Columbia rivers was a blast.  I kicked up the pace and was amazed to see just how fast I was moving along.  Th e boat seemed stable, even when I over steered.  I knew after about 30 seconds that the PA was coming home with me.  D told me to take my time and do some laps, so I did.  He took my phone and took some maiden voyage pics and video of me.  I don't think my smile fit the frame it was so large.  I will post the vid and pics when I can figure out how to upload the vid to youtube and stuff.

We went back to the shop and D brought out all the boxes of parts for my new Yakima rack.  The bases that fit the stock jeep rack are slick as snot!!!  I got the boat loader extension pole as well and D was nervous.  He had never seen anybody use this for the PA.  I extended the pole, placed the nose up on it, lifted the back up and shimmied the PA into it's position on the rack.   I then reversed the procedure to practice one time with somebody there and lowered the boat to the ground.  Derek was in disbelief, so I told him to load it   He did and was very pleased.  Another accessory for him to pimp at the shop now

We strapped down the PA and triple checked that it was going nowhere.  I drove about 20 miles, stopped, checked the straps and headed on down the road.  I hit some rain so I stopped again to snug the new straps up and drove on to Beaverton to see my bro for his birthday. 

Left Saturday mid-day and hit I-5...I hit the worst storm of rain, ice, snow, and wind.  The PA did not budge and I made it home.  Said howdy to my GF and hit the hardware store to get parts for the sling for my garage.  Geeked out for a few hours and just did not like the multiple pulley setup and changed my design.  I have a hook planted in a ceiling joist, angle iron running down one of the main beams in the ceiling, and got 4 sets of ratchet straps and rigged up the system I am pleased with.  (Again, pics will be posted after I put the PA up after tomorrow)  Basically I lift the front to the hook in the ceiling, attach my hooks on a pulley to the rear of the boat and lift it partially up.  Next I attach the rest of the straps around the boat in the center and just ratchet each strap a little until the kayak is up near the ceiling and not resting on the front hook anymore.  All the weight of the PA is distributed across 4 straps. I leave the pully hooks on the back, snug up the line to a cleat, and I'm done.

Today, mother nature threw sleet, snow, and wind my way, so I took the time to familiarize myself with my new PA.  I transferred all my tackle into PA boxes, test fit my rods, pulled out my fly gear and vest, setup my PFD, cleaned the garage, and got everything ready to go for tomorrow.  The hardest part of the day was getting the stops placed properly on the trax 2 cart so that they held the weight of the PA and not the crossbar.

Tomorrow I am heading out to Offutt Lake for my maiden fishing trip with the new PA.  I have my fly gear and some ultralight traditional gear to throw.  If anybody wants to come out, I would welcome the company

Derek...you are the man!!!  Thanks for putting up with my incessant PM's leading up to the sale.  I look forward to fishing with you in the future!!!  Thanks too goes to NWKA for giving me a place to do research and meet people willing to help somebody out.  I can't wait to hit the Sound, Westport, and wherever my Jeep can take me to enjoy this new life!

Um, yeah...I'm excited.....

Posting Launch ramp info for Offutt Lake:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/water_access/search/mobile_site.php?searchby=FacilityID&search=30584

There are directions and a small pic of the area.

I am going to head out from Oly around 8, go by the resort to get some gear, then around the lake to the launch.  Hope to be launching about 9:30am or so.

Congrats on the PA!  When you get a moment, would you provide some more detail about the specific Yakima rack you mentioned? I'm thinking it might work out well for me, transporting a Revo 13 on top of a Volvo wagon. I'm not very strong on the top half, and have been thinking that the boat loader might be a big help. I've already got Yakima for other toys, so already set with towers and bars.

The Revo just shipped north this week, and should be here mid-March. Can't wait. Completely understand your excitement. Go gettum.

Awesome report, congrats on the great new machine. Funny how exciting it is even to read about someone's delight in the whole process. I still get a thrill just looking at my TI and spend lots of time thinking about ways to tweak it.

You have so much fun ahead of you. Hope to come up your way this year and fish and sail the Sound.


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Awesome report, OlySpec!  Congrats on the new boat!

@akfishergal,  I've been using a boat loader for a few years now and I can't recommend it enough - I also pedal a Revo 13.  Here's a video I threw together one day when I was still using my X-Factor of how the boat loader works.  Hope this helps.

I'm surprised as well that the bar extension took the weight of the PA. Rawkfish uses one on his truck and I always thought that was a pretty slick setup. AKgal, you should definitely look into one of those. Ha, Rawkfish beat me to the post.

Congrats on the purchase. Just keep it under your hat about the Gorge, and we may let you come back for a visit.   :-)

Congratulations on the new PA.  You are going to have a blast.  D rocks! Swing back by the Gorge in 3 months for some world class smallmouth fishing.

Swing back by the Gorge in 3 months for some world class smallmouth fishing.

No kidding

Wrong thread brother   

Congrats on the new ride!!! And thanks for the shout out!! It was great meeting you and I can't wait to come and fish your neck of the woods.

The look on your face when you peddled away for the first time was priceless and is exactly why I love what I do!! 

Lets see some pics!!!

Derek
www.kayakshed.com

Oh yeah...3 nice cutties out of Offut today.  Pics tomorrow I promise.  My GF has dibbs on my time tonight