**New Toy**

After much deliberation and informative "conversating" with knowledgeable kayakers and a most interesting salesperson at REI, who has apparently eaten at my grandfather's diner in Brooklyn, I have ordered and will be half owner of this touring kayak:
It is a beauty. 16.5 ft, with a rudder and hard chines. I considered another one, but the wait for it would have been months, and I have used this exact model kayak already and really liked it. I will pick it up from REI a week from Thursday and be on the water over the July 4th weekend. This one is made of fiberglass, so it is substantially lighter than the plastic kayaks and within 5 lbs of the lightest materials available. The lighter version - a composite glass/kevlar/graphite - was quite a bit more money. In fact, I accessorized the entire boat (splash guard, life jacket, graphite oars, mounts for the car, etc.), for the difference in cost.

I know a certain daughter who is going to really enjoy this boat. It is fast, low to the water and built for distance touring. Current dream trip: 1-2 week paddle of the emerging slot canyons in Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. Next actual paddle - the sloughs off the Tillamook River - to put the kayak through her paces. Then comes the froliking in the breakers at Netarts Bay... as soon as I get a wet suit and master the wet exit in this baby. This fall, I will take her to a pool in Astoria where a woman up there can teach me how to roll this thing - a tad more challenging a task than in a white water kayak.