(no subject)
Aug. 28th, 2017 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaidenC agreed to go paddling with me on Saturday morning. this time we tried the rental place that is closer to home and has a better pass program.* thumbs up.
NWOC is tucked underneath a pier on Westlake, and has a store full of gear that i didn't have time to explore (this time). the store seems to be more extensive for gear than a place i visited in West Seattle, but doesn't have indoor showroom space for their kayaks (although they do sell them). as far as i can tell they don't offer dry bags but otherwise seem to have slightly better infrastructure and nicer PFDs and paddles than Moss Bay. there's sort of a garage at water level that has all of their equipment in racks under cover.
when you exit into the lake proper, there are super-yachts to the north.**
i got C to come with me to look at some of the working boats and dry docks. one of the ships has Haida orcas painted up on the cabin, and it's not visible unless you're facing the bow at a specific angle. (i still haven't figured out how to position the kayak to get a picture.) from the water you can see right inside the dry docks. it's kind of stunning just how big a tug is below the water line.
the air was still, and it was early enough that it was mostly us, crew, and dragon boats.
we got up under the Aurora bridge and C declared that he was done, so we ambled back.
i lagged behind because the mountain was out (you must zoom the picture and kind of squint, to the left of the big tree). it's always pretty clear in person but difficult to photograph with a point and shoot.
as we returned, people were flooding in to check out boats, and someone hopped into mine as soon as i was out of the way. Seattle peeps are NOT early risers. noted.
*they restrict weekend use during the summer season, but whatever, i like going after work as long as there's plenty of light. they also offer wetsuits in the cold season. i think at this point it's when i pull the trigger, not if. the other place charges the same amount for three months of unlimited use.
**and this place; C and i were too busy admiring their neighbors with the curved roof to notice.
NWOC is tucked underneath a pier on Westlake, and has a store full of gear that i didn't have time to explore (this time). the store seems to be more extensive for gear than a place i visited in West Seattle, but doesn't have indoor showroom space for their kayaks (although they do sell them). as far as i can tell they don't offer dry bags but otherwise seem to have slightly better infrastructure and nicer PFDs and paddles than Moss Bay. there's sort of a garage at water level that has all of their equipment in racks under cover.
when you exit into the lake proper, there are super-yachts to the north.**
i got C to come with me to look at some of the working boats and dry docks. one of the ships has Haida orcas painted up on the cabin, and it's not visible unless you're facing the bow at a specific angle. (i still haven't figured out how to position the kayak to get a picture.) from the water you can see right inside the dry docks. it's kind of stunning just how big a tug is below the water line.
the air was still, and it was early enough that it was mostly us, crew, and dragon boats.
we got up under the Aurora bridge and C declared that he was done, so we ambled back.
i lagged behind because the mountain was out (you must zoom the picture and kind of squint, to the left of the big tree). it's always pretty clear in person but difficult to photograph with a point and shoot.
as we returned, people were flooding in to check out boats, and someone hopped into mine as soon as i was out of the way. Seattle peeps are NOT early risers. noted.
*they restrict weekend use during the summer season, but whatever, i like going after work as long as there's plenty of light. they also offer wetsuits in the cold season. i think at this point it's when i pull the trigger, not if. the other place charges the same amount for three months of unlimited use.
**and this place; C and i were too busy admiring their neighbors with the curved roof to notice.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 06:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 06:59 am (UTC)(I always felt that way about photographing the mountain. It hides, or it gets shy, and it's never as amazing as in person--at least not at my skill/tool level.)
no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 05:27 pm (UTC)yes, but not at this time.
a kayak is even more awkward than a double bass.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
philotera has an Oru
folding kayak, but is disappointed enough in the performance that she
rarely uses it. I've looked at other folding/disassembling/inflating
options, and also at renting storage near water. while there are some
craigslist deals on used kayaks, the storage alone is more expensive than a
rental pass. (there is one Greenland-style folding kayak that might have
good performance, but it is as expensive as a bespoke fiberglass boat and
requires better handling skills than I currently have.)
if I could figure out a way to keep a 15+ foot boat in my building, I could probably put it on a trailer and walk it to the nearby launch. (we had a conversation about how we're not getting the security deposit back, and maybe we could do a ceiling mount in the living room, but I still don't think it would go in and out the door.)
tl:dr my life circumstances need to change before owning my own would pencil out.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 06:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 04:23 pm (UTC)I love that one of the boats has orcas in the cabin. It sounds awesome.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-29 07:30 pm (UTC)