Dec 04, 2005
Boat maintenance and black helicopters.
Photos, videos and paddle blanks.

Jan 26, 2006 - Business Cards

A new set of business cards

Jan 25, 2006 - Sharks

A book review of Susan Casey's, The Devil's Teeth

Here's the full title and the quote that Amazon extracted from the book: The Devil's Teeth : A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks (Hardcover) by Susan Casey "The killing took place at dawn and as usual it was a decapitation, accomplished by a single vicious swipe..."

Oh boy. Well, the whole book doesn't read like that but it is about sharks, so what do you expect. My interest in the book stems from the fact that I have stood on the shore of the Pacific many times and searched for the Farallons on the horizon, wondering if I would want to paddle out there in a kayak.

Well the book has cleared up that question for me. I do not want to paddle out to the Farallons. Aside from being a twenty mile paddle, once you get there, you can't land because the Farallons are a wildlife sanctuary. If you do land there, hefty fines could ensue. So scratch that trip on logistical and legal grounds.

The second disincentive to paddling to the Farallons are the sharks that come to visit there. These sharks are big, up to 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and 6 feet deep. That's big. They don't eat kayaks and surfboards, but the way they test whether something is edible is to rush at it from below and take a bite out of it. By the time they have figured out that they don't want to eat you or your kayak, one or both of you is already missing a chunk out of you. Never mind that the bite was just a test. But Aleut hunters in the service of the Russians used to paddle out to the Farallons in kayaks. Maybe they were just lucky, or maybe the sharks really don't attack kayaks. In any case, modern day restrictions put the trip out of the question.

Amazon has a few negative reviews of the book, mostly criticizing Casey for writing a book that is more about herself than about the Farallons or the sharks. The book manages to pass on some information, some history of the Farallons and some info on sharks, but as the negative reviews indicated, a lot of the book is also about Susan Casey. Her presence in the book isn't that much of a distraction at first, but by the half-way point of the book, the dramatic tension is no longer provided by the Farallons or the sharks but by whether Casey gets to spend another few weeks on the Farallons.

If you live in the vicinity of San Francisco, the book is worth reading, just because of the local history and the shark lore and the mention of local place names. But if you live elsewhere, don't bother buying this book. Get a copy from the library.

Jan 24, 2006 - Gators

Baidarkas in the Okefenokee

Jim Farrelly had ordered a baidarka paddle from me, a grooved one and its inaugural voyage was a trip through the Okefenokee swamp. Judging from Jim's pictures, the trip was one that I would have liked to be on. I have always been a sucker for swamps.

Jim Farrelly at rest on the bow of the baidarka that he built, holding the Aleut paddle which was making its maiden voyage. Photo, Annette Drowlette

Yes, the swamp has gators, this one dead and according to Jim, smelling like it. Photo, Annette Drowlette

A campsite in the swamp. Beats sleeping in the kayak. Photo, Jim Farrelly

Jan 23, 2006 - Greenland Skills Clinic

Alameda, Encinal Boat Ramp