Yesterday (Sunday the 26th) Leslie and I were in Austin to join up with Gerald for what might be Texas' first wood kayak gathering. A norther had just passed through, leaving us with temps in the 50s, lotsa wind and light rain on and off. Probably had two dozen boats show up all in all, with 14 present at one time.

I got to paddle the following: Chess 17, Chess 16LT, Chess 16LT w/ Seal Line rudder, West River 180 (original incarnation), and Gerald's self-designed stripper. My own boat is a CLC Mill Creek 13, which represents pretty much the sum total of my paddling experience until then.

I liked Gerald's boat the best by far. In fact, I believe I want to build one for myself. It is wider than a typical sea kayak, which is perfect for my fisherman self, has a wonderful blend of tracking and maneuverability, plus a pretty nice turn of speed. His craftsmanship is top-notch; even though he didn't put everything he had into it, as it is something of an experimental project, his result was still the best finished stripper present.

I feared I might come away from such a gathering with a bad case of envy, but it didn't happen. Turns out my Mill Creek performs very well compared to the other boats I played with. The flat bottom is still a bit of a pain, and I will certainly build another boat to improve upon it, but for now my satisfaction with it is renewed.

Other boats we saw were the Night Heron (strip), Guillemot, CLC Pax 20, a small SOF brought by the Duckworks crew, a Folboat... Too bad our digital camera had been dropped from a C-47 by an ancient B-25 pilot a few days earlier (don't ask).

Gerald is to be commended for his efforts in bringing this little gathering to fruitation. It was definitely a success! Everyone I saw was obviously having a GREAT time. Thanks again, Gerald!!

Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas