She's painted. I threaded two short sections of rope through the bow & stern, then tied monkey fists in both. Nice and simple. I took the pic below before I put in the stern loop. Deck rigging will follow, but I'm more anxious to get her in the water for the first time. I thought I'd use brass screws and finishing washers to attach looped strips of webbing, then run the rigging through them. Simple and effective, even if it "contaminates" the kayak with metal fasteners. The foot rests are plastic... in for a penny, in for a pound *grin*.

I wasn't sure about the blue Rustoleum paint, but it's growing on me. It was on clearance at Wal-Mart, cheap. There's no water in Upstate NY that I know of that's anywhere near that shade, so I should be relatively safe visibility-wise. Even the Atlantic doesn't get that color, at least the parts I've seen. I liked the grey for the hull.

I ordered a NRS Chinook fishing PFD this afternoon... should be a few business days getting here via USPS. I saw no reason to pick up a less expensive PFD, knowing I was going to want the extra pockets and storage for fishing purposes. Simple PFDs weren't much less expensive to make it worth buying two. Once I've got it, I'll be set to maiden. NY State law requires the PFD while kayaking, period, and I'm not one to tempt it. I haven't picked up any float bags yet, but the nearby man-made lake I plan on using to maiden her has an average depth of four feet. If she sinks, I can stand up in the water (with my PFD on, no less), and carry the kayak to shore. I'll hold off on paddling deeper waters until I pick up some decent float bags. I am tempted to simply inflate a pair of tractor sized inner tubes inside either end of the 'yak, though *grin*.

Gotta pick up a spray skirt before I start rolling, too... and a wet suit for when the water gets colder... and a dry suit for when it gets really cold... and the rest of the safety gear I'll want for hitting the bigger waters. Nobody tell the wife how expensive this is getting, ok? It's still cheaper than the iPhone 4 that she keeps hinting about...