Qld around 55 years ago.
About a fortnight ago, I dined out with a couple of old school friends, Graham 72 years old like myself, and Bob 74.
During the animated talk session, we spoke of the kayak that Bob had loaned Graham and myself, and we found out then that Bob hadn't made the canvass covered kayak as we had thought.
It came to light that he found the two-man kayak abandoned on the beach at Scarborough when he was a young lad. It was partly covered with sand and looked pretty derelict.
He carted it home and cleaned it up, finding that it was in reasonable shape, but needed water-proofing… he sorted that out by applying a couple of coats of paint, then took it for a paddle.
It came up trumps, so then he had a craft he could enjoy paddling around the Scarby area.
It also came with a small sail, but Bob told us that he had to use the paddle as a keel to prevent it from tipping A/T in a reasonable breeze.
Graham and I had no idea about the history of this craft, but just enjoyed our outing immensely, except for the terrifying moments when we nearly ran over a partly submerged reef.
Having paddled kayaks for around 10 years, now, I thought long and hard about "abandoned" kayaks found on the beach.
If my yak was found on a beach somewhere, I guess that I would have come to grief somehow… what think you?
I wonder if some poor bugger/s had run into some overwhelming seas/weather that had caused them to abandon their kayak…
As it happened around 55 to 60 years ago, I guess I'll never find out, but hell, the whole scene is thought provoking, eh?
Cheers, Jimbo
About a fortnight ago, I dined out with a couple of old school friends, Graham 72 years old like myself, and Bob 74.
During the animated talk session, we spoke of the kayak that Bob had loaned Graham and myself, and we found out then that Bob hadn't made the canvass covered kayak as we had thought.
It came to light that he found the two-man kayak abandoned on the beach at Scarborough when he was a young lad. It was partly covered with sand and looked pretty derelict.
He carted it home and cleaned it up, finding that it was in reasonable shape, but needed water-proofing… he sorted that out by applying a couple of coats of paint, then took it for a paddle.
It came up trumps, so then he had a craft he could enjoy paddling around the Scarby area.
It also came with a small sail, but Bob told us that he had to use the paddle as a keel to prevent it from tipping A/T in a reasonable breeze.
Graham and I had no idea about the history of this craft, but just enjoyed our outing immensely, except for the terrifying moments when we nearly ran over a partly submerged reef.
Having paddled kayaks for around 10 years, now, I thought long and hard about "abandoned" kayaks found on the beach.
If my yak was found on a beach somewhere, I guess that I would have come to grief somehow… what think you?
I wonder if some poor bugger/s had run into some overwhelming seas/weather that had caused them to abandon their kayak…
As it happened around 55 to 60 years ago, I guess I'll never find out, but hell, the whole scene is thought provoking, eh?
Cheers, Jimbo
