Busy Three Day Weekend

Today ends my three day weekend. And what a weekend it was! I was so busy, I did not have any time to be lazy! Here is what I did.

Wednesday:
1. Wake up.
2. Drive all the way to Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in Broward County (not exactly a 15 minute commute)
3. Buy plants and stuff.
4. Drive to the office, in Miami-Dade County.
5. Clear up the problem with the cloudy water by draining all the water, then washing the gravel.
6. Replace old water with new water.
7. Go home.

Thursday:
1. Wake up.
2. Drive to the AIR SHOW at the general aviation airport
3. Pay $10 to see the Nine O Nine, an original WWII era B-17 bomber.
4. Forget my digital camera.
5. Drive home to get the digital camera.
6. Buy 50 cents worth of freshwater shrimp for the office aquarium
7. Drive to the office to deposit said shrimp.
8. Leave work, and drive back to the general aviation airport.
9. Photograph the Nine O Nine inside and out.
10. Watch the vintage aircraft fire up the 4 engines, taxi past me, take off, and land.
11. Go home.

This is the Nine O Nine. More photos are on the way!

Friday:
1. Wake up.
2. Go to the Miami International Boat Show.
3. Walk around the show, looking at stuff.
4. Buy some stuff while looking at it.
5. Go home.

So...what did I get at the boat show? Well I got some of this super magic glue that bonds anything to anything else, almost instantly. Unlike super glue the stuff will not harden when exposed to the air. I saw the stuff demonstrated, and it works great. It will glue metal to metal, glass to glass, glass to metal, metal to wood, PVC to your body, you name it.

I also got some super cool drink holders. And a bunch of information in the form of handouts. What kind of info? Oh you know, info about flats boats and stuff. I still want a flats boat, but for now I will remain flats boat-less. For now anyway.

But I have been looking for a small sailboat. You know, a little sit-on-top day sailor. 15 foot max. Nothing too fancy. Just something to have fun in on a nice day. when I was a kid, my dad had a little Sunfish sailboat - and it was loads of fun.

And I have also been keeping an eye out for a kayak. A nice touring kayak. Now these are a little fancy. Good ones have a rudder, and you sit inside them (your legs are inside the craft, your torso sticks out). They are sleek and have room for a decent amount of gear.

Anyway, these were just ideas in the back of my head. Until I saw this bastard cross between a sailboat and a kayak made by Hobie Cat.

Now just how cool is this thing? Its a kayak! Its a sailboat! Its both! At the same time! Wicked cool. So I bought one. Just like that. I came, I saw, I busted out the check card and got myself one! I got the whole kit. No skimping for me. No way. I choose the largest single person model (16 feet), WITH the optional sail kit, dagger board (to stabilize the thing under sail power), and the optional wheel thingie (so I can pull the thing behind me on wheels as opposed to carrying it).

But the good folks at Hobie Cat went one further. Yea, I can paddle the kayak, or turn it into a small sailboat - but what if I want to power the thing with my legs? No problem! This thing had two wing like flippers that you operate with foot pedals. The flippers flap like wings underwater, and generate a fair amount of forward thrust. And if I really want to get madman, I can pedal the wings, paddle with the oar, AND set my sails. All at the same time.

You can kind of see the paddle wings in this photo. You can also see the rudder. Usually, kayaks with a rudder move it with foot pedals, but in this case your feet power the wing flippers. So, this boat has two levers - one lever raises and lowers the rudder, the other lever moves it left to right. The good thing - under leg power or sails I will still be able to operate the rudder. The bad part - under oar power the rudders will be impossible to operate. But really, you do not really need the rudder when under oars.

I await delivery of my brand new sail-yak in one to two weeks. It will be yellow.

Hey, can't go to a boat show without buying a boat! Next year I shall get that flats boat! Or sooner. Who knows. But for now I will just be happy with my little sail-yak. It has two rod holders, so I can fish in it. There is room for a small cooler fishbox on the deck, a bait bucket hatch, and more room for a smaller cooler I can keep beer and food in.

And there is one more accessory for it I still have to buy. The folding bimini top. Ahhhh - shade!
While I attempt to save up for the cool looking bimini top, I already hatched a hair-brained idea to build myself some shade. Here is a list of parts I need:

1. Some 3/4 inch PVC pipe.
2. Two 90 degree PVC elbows.
3. Two 45 degree PVC elbows.
4. One cheap made in China beach umbrella.
5. Some stainless steel hardware.

Total estimated cost - $10 t0 $15 depending on the umbrella I get. Cost of the cool bimini top made by Hobie Cat - $250 or so.