October 14, 1997
Moss Beach, California, USAI got my package of repair materials from Seaward Kayaks today. It looks like they gave me enough Gel coat to put another layer on the whole boat. I spent most of this morning sanding all the gel coat off around the damaged areas. The boat looks like a piece of crap now, but should look like new again by Thursday night, so I can be back on the water Friday morning.
October 15, 1997
Mountain View, California, USA
Early this morning, John drove me and all my equipment inland to his friend’s kayak shop in Mountain View. We figured it would be better to work on my kayak there, since it is usually warmer, and the resin would take less time to dry. Jim and Fred, the owners of the shop, were very generous in providing me with materials and guidance. I stayed at Fred’s house both nights. I ate pizza and watched an intense documentary about shark attacks. Some of the wildest scenes in the film were shot in an area I just paddled past.
October 16, 1997
Mountain View, California, USA
On the way back to the shop this morning, we stopped into a store called EXTREME ADVENTURES, the same name as the guiding company and television program I ran before I left on this journey. The store sells accessories for outdoor adventure activities, including skydiving, rock-climbing, scuba diving, kayaking, and others. In their inventory, the store had a large selection of hand guns and assault rifles. As I was looking at one of their collapsible rifles, the clerk said to me "You know, that fits nicely in the compression straps of a backpack." It wasn’t quite what I was looking for, so I settled on a unit of pepper spray instead. I’m sure it will be more effective than defending myself with flares and a filleting knife.
Yesterday, at the West Marine store, I met a lady who is the ex-girl-friend of a guy named Steve Roberts, who peddled a high-tech tricycle around the US a few years ago. Steve’s travels are somewhat similar to mine, so this afternoon I gave him a call on the phone. During our conversation, I asked Steve how much he charges to give a speach illustrating his adventures. He told me that it varies, but once he was paid $5,000 to speak for an hour at a conference in Washington, DC. "I thought I had really hit the big time," he told me, "and was quite proud of himself ...until I heard that the next guy had only spoken for 45 minutes and was paid $60,000!" The person that followed Steve’s speech goes by the nickname of Storm’n Norman. As Steve says... Everything is relative.
