Thoughts on buying a boat… (ode to my kayak).

I have been doing outdoor stuff for over 30 years. I started out with a very small kayak and then purchased succession of larger ones. As I grew more confident on the water, I began to do longer trips including ocean kayaking and overnight trips. Over time I've also owned a sailboat and a small 13 foot Boston Whaler - on loan from my brother. But mostly I had always been an human powered craft guy - kayak, canoe, sailboat - I appreciate the quiet solitude and the work that goes into getting somewhere when you have done it under your own power. I have been fortunate to have kayaked in so many different places and shared so many moments in nature. I have taken my Kayak out in the ocean offshore, to the Adirondacks, Canada and the Keys. I loved having the portability and ease of having a boat with a paddle and no engine. I enjoyed the cost and the ability to just head out for a few hours with a kayak in my truck and some beers in the cooler. It is so great to be able to go even where the big boats go in a small kayak and see the same things. We would laugh at the people in their big motor boats with expensive fuel, docking fees, haul out costs and other expenses as we tossed our kayaks into the back of our pickups and drove away.

Forward a few years and I still love my kayak - a trusted 12 year old Wilderness Systems - but I have always been envious of those who have bigger boats. I love camping but always wished I had a little more room. And the nights spent in a tent on a hard ground would always seem to be harder each time. I wanted a boat that would just be an extension of the things that I was already doing but not one that was too big, too loud and too not me.

The Ranger 21 is the perfect boat and I don’t feel bad about buying it. Its not a jet ski nor is it a ridiculously fast boat that gulps gas. It is almost like a little motor home on the water which is exactly what I was looking for. I can sleep in it, cook in it, stay dry in it and do it all by myself. It is easily handled single person with launching and operating. The maintenance is straightforward and the systems are easy to use. It is easy on the fuel and has a great mix of deck space and indoor area. I can use it in the rain and at night and it will take me all the places I want to go.

Sometimes I feel like I have given up my roots - the guy who was always out on the water in a kayak in the snow, the rain, the good weather and the not so good weather. I was tough and an outdoors guy. Now I am a boat guy and I have come to accept it. That doesn’t mean that I have given up my roots - I think of it a just expanding my opportunities. I can still go out in the weather - still tough it out - but with a little more comfort and range. I have so many pictures and memories of some excellent paddles alone and with friends to keep me happy.

It was a little tough at first and I feel a little guilty. Boats waste fuel, they are so anti outdoors me - but the thing about this particular boat is that is is not like any other. It attracts so much attention that it makes it a chance to meet new people and explore new areas. I am still an adventurer….. and I still love to kayak……