Rumble Strips|You have been warned!

Sir Richard Branson: ”It is quite clear from every astronaut that I’ve ever spoken to that seeing the planet from out there, surrounded by the incredibly thin protective layer of atmosphere, helps one to wake up to the fragility of the small portion of the planet’s mass that we inhabit, and to the importance of protecting the Earth.”

I call bullshit. To me, it would have just the opposite effect. I would marvel at the insignificance of our microscopic existence upon this big blue rock and wonder how people could be so arrogant to think we could destroy it when in fact if we marshaled every ounce of resources that could be mustered from every corner of the world we could maybe put a dent in it. We might destroy ourselves, but we can’t destroy the Earth if we tried because the Earth is not fragile. The Earth will destroy mankind long before we can destroy the Earth.

But just in case, if the Earth and it’s thin protective layer of atmosphere is so freakin fragile, we better not be firing rockets through it, should we?

The way the elite like Branson and the Hollywood crowd think, the Earth is so very fragile but it is okay to shoot exorbitantly rich people into orbit, destroying some small but significant portion of the fragile atmosphere just so they can appreciate how fragile it is.

More “Saving the Planet” BS from Nancy Pelosi: “I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet.” I guess that is her excuse for doing absolute nothing else constructive since gaining power.

I can see making a few modifications, but this seems like overkill. That’s one pimped out kayak. The guy must have at least several thousand bucks worth of time, material and equipment invested into a $1000 boat. Seems like that defeats the purpose of the simplicity of kayak fishing, but WOW!

As I mentioned earlier, Until recently I didn’t plan on fishing from my kayak. Mainly I want to day tour, make photographs in hard to reach locales, and generally partake of the great outdoors. However I think I am going to fish in my next kayak, which I just so happen to be in the process of acquiring. My requirements are much more modest than Douglas Gaxiola’s pimp daddy but I will definitely have an eye towards fishing in my next yak.

I consider my Pelican Castaway to have been a great trainer. It is my first kayak and I didn’t know jack about a yak prior to purchasing it. It is not a serious fishing kayak at all even though it is set up like one with rod holders. For a smaller person, if it didn’t tend to take water into the hull through leaky scuppers, the Castaway would suffice for fishing for an hour or two within a few miles of launch. With the leaky scuppers patched with goop, I feel confident paddling a few miles away from launch as long as I don’t have to stray too far from shore in case I have to swim for it, but the boat is simply not stable enough for a guy my size, at 6’4″, 300 lbs — give or take twenty depending on how my fitness plan is going — to be casting a line and landing fish. I don’t even carry my camera on board for fear of tipping even though I never tip.

So here is what I am looking for in my next kayak:

1. Big enough for me to fit in comfortably
2. Stable enough for me to do things other than concentrate on staying on the boat.
3. Not too big or heavy. Much of the appeal of the kayak is the ability to throw it on the truck and drive to a launch spot and go. Having to get a trailer or have help loading and unloading is not what I want. I am a solitary soul and I need a kayak that can respect that.
4. Long enough with a sufficient keel to track straight and a decent glide so if I want to paddle for 10 miles it don’t take me all day to get there. There is a contradiction here of course in that items 1 and 2 are contrary to sleek and fast. I am looking for a suitable compromise.
5. Price. I have no intention of spending thousands of dollars on a toy, especially when I am in desperate want of another toy — a Nikon D300 with a couple of nice lenses — that will cost over $2,000 if I ever can afford to take the plunge.

I have been doing some significant research into the most popular kayak brands and have narrowed the list down to about three or four. The Malibu X-Factor, Cobra Marauder, Cobra Navigator, and maybe the Ocean Kayak Prowler Big Game. I am about to leave work right now and stop by Bastrop Bayou for a quick paddle but I will post the complete list I started with along with the respective specs for each boat later tonight or tomorrow and tomorrow I am going to Mammoth Lake in Clute to test paddle the two Cobra models

Since my efforts in this space of late have been so sparse I’ll just start a new entry instead of adding on to my review of Castaway’s RV Park and Campgrounds.

As I mentioned in the review, one of the nicest features of Castaway’s is the boat ramp and dock. But even nicer if you are a kayaker is the soft flat sandy beach to launch from. During off use I just pulled my kayak a few feet onto shore and left it until time to go for another exploration. Unlike boarding and deboarding at my launch site here locally at Bastrop Bayou, which is off a dock so high above the boat that every attempt at getting on or off is like performing a complicated gymnastical feat. None of this at Castaway’s sandy beach. Just hop on the boat and go. A sweet launch greatly improves your kayaking enjoyment.

However, once in the water there are few places to go that are not over three miles away. I know 3 miles sounds pansy but that is one way on open water with boat traffic in a cheap ass Pelican Castaway 11’6″ boat that takes on water inside the hull. I had my safety gear but I didn’t want to use it under any circumstances. Not on vacation.

Castaways is the perfect place for some beginner’s to have plenty of shallow water to learn how to paddle and maneuver a kayak in addition to enough territory to go on some longer trips. But if you want to go paddle the shores of Sam Houston National Forest you will need to be in pretty good shape, have a decent kayak, and plan on spending about four to six hours on the water at a minimum. For me though, I’d rather put my kayak in closer to where I want to be, then spend my four hours doing what I want to do in the spot I want to be in, not paddling five to ten miles to and fro.

On our last day on Lake Conroe, I rented from the kayak rental guy, Larry, at North Lake Conroe Paddling Company. From his launch site I was able to paddle less than a mile to get to Lake Lucy, a supposed existing lake prior to the flooding of Lake Conroe in ’73 and supposedly a “secret” spot for professional sport fishers. Well, there’s a lot of fish in Lake Lucy for sure but where I was looking at them I don’t know how you could catch them from any kind of boat as there would be no way to get a line in and out of the area without getting the hook tangled in branches and vegetation on each and every cast. From a kayak I could drift right on top of a hole and jig it.

Fishing wasn’t in the original plan when I first bought my kayak, but it is starting to become more appealing each time I see a large redfish or trout swimming by the side of the boat or a big catfish break the water at the bow. I don’t plan to be visiting Baja anytime soon, but check some of these videos.

So for anything more than a couple of days of recreational paddling, I recommend camping somewhere nearer to your destination or else plan on dropping off and picking up at better launch sites.

So let’s talk about my kayak…

President Bush: “Wall Street got drunk.”

So we are back from vacation. It was fun. This lady was staying in the cabin next door.

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I’m not so sure how much fun the kids had but Lake Conroe was a good time for me. Recreate in the morning and evenings, eat and relax during the heat of the day. No TV and no cell phone. For what more could one ask?

The cabin was almost a deal killer though and I thought we might have to abandon the facilities. For camping the cabin has all the amenities including A/C, kitchen with fridge, microwave, toilet and shower, etc. No complaints there. One of the best things is that you can park at the cabin. In other cabins I’ve had to lug all my gear quite some distance to get to the cabin.

If you are out of doors most of the time you wont even notice the deficiencies much. The cabin had no TV which I thought was a nice touch but the kids were in shock over for the fist day and a half. The electrical outlets are few and far between so a couple of short extension cords with power strips would be handy. The single little A/C window unit is nice and does a good job at night but the lack of weather stripping on the doors and windows negates much of it’s effect during the day so take a box fan or two.

Knowing beforehand that the cabins were of a minimalist nature, I guess the only negative point would be the bunking. Hard and tight. The first night I got into one of the bunks I banged my knee so hard that I screamed obscenities loud enough to make the pretty women in the next cabin blush. Then it took my wife and both kids applying a come-along and a can opener to get me out of it. I was quite upset because the whole purpose of the cabin from my point of view is to have someplace cool to sleep at night. The rest is just an add-on feature so I don’t have to pack a lot of stuff. Without a decent bunk, it’s a deal killer and I was seriously contemplating loading up and making a move to someplace else. I hit the front couch to think about the situation and fell sound asleep within five minutes. I was dog tired from my first kayak trip on Lake Conroe, which I’ll relate later. If two big people are on the trip someone had better bring some sleeping gear as the couch is a solo affair except maybe with that nice lady next door.

The basketball court and putt-putt golf are nice to put on the brochure but in the middle of the summer in the heat of a late July day basketball ain’t happening and the putt-putt looked like a hurricane blew through blowing all the little houses and windmills and flags and such clear away. Like in the middle of the desert or something. But if you have stuff to do on the water and are only staying for a few days the lack of these other activities is not missed.

Some other negatives: The picnic tables were filthy and I avoided them completely; there were eight steps leading up to the cabin porch which got to be a real bore; your neighbors are very, very close to you; no fart fan in the john.

Castaways RV Park and Camping is probably best if you have your own boat to launch as they have a nice double boat ramp and a private dock right out the front door of the cabins. Sweet. For kayaking, not so much…

more later…

Taking the family to Lake Conroe camping in a cabin.

We’ll be staying near the red X and the blue arrow points to a place where I can rent a kayak and launch. The northern banks of Lake Conroe are ensconced in Sam Houston National Forrest. I’m really looking forward to this trip and since we have never stayed at these facilities I hope it doesn’t suck.

I haven’t mentioned it here but around mid May I took my languishing kayak out to Bastrop Bayou and left it at a friend’s who has a place right on the water. It’s about five minutes out of the way coming home from work in Texas City. About three times a week I detour and go for a paddle up or down Bastrop Bayou.

I’m to the point where I can paddle straight and fast for about a mile and a half without breaking and can go about 7 miles continuously with a couple of rest breaks. I like to stop at least once and have a beer and cigarette, drain the boat, and take off again.

You might be thinking, what’s the fun in that and you would be right. Mostly it’s not fun. Especially when it’s windy, which is usually. But I am not trying to have fun, I am trying to lose a pound and I’ve been trying to get in some semblance of what could be called a fit shape for a 44 year old fat guy.

You see, I am fixin to kayak that damn lake they have up in Conroe. I am going to hike in those woods and probably take a shit in the them and what I have figured out about kayaking is that unless you are on some kind of pansy ass guided tour, you have to paddle several miles from where you launch just to get to anything interesting. For example, the tip of nearest part of the forest on the east banks from the red X is bout four miles. That’s eight miles of paddling just to get to the tip and back.

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign says about the cartoon:

“The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive.”

And many will see the cartoon depiction as spot on.

Now watch all the crazy jihadists call for blood for depicting their prophet Obama in such an offensive manner. There may be a fatwa calling for the death of artist Barry Blitt. You never can tell with these crazies.

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Thanks to the indignation of those who blog from the far left, way more people will see this cartoon than would have normally. Certainly way more will see the cartoon than those who will actually read the article.

What a shame that only after thirty-five years on the job does New Orleans Police Sgt. Bobby Guidry finally realize that cops are a bunch of assholes eat up with their own self-importance and superiority.

I would say that New Orleans is run by a bunch of retarded inbred morons but that would be an insult to retarded inbred morons.

Morons.

Camille Paglia on Iran: “What makes me uneasy in your argument is the Manichean polarization between “good guys” and “bad guys” among world governments. In my view, such stark moral absolutes do not exist… Calling every petty regional dictator ‘evil’ is ultimately counterproductive by coarsening our political discourse and dehumanizing our opponents.”

So, shooting Paglia in the head wouldn’t necessarily be evil, right?

It’s a pretty sad day when your blog (meaning my blog) gets kicked off the local blogroll from a fellow local blogger. I guess I just don’t quite measure up as a blogger worthy of the underarm.

Whatev.