Short girl, Tall car, Long Boat

With the weather warming up and calendar filling with trips I thought I would investigate easier loading of the yak. When I bought this car over a year ago I was thrilled to be able to find an SUV with a flip window in the back...great for short trips. But I splurged on 4 wheel drive and the new suv has a spoiler. Both of these things made my car taller and more of a challenge for car top loading boats.

So I need to plan for longer trips and loading multiple boats.

I saw a friends Yakima Showboat roller rack and thought that was the ticket to helping me load boats, especially on my own.

What was I thinking?

The roller rack adds about 5 inches to my lift requirement and creates a horrible wind noise effect!

So the rack is coming off and I am going back to using a thick pad to protect the roof and help glide the boat onto the car.

Adding some pics from recent American River trip, last trip for the Showboat rack.

SakKayaking with Good Day Sacramento

Morning TV show Good Day Sacramento did a story on Sakyakkers paddling club Friday morning. We had a fair turnout for a weekday morning and had some fun with host Tina. We even did some kayak dancing for their Friday dance party. Videos are available on the Good Day web site

Check out this beautiful wood boat below. Ocean Yakker John was out on the lake to practice his rolls. He shared it took him 8 months to build this beauty.

And after hanging out at the beach way too long, finally got to go paddle.

We did a short portage to go check out the sloughs at Mississippi Bar. Murky, yet very peaceful and beautiful.

The Hot is On

90 degrees today and lots of traffic at the launch, including big four hooves kind (see pics). Good paddle to the cable, back down the lake for a couple of miles rocking to my iPod. It is amazing how much paddling to music helps get you going. Hung out with some feathered friends in the marshes and back home in time for an afternoon siesta before dinner. All in all, my kind of day!