Sean's shakedown paddle

Sean's new stitch and glue boat

The last two months Sean has been busier than a one armed paper hanger spending ? hours building his new kayak. He's documented the whole process on his blog that's worth having a look if you haven't been following along. As you can see from the finished product Sean is an artisan. Its not for me but completing something like this deserves a pat on the back. Well done Sean, you have good reason to be proud of the work you've done.

So, today was the big day ... the christening. Dennis, Eugene and I were on hand to see the hull get wetted for the first time.

Sweet!

Sean and I lingered in the cove for a while until Dennis and Eugene showed up. The plan was to stay in the cove but I think Sean quickly got in tune with the boat and off we went along the shore rising and falling in the gentle swell rolling into the bay.

Looking good

The boat looked striking against the dark rock. Every now and then Mother Nature picked up the colour of the white hull to contrast the volcanic rocks along the shore.

Puttin' her on edge

Getting the feel of the boat on edge and how far she can be pushed until it looses stability is one thing that needs to be determined.

And that will do it for now

After a relaxed paddle a couple of kilometres towards Topsail we turned around and took out time heading back to St. Philips. Sean's assessment of the boat is so far, so good. The more he paddled the more he got used to the difference in stability from is Baffin. He'll likely have a more detailed synopsis on his blog.

Sean, everyone who has followed your journey in construction I'm sure wishes you many happy hours in your new boat.