End of a Paddling Era

Yesterday, DW and I said so long to an era.

For five seasons, our kayaks were a means of escape. During the pandemic, it was a way to enjoy the outdoors whist maintaining social distancing. Later, it was a way to get out of the city and into nature.

And though DW and I haven't used our old kayaks since we replaced them with longer boats, our old kayaks had a special place in our hearts.

My red Delta 12.10 kayak sold two weeks ago, after having been on the market for couple a of weeks. I had lots of views but no offers for more than a week, and then a couple of curious people who were looking to acquire the boat for less than it was worth reached out, but we couldn't come to an agreement. But finally, someone with a love of kayaks, who already had a Delta 12.10 for his wife, made a reasonable offer.

Paddling the Long Sault.

I couldn't help but get a bit choked up as I saw my kayak drive away on somebody else's car.

I modified my Kijiji ad but shortly after deleted it, opting to make a new ad for DW's kayak. Hers was a saffron-yellow Delta 12S and though it was 10 inches shorter than mine, it had fewer scratches on the hull.

For two weeks, there wasn't a single nibble on the ad and I even considered dropping the price, though I knew that we were asking a reasonable amount. Deltas are great crafts that hold their value.

Two nights ago, someone made an offer that was $200 less than our asking price. I checked out his profile and learned that he was selling a 14-foot Necky kayak. And through our chat, I learned that he was retired, making me guess that he was at least my age.

A Necky 14' kayak weighs 51 pounds; DW's Delta 12S: 38 pounds.

I surmised that he was looking for something that was lighter, that he was a serious kayaker who wanted to downsize. I offered to take $100 off the price of DW's kayak and he accepted. The next morning (yesterday), he picked it up.

I was right in thinking that this buyer was looking for a lighter kayak. He was about five or so years older than me and he agreed that his Necky was now too heavy to lift on his roof rack by himself. When he saw me lift the Delta, one-handed, he was convinced he was making the right purchase.

Even though it wasn't my kayak, I felt a small sense of loss when the man drove away with DW's boat on his car. We had so many great memories with those kayaks and I'm glad that I captured some of those memories in my YouTube videos.

Making memories on the Mississippi River.

We've been out together in our new Delta 14 kayaks seven times and I've shared all but one outing on my YouTube channel (I also have one video where I paddled alone). I'm confident that we'll have many great memories over the next few years.

It's the end of one paddling era. We've only just begun the next era.

Leisure For Sale

The time has finally come.

After five seasons of excellent use, DW and I are finally selling our old kayaks.

My Delta 12.10. I'm going to miss it.

As of tomorrow, I'll be posting them on Kijiji. DW, who still has a Facebook account, will likely add them to the market site.

It took several hours of scrubbing out the nicks and scrapes of all the rivers and lakes we've paddled on to get my boat sale-worthy. There were marks that I thought were permanent but they've cleaned up quite nicely.

When DW and I picked up our new kayaks, in April, we talked to the folks at Frontenac Outfitters about wanting to sell our old ones, and asked about how much we should be seeking. The owner said that Delta kayaks hold their value, and that he, himself, couldn't discount his demo models by more than $200.

I described the shape ours were in: the bottom hulls have a few scratches from general wear and tear, but are still solid. They've never been abused. The stickers on the sides of the deck, near the cockpit, have been scraped up from the straps that we use to secure the kayaks on our roof rack. They don't affect the kayak at all but might not look great.

We bought new stickers, which we'd be willing to throw in if someone doesn't like the look of the old ones, but we won't replace them ourselves. It's nothing a hot hairdryer won't be able to lift off but it's time-consuming.

The owner of Frontenac Outfitters gave us a maximum asking price and a minimum price that we should accept. Delta kayaks are a hot commodity and sell out quickly, he added.

I loved my Delta 12.10. It's solid, stable, and manoeuvrable. Its design helps keep it in a straight line and it's perfect for weekend camping and day excursions. Though not designed for rapids, it could easily handle class 1 or possibly class 2 water conditions.

There's ample storage in the bow and stern, and an easy-to-access day pod holds snacks, keys, water bottles, and whatever you need to quickly get to. I used mine for light snacks, to hold spare batteries for my action camera (though the pod has an air-tight lid, I kept the batteries in a secondary, waterproof container), keys, and more.

DW's kayak is in equally good shape. It's 10 inches shorter than mine (Delta 12S), which makes it even more manoeuvrable. My kayak weighs 41 pounds; hers, 38.

We're hoping to sell the kayaks together and are more likely to cut a deal on them as a set. We want $1200 each but can negotiate if someone wants them both. The price includes the kayaks only: we're not selling any other accessories.

We still need those.

You'd also be saving on sales tax, so $1200 is a savings of more than $600. And these Canadian-made kayaks are so worth it.

How about you? Interested? Here's the Kijiji link to the listing.

Serious inquiries, only.

Better Glass

Last month, when we experienced a partial lunar eclipse, I ran outside with my camera, on a tripod, and mounted my most powerful telephoto lens on it to get the shot.

It wasn't a great shot.

Even at maximum magnification, on a cropped-sensor body (which essentially made it an equivalent of 450mm), the moon only filled a fraction of the frame. Cropping the photo, it was obvious that it wasn't a clear image.

I posted the photos on Mastodon and Theads but wasn't happy with the result, so largely forgot about them.

When DW and I started thinking about our next vacation for 2025, two places came to mind but I was hesitant.

"I'm not going to either of these places until I have a better telephoto lens."

For years, I've wanted a better lens than what I have in my 70-300mm zoom. Sure, it takes some decent photos but if I want to crop a photo to magnify the subject more, the photo starts losing sharpness.

I've wanted a prime telephoto lens, either a 600mm or 800mm, but those start at about $9,000. Without a benefactor, I'm not going to ever have something like that.

Now that people seem to be switching to mirrorless cameras, there are good deals that can be found on lenses for D-SLRs. A few months ago, I saw a used 500mm lens in a camera store, but they still wanted $4K for it.

"That's more than the price of our trip to Akumal," DW said when I called her about it. "Don't you dare!"

Sigh.

When we settled on a destination for our 2025 trip, I said I didn't want to go unless I had some good glass.

So, we searched used equipment sites: I went to Kijiji; DW searched Facebook Marketplace.

We both spotted a Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens that might be suitable. Several folks were selling it, in various states of condition and at various prices.

One person said that her lens was three years old and she had only used it a couple of times, and was asking only a few hundred less than a new lens. I tried to negotiate but she wouldn't budge on her asking price.

Another person had the same lens and said he didn't use it often. And before the warranty expired, he sent it to Nikon for an inspection and cleaning.

He has the receipt.

I was able to negotiate for the price I'm willing to pay and we're meeting later today. He recommended that I bring my camera body to try it out before I hand over any cash.

I'm bringing both D-SLRs.

Fingers crossed. I'm hoping that the next time I shoot the moon, it'll be worth sharing.

Happy Friday!