Operation: Hobie Revo

Ug, it's been a few weeks since the last post. Christmas / New Years was a drag. The weather was crap, the fishing was infrequent, and a good deal of money was spent on necessary improvements around the house. With all of the rain, the solar panels still aren't up, though they should be doing the install next week.

However, I have found a new and exciting mission for the year, code-named "Operation: Hobie Revo(lution)". The task is to get buy-in from the Mrs. to purchase a fishing kayak. This will be a battle on two fronts, first to get buy-in for a kayak; second, to get buy-in for a quality kayak like the Revolution and not the cheapest hunk of plastic on sale at BCF.

The Mrs. is quite hesitant about the idea of a kayak so there will be a number of points to win over:
1. Cost: The kayak will cost around $2300 plus accessories such as the roof rack, travel pack, (roof rack pads plus wheels to cart the kayak from the car to the water) paddle, life jacket, hanging straps, anchor, safety flag/light, waterproof pants/shoes, and various small fittings.
2. Space: The kayak will need to be stored in the garage via hanging straps. I'll need to prove it will remain up and out of the way.
3. Safety: Of course she is worried if I'm out on the water alone. However I would always be using a life-jacket, have my mobile with me, and if I ever did go off-shore, I'd be sure to do it in a group. I'm currently getting to know the local kayaking community, and even getting a few people interested in the idea as well. She might be concerned that I'd be taking it out in the evening which would be bloody dangerous, no Kayaking is a morning/day-time activity only.

There are a few benefits I'm leveraging:
1. Exercise: kayaking is a good form of exercise to combine with my weekly/fortnightly fishing trips.
2. We can bring the kayak on outings so people can take it out for a paddle/pedal.
3. Better fishing opportunities: The kayak will let me get to areas that are inaccessible from land positions opening the door to bigger, and different types of fish.
4. No need for evening fishing trips. She doesn't like it much when I go out to the jetty at night. Kayaking is a day-time activity and if I'm catching quality fish from a yak, I don't need to go out to the jetty at night.

Ah well, the battle is just starting.. :)