When old boats die, they go to…
As a newsletter article of a different stripe, I thought you might be amused to see what I have done with my ancient and/or no longer usable boats. Somewhere between my desire to not send them to the dump, and the perceived need for more and better plant containers, an idea was hatched and voila! has been put into effect.
The oldest boat in my current collection was hand built by me ca 1978 as one of the hottest racing designs of its day, the Prijon Saana (sp?). This photo from about that time is actually its predecessor but boats were very similar, small volume and lightweight, and in this case negotiating slalom gates above Lesser Wesser on the Nantahala River in North Carolina:
It is so light, and relatively flimsy, I could not in good conscience sell it to anyone who might paddle it (high chance of entrapment) but I find with a coat of spray paint and suspended from bamboo poles against my side fence, it works well as a hanging planter:
Next in age, a kayak purchased in the early 1980s from former Commodore Roy Edwards and painted and paddled by his son Robbie. I got it when Robbie lost interest and here I am circa 1985.
I had greatly enlarged the cockpit rim to accommodate dogs and Ellen, but it never would stay on properly so many years later I paid a neighbor, who was an expert with fiberglass and resin (but not, it turned out, on kayaks) to reinforce the boat and add gel coat so the fiberglass itches were not so pronounced. Looked good, but not entirely successful. Here is the next batch of dogs in kayak:
Looking good, but then I got a better boat. However, in my current backyard I find it very effective as a bromeliad planting place:
Yet a third kayak is slung also from the fence. This one, the Eddyline Merlin was also purchased second hand. It’s a fine boat to paddle but alas, the early Eddyline hull layup proved very brittle over time. The third time the hull cracked, with very little provocation, it also got relegated to yard duty. Here it is sporting its plant load:
Along about 1990 the first purple canoe came into my stable. It’s a little whitewater model, the Dagger Rival. Loved it for whitewater tripping, notably on the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Devil’s rivers. Below photo is from a trip on the Pecos. However, even that Royalex skin wasn’t enough to withstand the punishment of being drug, fully loaded, over the sharp rocks:
Long story short, I have since added two more purple Rivals to my collection so sometime it’s likely there will be THREE purple canoe planters. In the meantime, the third one of the collection was from the estate of the late Cliff Peery and it was indeed in such a condition that planting was the only best use left. So, here it is, with the addition of leftover pex pipes to hold up the squirrel excluding device (chicken wire) and maybe next winter, frost protection. The tomato crop in large pots have somewhat passed their peak but it’s worked very well otherwise:
The white rain gutter was to squirrel proof the cover but so far the little devils haven’t found the delectable location so it’s superfluous and I’ll remove it.
So there you go, no need to let go of your beloved ancient boats, just move them to a different purpose. Some of us just can’t help ourselves and heck, it’s a lot of fun.
Natalie Wiest
Canoeist, kayaker, gardener