Wild Rose

The rose has been the subject of legends, poetry and literature, and often represents love. A prickly wild rose grows prolifically on the Oregon coast, considered a nuisance by many.

Wild roses grow in my front yard and bloom through wind and rain, half the year and more. Tough little beauties. Blooms with thorns pretty much describe my romantic notions.

Wild Rose is the name of my new kayak, in the Doryman tradition of christening his row/paddle boats after local flora. She and I will be visiting a local tide marsh on the first day of the new year, we'll be sure to let you know how it goes. With the solstice behind us and the days growing longer in the Northern Hemisphere, this will be the first of many adventures in 2014.

I hope you will join me as the Voyage Ethereal continues...

16-Foot Double-Ender with a Transom

My friend Greg has recently acquired the quintessential McKenzie River drift boat. According to Roger Fletcher in his exceptional history of the Oregon drift boat, "Drift Boats and River Dories", this boat was designed and developed by Woodie Hindman of Springfield, Oregon in the early 1940’s. Long a favorite of fly fishermen the world over, the Double-Ender with a Transom is a work of art. Don’t let that bright varnish fool you! Augmented by yacht-like appearance, this has been a popular, hard working design for nearly 70 years.
The laced rope seat is for the river guide and oarsman and the forward seats with seatbacks are for guests. The platform in the bow is the fly fisherman’s perch, in pools and eddies, below river rapids.
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