Saturday, April 19, 2014

The Lure

Ever since I sold my boat last summer before moving from Washington to Florida the siren song of owning another vessel has been a weight on my shoulders.  That is no longer the case.

Last weekend I had a three hour drive to a marathon on the East Coast of Florida and was hot to trot as I saw the boat of my dreams listed on craigslist.  It was within my price range and had the exact outboard I wanted (Honda).  Over the long stretches of pavement I kept thinking about the launching, storage, maintenance, and other associated issues of boat ownership.  These thoughts became a major buzz-kill to thoughts of the wind in my hair and being able to fish almost anywhere.  It was a heavyweight fight between the reality of ownership and the dream of boat ownership.

Reality won as thoughts from my past came flooding back.  I started remembering how much I enjoyed fishing from a kayak back in the Pacific Northwest.  I even wrote about the limitations of kayak fishing back in August of 2011 here.  I came to the decision that I was happiest when I was the horsepower.  I had already sold my kayak so I needed a new fishing platform.  There are differences between saltwater fly fishing in the Northwest and Florida so I decided on a Stand up Paddleboard.

My new boat is a Bote SUP and I cannot wait for the winds to die down a bit to test it out.  I have a ton of learning to do but I look forward to the higher casting position a SUP gives.

Here's to a summer of adventure and here's a little video of the board I just purchased.


BOTE HD 12'6" Stand-up Paddle Paddle Board from BOTE Board on Vimeo.