Manly Beach

January 18, 2005

Photos

Two big things happened today.

1. Jackson Kayak has left the starting line for the
2005 season. We closed the doors to the shop on December 20th and reopened
them today. John Ratliff is the head honch/big cheese in charge of making
sure that you get your new Jackson Kayak the way I intended it to be.
There was, unfortunately a scary accident that happened before we opened.
Brian Talbert was riding his motorcycle (which he loves to do) and took
a header breaking his leg bad enough that he needed a plate and screws
that will stay in his leg forever. He was lucky that it wasn’t worse,
but his current condition is a bummer!
We gave everybody an 18 day head start this year, but that is OK since
we are on our own program and schedule. We will be taking orders for 2005
outfitted kayaks and 2005 colors today. Contact your dealer to make sure
they get the one you want in soon. A Fun or Star series kayak can be ready
to go soon, while the Rocker, or Hero/ Super Hero (river running creekboat
name is chosen and I love it!) will be ready this spring.

2. The Jackson’s took our first day off
from training and went to on the Tasman Sea. The Tasman Sea
lays between the East Coast of Australia and The West Coast of New Zealand.
It had beautiful clear blue water, great waves, perfect weather, and plenty
of shopping for Kristine and Emily check out as well. Dane and I rented
boogie boards and went out for two hours while the girls shopped and then
ate pizza. We then hooked up with the girls while they ate lunch and we
ate dessert (crepes and fried bananas, yummy). Emily put on her swim suit
and we went out for another boogie board session before heading home.
It is only one hour from our house to the beach, so a day trip is no problem.
On the way home Kristine took a detour to a military facility that is
all fenced in. Inside the fences are tons of wild kangaroos. It is exactly
like the NIH facility in Washington, DC where the deer herds are large
because can’t be bothered by humans since it is off limits. Kristine
still had her swim suit on and a long shirt on too. When she got out of
the car, next to the highway, she proceeded to put her jeans on, while
I was waiting for her with a camera. We got a series of honking horns
from that one. I am sure there were some wild imaginations running rampant
to that scene we created! We are back home and preparing for a double
date with Joe and Sue Kowalski, who are great friends of ours. I have
known Joe since 1984, referred to him by Wayne Hockmeyer from Maine. He
is a great businessman that is also super fun to hang out with, especially
if you are a Ann Rand fan. We will go to the restaurant that is by the
river where the bats with 3 foot wingspans take flight at dusk, just like
in the Scooby Doo show. They are the same bats as you find on the Nile
River, Fruit Bats.

🙂 EJ