Just so you do not feel alone - Loading up my Coho on my paddling buddys truck. Standing on his front tire to get the bow lines attached to the boat - started to step off the tire (long way down) caught my foot in the loop that hooks over the tow hooks in front. Pulled the boat with me - landed on my back (bang) and watched (in slow motion) as she hit the pavement bow (bang) stern (bang) shear seem (bang) I thought "there go 80 hours of work" Lucky the boat came off the side and did not hit the car.

These are tough boats. No wood showing, so I sanded lightly and painted on some epoxy and it is very tough to spot the repairs. I have not done the final sanding and varnishing yet. I think it will be completely invisible when I do.

Mike

------------------
: So it's Wednesday evening--time for my weekly paddle with my friend Geoff. We
: had just gotten down to the beach area, and Geoff spotted a parking space
: going down the hill close to the parking lot (which is always full with
: tourists). We start unloading the boats. Geoff has a Seda Viking and I
: have "the Other Woman", my Artic Tern. It looks beautiful as
: usual as I undid the straps on the Yakima mounts. Geoff has Mako saddles
: up front and Hully rollers in back. As I was unlocking the wheels to lift
: off the boat, the guy who just pulled into the spot behind us decided
: there was probably somewhere safer to park his yuppiemobile, and he began
: to pull out. To give him some room to turn, I stepped back from the boat
: to the curb. That's when I hear a passerby shout "Your kayak!".
: I turned just in time to see the boat accelerating off the roof and plow
: the bow into the pavement. It bounced, and the rear end comes down hard on
: the window and hood of my friend's car, then slammed down onto the
: pavement. The whole boat bounced again, and landed on the port sheer
: panel, which it proceded to slide on for 25 or 30 feet, rocking for and
: aft like a cradle. I couldn't even seem to move (not that I could've
: grabbed it anyway).

: Final assessment--serious seam abrasion on the keel and bottom edge of the
: sheer panel, with some glass weave showing at a few of the impact spots; a
: cracked windshield and dented hood on my friend's car, and serious
: feelings of having horribly mistreated my baby. The car is just money (a
: $250 deductible), but the boat is my real concern. There's really no wood
: damage that I can see, but I want to make sure it's structurally sound and
: that the wood remains well encapsulated so that no wood rot starts. Should
: I just paint some epoxy resin into/onto the damaged areas and then
: revarnish it, or do you think some reinforcing tape is in order? I'd like
: to keep the lines as clean as possible, but I don't want to risk
: structural problems or leakage. What do you think?

: Mark "the klutz" Woodhead