A Life Aquatic

I'd like to start out by apologizing for my terrible pictures.  My previous phone threw in the towel so I got a cheap Droid to replace it, and it apparently takes awful pictures.  I ordered a waterproof case for my Canon that will be in this week.
 
I arrived in Reston, VA a little over two weeks ago.  This isn't my first on the road contract, but it's definitely the slowest moving.  It's more of a 9-5 type job and I am left with a whole lot of free time.

Niko and I have done a ton of riding, I've gotten back into playing (gambling) the stock market, but the weekends were getting boring.  Back in KC I had tried to find a long sit on top kayak with a fairly deep keel and ample storage space but I never had much luck finding what I wanted used... and I felt like buying new at $1200 was too much to spend on 60 pounds of plastic.  Turns out that out here kayaking is much more popular and I found several examples that would suit my needs.

I picked this up in Easton, Maryland for $400:

It's a 15 foot long Ocean Prowler in great shape.  I bought a paddle and a few accessories at REI and off we go!

Niko enjoyed boating, but did not much enjoy swimming.  After I tossed him in for about the 4th time he got his confidence and decided it wasn't too bad, even jumping in once on his own.  I didn't get any pictures of him in the water because I needed to be able to pull him in the boat if he got in over his head (pun intended).

Earning Our Wings

The true test was seeing how Niko handled riding distance.  We rode from KC to Bolivar, MO (150 miles) and he loved every minute.  In two days we've ridden about 300 miles, today we rode for 30 minutes at a time in 102 degree heat.  On a motorcycle at highway speed it's more tolerable than you'd expect.

As always, here's some pictures:

Open highway

Stockton Dam

How Niko sees the world

Me pretending to be a fighter pilot (pew pew!)

Training Wheels

Today was Niko's first day of full speed riding.  He doesn't much care for being put into his little bag, but once he's in he really enjoys riding.  We went to the gas station and the pet store and were approached several times by interested people.  It's getting pretty hot out so I decided to call it an early day.  He takes the heat pretty well and his bag is well ventilated but I don't want to take any chances.

His bag is a little small but it's well designed and he has enough room to sit, lay or curl up in it.  If he were any bigger it wouldn't work at all.  It has an attached clip to fix to his collar so that he is unable to jump out.  I picked it up as well as a rain cover and motorcycle attachment from Amazon.com.

A change of plans, part deux

I got the bike back together and everything works. My larger windshield is pretty scuffed so I am going to try and clean it up; in the meantime I have put the short one back on.

Here are a few pictures of the bike:

A change of plans

I just recently purchased a 1989 Honda PC800 with the intention of using it for touring with my ankle high side kick.  I got it home, got the gear ordered and received a job offer a thousand miles away.  Needless to say, plans have changed.

I'm taking the motorcycle with me and instead of longer, more elaborate adventures I'll mostly be doing weekend excursions for now.

It was a 3 hour ride home from Wichita to KC and the bike handled great.  However it's got a headlight and a turn signal out, and a woefully short windshield... So I have some work to do.

Partially disassembled

Parts everywhere!

Niko does not enjoy his goggles, but the ladies will