Hello from the Great White North!

[Kalin]

Fellow Single Bladers,

Hello from the Great White North!~

First of all: I MUST apologize for "dropping off the radar" for MUCH longer than I expected. 4 years ago I moved from Ottawa, Ontario to Whitehorse, Yukon. For those of you not familiar with the beautiful country of Canada, that is a distance of approximately 5500 kms (3400 miles). Moving from Eastern to North-Western Canada has been an exciting experience, to say the least!

As funny as this sounds, I'm finally starting to "feel at home" now. If any of you have ever moved to another part of the world, you probably know what I mean. It's funny how things take time and how that time seems to fly by...kinda scary, too!

I have finally purchased a laptop and I am looking forward to visiting this forum much more often than I have in the past few years. I always "popped in" once in awhile to check up on things...but I'm hoping to find the time to actually contribute occassionally now as well.

Sir Adam, ScottB, Gonzo, "Not Elvis", Kneal, Dave Miller, PAC and the rest of you as well...I have certainly missed sharing an eddy with you these last couple years! It's SO great to see Cboats grow and flourish as a community and although I was at the SBS at Palmerfest in '05 I have truly missed being at the other Armadas.

I am hoping to be back East for a week or two this Fall (late Sept or Early Oct.) and it would be great to catch up with as many of you as possible. Is there a Hudson Armada in the works?

In the meantime, I have been busy trying some new boats (and some incredible new rivers, too!) and I am in the process of converting a Wave Sport Fuse 64 (which is gonna rock, I think!) and a Wave Sport Project 62 as well. I have an Esquif Taureau which is totally, incredibly FUN (even though Colin Moneypenny thinks it shold be a beer cooler!) and I have just bought a new Mad River Caption, which I still need to install the outfitting for...so... suffice to say I'm still totally committed to the single blade! I have been working hard to spread the gospel of the single blade up here and I'm happy to report that the OC1 community is growing steadily!

Well, there's a quick update from me. Hello to my old friends and hello to those who I hope will soon become new friends!

Best wishes from Whitehorse,
Kalin

[kenneth]

Welcome "back"! I'm sure Adam, ScottB, PAC, Kneal and Gonzo are on the road right now driving home from the Armada weekend, otherwise your return to C-ivilization would be well-heralded. In fact, I heard your name mentioned at the Armada (alas, I don't remember the context) so you're still in our hearts.

[sbroam]

Howdy! Glad to hear from you and hope to hear more.

Samples of the contexts in which your name came up :

• Late? Well, yeah, but not late like *Kalin* late!
  Snoring? Well, yeah, but not like *Kalin*!
  A stromboli? Well, yeah, but not as big as the one *Kalin* ate!
  Hey, there was this time Kalin ________.....
  Speaking of Kalin, where the heck is he and has anyone heard from him?!

Scott


ps- we're up to 4 kids now - 3 love canoes and #4 get s introduced to one soon...[/list]

[Not Elvis]

Talked all about you this past weekend, paticularly to the Fox's people, who told us that the Fox's Pizza corporate newsletter announced the opening of several new Zamboni/Federali/Stromboli outlets near the Arctic Circle.

How exciting this must be for you!

On to the real reason I posted. I WANT MY MONEY BACK!

I bought a pair of Level Six Kalin Shorts expecting them to provide lactose tolerancy equal to superpowers! Instead what I got is a rash on my a$$ in the shape of your profile, sitting upon a porcelain throne, in an Auguste Rodin sort of pose.

The shorts got here late, it took forever to get them on, they did not even provide any additional lift during my descent through the pourover in Cucumber, and they put a lot of pressure on my sides, which forced me to sleep on my back, causing me to snore loudly I've been told. Yeah, now that I've met the shorts, I'll never be the same. No false advertising there.

But hey, my previous microfibers gave out 37% earlier under similar Stromboli loads and didn't dry in the laundry immediately following nearly as quickly! My only suggestion would be to QUADRUPLE stitch the seat, or advise lactose intolerant users to invest in the optional "dropseat."

We've missed you brother. PAC's too sensitive to take a shallacking on the board like you used to.

A quick suggestion for internet usage with a laptop in the Arctic:

Sleep with the laptop in your sleeping bag, or under your blankets in the igloo to keep the sensitive internal components from freezing. When emails, blogs, or general surfing become too slow or "tinny," tighten the wire coming into your soup can to adjust your bandwidth. If you are using internet phone to chat while minimizing pesky phone bills, and your bandwidth degrades, state to the party on the other end, "Eh? I did not hear the last part, eh? Can you repeat that after I adjust my modem, eh? Things are a little hard to keep working up here in frigid northern CBnBdB, eh?"

Please be advised that arrangements are being made to gather up mid-Atlantic C-Kin for the Hudson Armada. There might even be a C-aravan coming, the passengers chanting, "Oliver! Oliver! We loved you in 'The Three Musketeers!'"

"Not Elvis"

[Paddle Power]

Welcome Back Kalin, you have been missed.

Glad to hear all is well.

[KNeal]

Great timing Kalin! Needless to say, you are missed down here in the "deep south". We did get to spend time talking about you. Not talking about Kalin on an armada weekend is kin to getting together and NOT boating on an armada weekend. However, the storied PALE in comparison to the REAL DEAL! All the "new faces", or boaters who have never been graced by your "grand" presence, just cannot appreciate what we say about you. You just have to be here.

KNeal

[PAC]

Kalin - how good to hear from you! Your ears were a burn'n, eh?

Nice to hear you are well and life is being good to you. Hope you tune more often and post some TRs.

Paul C.

PS: Some body mentioned to me about be helped at some outdoor store up your way by this guy named Kalin. Asked me if I knew him... I swore I didn't! I guess they thought you were helpful and timely... or something to that effect! We miss ya bro!