More horse photos! This photo was also taken when I was going through Spain heading from Barcelona up to San Sebastian with a few friends last summer. We touched through France, and I’m pretty sure... [read more]

I ran around with my tripod taking tons of pictures of the horses on a windy hilltop in France last summer. I used  Photomatix to generate this picture by combining five different exposures.     Use Photomatix! I... [read more]

I used to not really like hiking. There seemed to be no purpose to it; you followed a trail for no real rhyme or reason and usually ended up back where you started. I never... [read more]

   

Okay! Progress is happening when I have spare time. I glued on the cowling around the opening, cut it to fit and sanded it smooth. The glue-up was a bit tricky…I didn’t have quite enough... [read more]

 

I used 4oz fiberglass on top, per the instructions in the kit. I was afraid I was going to run out of epoxy hardener, so I only glassed half of the boat at first. This... [read more]

I’ve been busy having fun doing other things, so the kayak progress isn’t too fast. Yesterday I finished rounding off the corners of the top, and sanded through all the grits from 80 on up... [read more]

The next big step in the kayak was to glue the top on. First you put a coat of unthickened epoxy on the bottom side of the top piece, and then use thickened (cab-o-sil) epoxy... [read more]

Half Dome from Cloud’s Rest, Yosemite, California     A grueling 9 mile hike from Yosemite Valley that is relentlessly straight up!   

The next step in my kayak building journey was to plane the end clamps. These need a specific radius that changes depending on where you are along the top of the boat. The kit includes... [read more]

The next big step is to glass the hull bottom. I sanded down the putty with 80 grit, and then went through all the grades all over the kayak: 100/120/150/220.   You then cover it with... [read more]

Cloud’s Rest in Yosemite, California. You hike from the Valley floor at just shy of 4,000’ up to 9,931’.       

The kayak is still moving along! I’ve been a bit busy enjoying the outdoors: mountain biking (yeah on two wheels!), camping, and rock climbing.  The next part was to glass the interior middle section; there... [read more]

It’s a sad day in electric-ville. I was driving the electric bug to work at about 6:45 am on Highway 85, trying to enjoy my morning commute by working on learning some Japanese words for... [read more]

The kayak is starting to look like a real boat! First you have to level it, propped up on some sticks/sawhorses:   Then install the bulkheads:      And finally, start gluing it together with... [read more]

I got to the stitching part of the “stitch and glue” kayak build! It didn’t take very long….the kit was easy to work with.  I had to push my tablesaw off to the side to... [read more]

The kit came about a week after I ordered it. The delivery company received it in SFO, and was reluctant to deliver it to me right away — they wanted to wait an extra week... [read more]

I’ve been wanting to build my own kayak for quite a while. Ideally I want to make a strip-style kayak; something out of locally sourced redwood would be awesome! For now, I decided to start... [read more]

I needed a rack for my Tesla Model S; shoving a mountain bike along with a few unicycles in the back just wasn’t cutting it. Plus, in the winter I want to take snowboards and... [read more]

Window in France.

The supermercat in Andorra. Beautiful country for people who love the outdoors.

In the back streets of Kolkata they make delicious chai tea. 

Exhibit one: A pot that was my parents. The plastic handle broke of years ago and I hacked on a wooden one. It wasn’t lasting….   Cross grain experiment was not strong, so I drew... [read more]

It is hot in India, and the dogs know how to relax.  

 The monkey, sitting on the edge of a roof top next to a striking red blanket. Near the Taj Mahal, India.

What could be more adorable than a baby rhino? This was in Kaziranga National Park, north east India in 2014.

The street dogs of India…this one was near Kaziranga National Park in the Northeast corner of India.   

Back in February of 2012 I visited the far north east area of India in Meghalaya. There are some amazing living root bridges, and the hike to get to them led through some tiny villages.... [read more]

Far up in east India, after a long windy road, there is this monastery. It was almost to Butan…     Taken 2/22/14, f/16 1.3s (camera was sitting on the floor). 

My handlebar has been working really well, but I wanted something to protect the brake lever. So I welded on a little half moon to protect it, and threw on some black spray paint over... [read more]