Apocalypto Now… er, yesterday actually

August 26, 2007 at 12:15 pm · Filed under Just Stuff

I watched Apocalypto last night. It was a pretty disturbing movie, I really was hoping for a lot more. I didn’t know much about the movie prior to watching it, all I knew was the Mayan setting. I have some general interest in the anthropology of Amerindian cultures and history, so I thought the movie would be some type of crash course in current thinking of the Maya, with an obvious slant towards entertainment and not education. I would much prefer to read up on the subject but my spare time allotted to reading is pretty much restricted to glancing at a few magazines.

As for the movie, it contained a gross amount of violence and pretty much depicted the Mayans as a depraved bunch of sadistic people. The movie also played against a couple of fears of mine: drastic environmental change and damage, and the barbarism that people can resort to when hope is abandoned. Those two aspects made the movie uncomfortable for me.

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The Pygmy Tern 14 Launches

August 12, 2007 at 8:09 am · Filed under Tern 14 kayak

Well, several months after finish the kayak we finally got it into the water two weekends agp. Such is life when you are busy with little kids!
We had a successful launch, although the cheap champagne that was poured was pretty skunky. If that’s the worst thing that happens with this boat we’ll be happy.
My wife took the kayak out for a little paddle, along with her new Holst GP. She was happy with the pair although it sounds like she’ll need some time to get used to the two. The Tern14 had a looser feel than what she was used to (stability, not tracking). I also gave the kayak a quick paddle. It seemed pretty quick and tracked well but I can’t compare it to anything really. I’ve only whitewater paddled until this weekend. I didn’t try to maneuver the boat too much as I wasn’t used to the Greenland paddle. I did manage to roll the kayak on my first attempt so I suppose that means it rolls pretty easy (I haven’t been in a kayak in about 5 or 6 years).


Here are some thoughts on the boat. First, it looks very nice and seems to have a lot of potential for paddling. It’s relatively comfy, the seat works good, and the secondary stability is rock solid. My two biggest gripes with the boat have to do with the coaming and the hatches. We found it difficult to yank off the spray skirt with one hand. Lifting the tip of the skirt up and out was not enough to release the skirt from the coaming lip, the skirt would still catch/hold at about 11:30 and 12:30. Flipping the skirt off with a second hand was easy, but then you’d have to let go of your paddle. This definitely needs some adjustments, I’m surprised that it was so difficult. Secondly, the hatch covers don’t seem to fit super great. They do not sit flush with the deck and after a few rolls and wet exits there was some water in the bulkheads. I think part of the problem is with the way the foam lies on the hatch lip. At the very tips the foam perhaps bunches up by a mm or so, and maybe this is enough to keep the whole hatch from being as tight as it could be. I left the hatches on the kayak for a long time, thinking that the foam may compress. However, I think a bit of work may be needed. Perhaps I will try to notch or cut away a bit of foam on the ends. Any input is welcome on either of these issues!

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