CLCboats.com Demo day on Merrit Island

I have been a huge fan of Chesapeake Light Craft for most of this century. Pretty neat that of the 2 demo days they have in Florida, one happened to be down the road from me. Their super gracious and knowledgeable staff were awesome to talk with. I also met some neat local paddlers and boat builders I look forward to hanging out with again, which is nice as we are relatively new to the area.

We made a bit of a day of it with a picnic and friends hanging out in Kelly Park. I'm pretty sure I tried every boat (at least the ones I could fit in). I came away a big fan of the Passagemaker dinghy, which would be a fun boat to have around to fish and tote people out to the nearby spoil island.

Some brought their own boats, which were just stunning. Particularly a bamboo decked kayak and a Peeler skiff. The Peeler is another one that would be neat to build and run around the river in.