August 1st, 2016
Yorktown Heights, NY
Today was a riveting day. No wait, it was a day to get rivets, pop rivets to be exact. Don’t ask me why I had taken my eyelets with me on this expedition, knowing full well I would be adding knee straps, but left the pop rive
ts back in Vermont. I guess most mechanically minded people know what a pop rivet it. If you don’t, this is a pop rivet.
The thing is, there are different types of pop rivets and like the dry bag fiasco yesterday, today was a lesson in pop rivets. Not for me, but for those that I called. I would not expect the average mechanically inclined person to know this, nor would I expect someone who uses pop rivets in metal, but there are different types for different jobs or materials. When I call a West Marine, located in a salt water community serving sale water boats and discuss rivets with them, I would not expect them to try to sell me a rivet that specifically states: Not to be used in salt water. Yet, it was I who had to point this out to them. Luckily, I was only on the phone.
So began my round of phone calls again. Oddly enough, I ended up back at West Marine where the original guy tried selling me the aluminum rivets not designed for salt water, but this time I got to speak to a woman there and rather than not listening to a customer, when I asked her to check for a specific type of rivet, she did and unlike the last guy who insisted they only had regular aluminum pop rivets, she was able to locate and find the special rivets to be used in a kayak and in salt water, right there on the shelf. Something 
the other guy could not do. The rivets for a plastic kayak expand out much further so they cannot pop out if the plastic heats up and gets a little soft which does happen in the hot sun. So it was off to Stamford CT to get the rivets. I also needed a rivet gun so I posted a message on Facebook seeing if anyone had one I could borrow.
Yesterday, I listed the original tent I bought, on Craigslist. I didn’t think I would be able to sell it before I re-launch so I was preparing to return it via mail to the store where I bought it in Vermont. Before leaving for Stamford, Ct, I got an email and before we arrived in Stamford, the tent was spoken for.
Back in Yorktown, my friend Patrick Macquignon responded to my Facebook plea and we arranged to meet back at the house around 5pm. Pat, his wife Tish and their son Joe came by just after 5pma and I shoed them the kayak that is taking me on my expedition. We talked and shared Hudson River stories and eventually decided to head out to dinner together where we’d meet up with their daughter Michaela at the diner in town.
Over dinner we shared more stories and Pat began using some of his Brooklyn connections to see if he could get me permission to re-launch at the Police Docks next to where I pulled out which was in an unauthorized location. I told him it would be tough though. The police are understandably, very protective of their base and don’t usually allow people to just show up and launch nor pull out there. Still, he began trying his best to help me for my Wednesday re-launch.
I can’t believe tomorrow will be one month since I began this expedition. So much has changed. I’ve met so many great people and made so many new friends and yet, I’m just at the beginning of this long journey. It’s a helluva ride and I’m enjoying every moment, even if there are moments that are scaring the hell out of me (New York City Harbor, Sandy Hook Crossing, approaching hurricanes)
Thank You Macquignon family for treating Arlene and I to dinner tonight. That was very kind of you and thank you for loaning me the rivet gun. Tomorrow I’ll get the Knee / Thigh Straps installed and I’ll have a lot more control over the kayak in rough water.
Day 31 done.
