I think I'm going to enjoy making so many crap jokes on here where no one can hear you scream...
Anyhow. According to Jim @ Pygmy, he sent the epoxy in a white Pygmy marked box, and it arrived in a brown FedEx box. Looks as though FedEx may have dropped it and then re-packaged it to make everything look legit again. He's been great, and with the help of a few photos is going to send out replacements for everything damaged by the leak, plus some extra part A and part B resin given I'm now a few quarts short of what I need. Now just to work out what the hell a quart is, those yanks really need to join us in the 21st century when it comes to measurements. I think it's somewhere less than a gallon, but more than a pint. Glad we cleared that up... maybe I should have asked for a bushel. Or a Hogshead. Perhaps a Firkin. Yep that's it. I need a ferkin firkin of epoxy.
What I'm getting at here is full marks to Jim @ Pygmy Boats Inc, yet again.
I cleaned off the bottles of resin last night and found one of them was still leaking, and the others' seals of the lids were shot. From what I can tell, some FedEx football player wannabe drop-kicked the original box off the plane, and it landed upside down on the tarmac and ruined everything. Had to transfer the part A remainder to some milk bottles as it has a leak, hoping the other part B bottles are fine now.
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Showing posts with label FedEx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FedEx. Show all posts
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Touchdown!
After a hiatus in Honolulu, according to FedEx's tracking system has told me that my kayak package has touched down in Sydney. Not sure how long it will take to clear Australian Customs and for the duty & GST (10% sales tax payable on imports over AUD$1000) to be processed, but I guess we'll wait and see.
I also managed to find a picture of me paddling the Hawkesbury Classic last year in Dad's Coho - I'd forgotten how beautiful the boat is!
The wait continues...
UPDATE: Got a call from a blocked number on my mobile this afternoon which turned out to be someone from FedEx, somewhere in the world (because of the delay on the line I'm pretty sure it wasn't Aust) asking for my credit card details to pay the customs duty. I took a leap of faith and assumed it wasn't someone trying to scam me and handed them over, and sure enough, the fedex tracker shows my kayak has cleared Australian Customs and has been released from International Shipment. I can only assume this means my package is in the domestic courier network and will arrive in the next day or so!
I also managed to find a picture of me paddling the Hawkesbury Classic last year in Dad's Coho - I'd forgotten how beautiful the boat is!
The wait continues...
UPDATE: Got a call from a blocked number on my mobile this afternoon which turned out to be someone from FedEx, somewhere in the world (because of the delay on the line I'm pretty sure it wasn't Aust) asking for my credit card details to pay the customs duty. I took a leap of faith and assumed it wasn't someone trying to scam me and handed them over, and sure enough, the fedex tracker shows my kayak has cleared Australian Customs and has been released from International Shipment. I can only assume this means my package is in the domestic courier network and will arrive in the next day or so!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Accessorising and ordering.
So now that I've decided on the boat - A Coho Hi from Pygmy Boats Inc, I need to work out how I want it fitted out.
Jim from Pygmy was pretty adamant that the Coho doesn't require a rudder and can be turned by leaning the boat - lean left to go right, right to go left. He encouraged me to paddle it first and then get one if I want it later. The chines on the hull mean the hull of the boat is curved when leaned on an angle, and off it goes. Dad hasn't got one on his, and the system works pretty well, except it struggled a little in a strong crosswind when paddling with a following tide. I had a bit of trouble then, but I guess that's to be expected in most boats. All this aside, I've decided to fit a rudder. Purely because I figure I can fit it and retract it when not in use, but it'll be harder if I decide I want it down the track, so into the basket it goes.
I haven't seen a rudder attached to a Coho anywhere except for one of the boats on a doco I found called 'Paddle to Seattle', which as a bit of a tangent, looks awesome. Two mates paddling from Alaska to Seattle down the inside passage in Pygmy Coho's they built themselves. They're funny buggers too, I'm very tempted to grab the DVD. Maybe my Coho could do something as awesome as that one day! one of them has a rudder on their boats, so I guess mine won't be the only one with one. The Smart-track rudder looks pretty small too, I like it.
Also making the shopping basket are deck hatches for stowage and bungee cord for the deck to hold maps, a bit of food and so on in easy reach.
I ordered the boat and got a shipment tracking number for FedEx so I can see where the boat is up to, just to make the wait all that more agonising. Ordering via the website was easy, the shipping was not shown, but Jim had told me that, and he sent me an email prior to finalising confirming the total shipping charge and that the order was complete. Shipping was about US$355 to the ACT including insurance and brokerage.
The parcel is now in Honolulu according to FedEx, and is expected on the 14th of October. Can't wait! Turns out checking the FedEx tracking page every 30 mins doesn't make it get here any quicker. I think I'd rather it was a mystery and just arrived one day next week, but I think this is more fun. Agonising, but fun.
Jim from Pygmy was pretty adamant that the Coho doesn't require a rudder and can be turned by leaning the boat - lean left to go right, right to go left. He encouraged me to paddle it first and then get one if I want it later. The chines on the hull mean the hull of the boat is curved when leaned on an angle, and off it goes. Dad hasn't got one on his, and the system works pretty well, except it struggled a little in a strong crosswind when paddling with a following tide. I had a bit of trouble then, but I guess that's to be expected in most boats. All this aside, I've decided to fit a rudder. Purely because I figure I can fit it and retract it when not in use, but it'll be harder if I decide I want it down the track, so into the basket it goes.
I haven't seen a rudder attached to a Coho anywhere except for one of the boats on a doco I found called 'Paddle to Seattle', which as a bit of a tangent, looks awesome. Two mates paddling from Alaska to Seattle down the inside passage in Pygmy Coho's they built themselves. They're funny buggers too, I'm very tempted to grab the DVD. Maybe my Coho could do something as awesome as that one day! one of them has a rudder on their boats, so I guess mine won't be the only one with one. The Smart-track rudder looks pretty small too, I like it.
Also making the shopping basket are deck hatches for stowage and bungee cord for the deck to hold maps, a bit of food and so on in easy reach.
I ordered the boat and got a shipment tracking number for FedEx so I can see where the boat is up to, just to make the wait all that more agonising. Ordering via the website was easy, the shipping was not shown, but Jim had told me that, and he sent me an email prior to finalising confirming the total shipping charge and that the order was complete. Shipping was about US$355 to the ACT including insurance and brokerage.
The parcel is now in Honolulu according to FedEx, and is expected on the 14th of October. Can't wait! Turns out checking the FedEx tracking page every 30 mins doesn't make it get here any quicker. I think I'd rather it was a mystery and just arrived one day next week, but I think this is more fun. Agonising, but fun.
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