SEQUIM – These Lutheran guys were tired of doing the same thing and, two of them said, they were just tired.
The Men’s Outreach Endeavor, or MORE, group at the Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church used to have a yearly garage sale to raise money for local charities, but “too many of us were getting too old; our backs were too sore to be hauling furniture,” said Paul Wessel, a MORE man.
So since member Bob Naumann had experience building kayaks, he floated that idea: constructing a slim cedar-strip vessel, selling tickets to a drawing for it and then passing the proceeds on to three Clallam County organizations.
That was last year; in November, the 10 men began to build. They used plans from the Redfish custom wood kayak and canoe company, but no kit, Wessel said.
“After 400 hours, we really stopped keeping track,” he recalled.
The kayak was ready for testing in spring, so the men took it out to John Wayne Marina.
“People asked, ‘Does it float?’ and we’re Christian Lutherans, so we can’t just say it floats. We had to prove it,” said MORE builder Jerry Enzenhauer.
The kayak, a gleaming thing with one snug seat, was buoyant as a wood duck – and as pretty, he said.
Next the men toted the kayak to various community gatherings, such as last month’s Lavender Festival, to show it off and sell tickets to the drawing.
It’s since been suspended in the window at A-1 Auto Parts, where tickets are available through today. They’re $10 each at the store, at 144 W. Washington St., in downtown Sequim.
Winner announced Saturday
Once today’s sales are done, the winner will be announced at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church, 925 N. Sequim Ave., Sequim.
Proceeds from the drawing will be donated to Sequim Community Aid, which assists needy residents with basics such as rent, heating bills and prescriptions; the Sequim Food Bank and Serenity House, which helps people who are homeless find shelter and transitional housing.
If you were to buy a kayak like this one, you’d pay at least $6,000, Wessel said.
Building it instead of having another garage sale, Enzenhauer added, was a good move for the MORE men.
“We had a great time,” he said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
