Because I want to Paddle all the Things. Everywhere.
But I need a better way to get to the water, and stay there.
And that’s how the Oak City Element/Paddle all the things project was born.
My 2017 Honda CR-V is a great car but…it’s just not quite right. A Sprinter Van is just too big. Not to mention expensive. Same with Ford Transit Vans and Dodge Pro-Masters. Then there’s the whole reliability thing.
Enter the Element.
My love affair with these toaster-shaped SUVs isn’t new.
In 2006, my beloved, boxy, behemoth of an SUV Isuzu Trooper was totaled. It was Thanksgiving Day and I was on my way to spend it with one of my besties and her family about 100 miles away from Raleigh, NC in Morehead City. I was almost there, cruising through the town of Havelock when a teenager stopped at a stop sign on a parallel access road decided to gun it.
I remember slamming on my breaks at about 50 mph – the speed limit – so hard I was actually standing up, out of my seat. I was in the left lane of the two-lane highway and had no where to go. I hit him just behind the wheel well on the drivers side of his Ford Escort. Both cars were totaled.
Thus began the search.
I had wanted the boxy Element since I first saw it. Attracted to it by its functionalism. The rubber floorboards easily swept out. The seats that could be configured in different arrangements or removed altogether. And then of course, there was the shape. Reminiscent of my Trooper but smaller and with better gas mileage. And the price was right, too.
But when I got behind the wheel for the test drive, I was….well…I dunno. Perhaps it was the salesman who didn’t like the vehicle. Perhaps he wanted to sell the more expensive CR-V. Perhaps I was smarting from the lose of the Trooper- my first new car ever.
I went with the aforementioned CR-V.
I loved that car. I loved it’s relative boxiness. I went through two of them. But then the body design changed. Square hasn’t been in for years. I recently replaced my 2005 CR-V with a “luxury upgrade” and while I love driving it, it’s just too posh to be an AdventureMobile.
And not only that but, you cannot sleep in it.
Coinciding with all of this is the #VanLife thing, which many of my friends have embraced.
It wasn’t until a recent trip out to Hood River, Oregon where I spent a week getting in and out of my friend Joel’s Element. Joel runs a guiding and downwind standup paddle service on the Columbia in Hood River. The Element is perfect for his needs. And so tt seemed perfect for mine too.
A little research lead me to Fifth Element Camping, based in right up the road Asheville, NC. They specialize in modular, easy to remove, wood conversions for the Element.
Boom! The seed is planted and The Idea starts to grow!
I just need to find an Element in good shape.
Most people, I’ve discovered, don’t realize Honda quit making the vehicle in 2011. Yet, you see LOTS (and even more once you give into the notion of actually acquiring one!) on the road. And they all appear to be in good shape. People who have these cars LOVE them, take care of them, covet them and never, ever really sell them. I had my work cut out for me.
My father was always the car guy. He’s been gone three years now. I thought I’d be on my own on this one.
Or so I thought. I did some Googling and found Jefrei Berger of CarolinaCarFinders.com. I sent him a note via his website. We talked the next day and he started looking for me.
Jef is super picky. He doesn’t compromise on his standards. He warned me I might not hear from him for a while, until he was confident he had something worth looking at. If I couldn’t have my dad helping me with this endeavor, I had the next best thing in Jef.
About a month later he sent me the specs on a cherry of an Element up for a dealer’s auction in Virginia. It was going to be on the higher end of the price spectrum, but it was in really good shape, with a clean Carfax history and a complete service record. One owner. Jef assured me it might be a year before he’d see another car like this. After explaining me the process and getting my green light, he went to Virginia and came back with my 2008 Galaxy Gray Honda Element!
I immediately got on Fifth Element’s wait list for my build. Lead time is seven to eight months, but it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, I can do some “interim” outfitting to at least get me going until the install is ready to go.
So, the plan is to use the Element for weekend or longer excursions, races and other explorations where normally I’d have to couch surf or get a hotel. I’ll be learning the fine art of boondocking and stealth camping. And I’ll be using the Element as my primary transportation tool in my effort to Paddle All The Things across this great country of ours.
In the days to come, I’ll post about the Element, our outfitting and build process, the gear I’ll use and carry and then once we get going, trip reports. You can follow along here, on Facebook and on Instagram where I’ll be posting under the handle of @oakcityelement.
Paddle All The Things 