It was a gorgeous day with tons of attendees, and over the course of the day all sorts of boats were being tried out - possibly one of the most entertaining ones was a Hobie Mirage-Drive which Tom, the owner, was kind enough to let a bunch of us fancy-schmancy sea-kayak paddlers try out.
The verdict?
I don't think any of us are looking to trade in our sea kayaks, but dang, that thing's FUN!
Minh on Mirage Drive -
Me on Mirage Drive -
Phil on Mirage Drive
Tom, owner of Mirage Drive, on Mirage Drive. He can make that thing move! He did admit that when you had to paddle it (if, for instance, you want to go backwards - there's no reverse gear), it paddled about like a refrigerator - what surprised me was how fast my legs got tired. Gotta be a good workout. Cyclists must love it. Hobie does make sleeker ones, this one's really aimed at fisherfolk.
Completely staged race between me on surfski & Phil on Mirage-Drive
BTW that was also the first surfski run of the season for me & now I remember what was wrong with it, so that's why I can fix it now. I ran it into a sandbar in the dark on my last post-work surfski paddle last Fall - the temperatures were dropping fast enough that I didn't bother fixing it then, just put it away for the season. By this year, I just had this vague recollection it wasn't quite right, but couldn't remember what was wrong - this paddle was a good reminder that yes, things were left completely off kilter. Basically as long as you don't want to turn left, you're groovy. So I'm off to do another one of my sorry repair jobs - when I say that the poor thing's held together with duct tape & baling wire, I wish I was kidding -
They work, though, that's the main thing.
Off now while I still have daylight to go for a post-repair spin!
Oh, I took a batch more pictures that I haven't had time to sort through & post yet, but another one of the camera-owning club members has posted a batch of good pictures on a Picasa gallery, I enjoyed 'em and he said I could link. Thanks!
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