Author: Bob Benz

sunrise09_08.jpg

Originally uploaded by Suffering the Benz

Here’s this morning’s sunrise over Prater Flats, just off Lake Loudon in Knoxville. You can see the bow of my new kayak in the frame. Make note of the Steeler black and gold.
This shot was taken with my old DImage Xg digital camera, which I had to resort to when my Nikon Coolpix S1 took an unexpected bath last week. Seems getting out of the new kayak isn’t as easy as it would seem, and I ended up in the drink, along with the camera and my Blackberry. I had the presence of mind to enclose the Blackberry in a Ziplock back so it survived unscathed. The camera wasn’t so lucky. But the memory card did survive and now lives on in the Dimage …
I hit the water early today under shimmering starry skies. During the weekend, I added a few new pieces to my kayak paraphernalia, including a flashing strobe that hopefully will stop a bass boat from turning me into a predawn speedbump and a waterproof bag that can hold both my Blackberry and camera.
It was a great paddle. I managed to explore parts of Prater Flats that I haven’t been to yet. I’m able to cover a lot more ground in the same amount of time when paddling the kayak. And I even managed to disembark without taking an unplanned bath …

new day – new boat

Originally uploaded by j_rheinlander

I finally got my new kayak, a QCC Q500X, and it was love at first sight. After my first paddle, I knew I’d made the right decision.
You can’t tell in this photo that Joanne shot while we were out for an early morning paddle, but the boat is Steeler black and gold. Very cool. (Joanne posted other photos from her visit, including more paddling pics, on her Flicker site.)
I tend to labor over big decisions like these, and I spent a lot of time researching kayaks trying to make the right decision. I needed one capable of surviving someone my size, and I wanted one that would be suitable for a newbie but also would challenge me as I add to my skillset. The more I researched the more I became convinced that the QCC was the right yak for me. I test paddled a Hurricane Tracer, but it didn’t suit me at all. What it did do was give me a touchpoint for conversations with Steve at QCC about what I found lacking in the Tracer and what I wanted in a boat. After a lot of hand-wringing, I decided to buy the QCC without being able to test paddle it, so I was pretty nervous when it arrived.
A few minutes on the water completely put those concerns to rest. The boat handles beautifully and the switch from a 12-foot canoe to the 16+ foot kayak is like moving to power steering.
I started thinking about QCC and the cult that seems to have grown around the company. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Apple fanatics I’ve made fun of so often in the past (even though it’s a cult I now firmly belong to as I type this on my MacBook Pro). As with Apple, there are haters. But the QCC faithful are quick to defend their yaks. I’m now a card carrying member of the cult …