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I just got up from a long nap. Yesterday's outing to Starvation Cove had me and Larry totally exhausted and sore as all get out. We didn't catch a thing, I got a sunburn, and Larry's kayak sank.
But wasn't it a blast?!!!
Looking forward to Powderhorn next weekend. (I hope to recover from the soreness by then, LOL!)
Betty
Yes, as a matter of fact, ALL of our faces looked like that, LOL! We all stared in disbelief.
There were 4 of us on Bruce's power boat (including Bruce). We had the 4 kayaks daisy-chained behind Bruce's boat to transport them to Starvation Cove. A good way into the trip, Bruce shut the motor down. Hey, THIS can't be our fishing spot, I thought. The others were looking backward to the kayaks. When I turned around, I saw 4 kayaks but ONE of them was covered up by the water! Oh... my... GOSH!
It was Larry's Phoenix 140.
"OOPS!" Larry said, "I forgot to take the plug out of the scupper hole in my cockpit and the spraying water must have filled up the cockpit." Bruce was just shaking his head. "Unh uh," Bruce said, "that kayak has water in the hull."
In the hull? You mean that place where Larry has stored his RODS and REELS and fishing gear for the trip? Another OOPS!
Bruce got the string of kayaks pulled up beside the boat and took Larry's Phoenix 140 out of the lineup. Bruce and Gus tipped it to get the water out of the cockpit and tankwell, then they began (with MUCH labor - water is VERY heavy) to pull the Phoenix on its side up onto the boat.
As they got the kayak out of the water and onto the boat, water began to gush out of a big crack in the side of the kayak. The crack was NOT on the seam line. Those seam lines are TOUGH. It continued to drain, then Bruce said, "OOPS, there's a crack in the other side as well." Our mouths were still gaping open from seeing the first crack.
Our minds were full of disbelief. Hey, that shouldn't have happened. No joke, man. Hey, this COULDN'T have happened, Phoenix is a very strong kayak. But we see it in front of us. What in the world happened? We just couldn't figure it out.
When we got to Starvation Cove, Larry's kayak was set aside on the shore while we fished. Larry fished on a boat with some other PACK members. I fished from my kayak for a while, then I called Connie Mack (CM) of Creative Feathers Studio where we had bought the Phoenix 140. CM was as appalled and confused as we were. He said he'd take good care of us. He said he wanted to see the damage and told me that he'd meet us back at the marina when we came back in.
As I mentioned, it was a tough day to fish. The barometer was rising and the fish just weren't feeding. At least not where I was fishing, LOL!
As folks paddled back to the power boats, I called CM again and told him we were on our way back. True to his word, CM met us back at the marina. A couple of the guys who had cameras took photos of the damage and said they'd email them to CM so he could forward them to the Hurricane manufacturer. CM felt sure there would be no problem getting the kayak replaced.
That was Saturday. By Monday, CM had forwarded the photos and had been in contact with the manufacturer. He informed me that Hurricane will provide us with a new Phoenix 140 kayak, and they are putting the order for our new kayak at the head of the production line.
Why did it happen? The cracks were NOT along the seam line. The seam lines are STRONG. The cracks are along the area where the kayak sits in the kayak saddles on top of our Blazer. Did we tighten the straps down too tight? Did we NOT tighten the straps down tight enough? Was there another problem we're not aware of? It's still a puzzle.
Bottom line: Hurricane Phoenix stands behind their product. And Connie Mack stands behind his customers for service after the sale. CM even went beyond the call of duty in this case and met us at the water to see the damage. Now, that's SERVICE! Thank you, Connie Mack. - Mrs. B