Cobra Kayaks

*** New Feature ***
Click on any thumbnail to open pic in your browser.. (way better than hosting)

So there I was down at the harbor this weekend doing the usual laps around the marina on the mountain bike. Didn’t see Joe out there anywhere and figured him to be out at sea on his kayak as his car was in the lot with racks attached so I just kept pedaling. Took a break over by the Sheriff’s station and when 7:45am had rolled around and the Catalina Express had put out for Catalina Island I figured I’d head back to Mother’s Beach and help him hoist his tub back on the car. Sure enough he’s pulling around the bend as I arrive and as I pull up to the parking area I notice a vehicle backing into an open spot.

Turns out to be the Cobra Factory truck and it’s loaded up with yaks. I hit the facilities and dispense of the morning coffee and water (too much information) and then meander over to the Cobra rig to see what’s going on.

First boat that gets pulled is what I would term a “Yak of a different color” and immediately has sparked my interest. Kind of an olive color with a nice black speckled finish. So I’m looking it over and then I’m greeted by none other than Ric “Rickshaw” Hawthorne of Cobra Kayaks. I’d never met Ric but knew of him from postings on various message boards relating to kayaks. He’s been in the industry for some time now and has recently made a transition from another manufacturer’s employ to accept a position as the Director of Marketing, Promotions and Advertising for Cobra. Really nice guy with a wealth of information regarding the boats.

I’m still in awe of this first boat the crew has unloaded and think hey, I have to go get Joe, get his boat on the car and drag him over here to see this thing. I headed over to the parking lot where Joe had already begun the teardown and cleanup ritual and started jawing at him about Cobra being on site. Joe stated that he too had noticed the truck and had every intention of “checking things out” before heading for home. So we finished up the wipe down and strapped his Navigator to the car and walked back over to the staging area where the kayaks were being displayed.

The boat we were obsessing over turned out to be the re-designed (Ric’s doing) Cobra Navigator-XF. Same basic specs but with a few changes to the molds. The tank well has a preformed circular depression to accommodate a bait tank, the foot wells now have a channel along the inside edge which promotes self draining into the existing scupper holes, and the front rails are much flatter as well as those just behind the seat well. This retooling made it possible to incorporate, get this, 8 flush mount rod holders! This thing is gorgeous. Same boat as Joe’s, but with a little pizzaz….

Joe and I are pointing, touching, feeling, checking out every inch of this thing so Ric walks over and asks us if we have any questions. A very casual conversation ensues and Joe and I get a quick education on the design changes and learn quite a bit about the production process. Something I’ve always wondered about.

(Pictured)
Ric "Rickshaw" Hawthorne with his mutant Navigator-XF

I’m not sure how it happened exactly but before I know it Ric has a PFD and paddle whipped out and we’re walking this baby down to the water for a demo paddle. As fate would have it I just happened to have the camera on this particular morning and Joe was kind enough to stick around and shoot some pics of the launch and landing. I told him I was going to head over to “I” dock and see if our co-worker Jeff Bogert had made it down this morning as he has a nice Bayliner he likes to spend time with. So I launch and head out around the bend. The XF is very stable and after a little adjustment period for my technique I’m cruisin’ down the channel. The XF tracks pretty well even though it’s platform is a little wide compared to say the Tourer model, and I had no problems at all getting it up to speed.

I’m moving along at a pretty good pace. Had to maneuver around a Hobie with a line out by the island bridge (which was actually fun) and met a gal who was fishing the marina. Kept going and turned into Jeff’s slip aisle and headed down to the end. Jeff’s on the deck and notices a yak coming down the waterway and says to himself “Hey, that guys looks familiar”. He’s wiping down “Backlash” and generally enjoying the day. He’s checking out the Navigator at this point and just like everyone else notices the full array of rod holders. It’s pretty eye catching.

Couldn’t stay long as I knew the regular kayak fishermen would be back at Mother’s before long and though I could have cruised the harbor all day in that boat I was obligated to bring it back so Ric could show it off to the Pros. (Ric, bring 2 next time) Besides, Ric had my mountain bike as collateral.

More fun back at the landing. There was some sailing instruction going on so I had to pay attention getting back in. Great fun for me as I don’t get to go out all the time. Got past that little bit of traffic and started to pick up speed. The idea was to get at least half of the boat up on the beach. Nice soft landing with Joe there to snap off a couple of more pics.

Hauled the Navigator back up to the staging area and thanked Ric for the demo and taking the time to talk to us about its redesign and Cobra Kayaks in general. Kudos to Cobra for bringing this guy onboard and for making opportunities like this available to us all. If I ever have a place to store one of these I’ll definitely be picking one up.

Full photo album of my (and Joe’s) photos from the morning can be found here.

You can also checkout the corporate website at…..

Cobra Kayaks

All in all a great morning down by the sea.. the usual pedaling with a great little side excursion in the water. I envy all kayak owners…

-Scott

Nice Morning at the Harbor...

Hit Dana Point Harbor at about 6:30 am just to hang out, have my morning coffee and see if Joe T. was out paddling. Really clear today and the marina was hosting the usual cast of characters. Folks just walking, a few cyclists, people fishing from shore, kayaks and float tubes. The Sport boats baiting up at the barge and such.

Joe paddled back into the harbor from the open sea at about 7am. The Kayaks were out in force this morning. Baby Beach was covered with private yaks and rentals. Southwind's rental season must be back in swing for the summer. Might have to go down there and jump in one in the coming weeks. Nice morning. My Dad is back in Vermont as he is every year about this time so I wont be seeing him this Father's Day. We'll hook up when he gets back into town. Hope he's pulling in some fish from the lakes back there.




This afternoon is all about laundry. Yuk !!

Golf is torture... A Rant..

Hit Willowick at the invitation of Big John Shoemaker this morning.. Up at the crack of dawn and on the road to Santa Ana. This game is nice and relaxing, but you find yourself sucked into the gear.. I sucked.. spent so much time in the rough outside the fairways all I really needed was my 5 Iron. I want to chuck every club in my bag except my $6.00 Dunlop that I picked up at Kmart in a bargain bin some years ago. It's offset and I hit it straight as all getout. My stink'n Calloway is all over the place.. I should take that Dunlop to a golfsmith and have 'em make me a matched set,Driver,3,and 5 and be done with it. My irons are poop as well. I really like the Nickent Genex 3DX series but I can't justify the expense right now. Maybe Cobra still makes offset woods.. I'd be willing do give them a try based on my results with the offset 7 wood from Dunlop. I stink. Shot 97 giving away 2 strokes per hole with errant tee shots. My 5 iron saved me from a worse score.. I gotta go with some custom clubs.. 'Ka'Ching. !!!! My Pitching wedge was giving me plenty of joyous moments. Thankfully I neglected to take pictues of this event. Maybe when I get new clubs.

Many thanks to "Shoe" for having me out this morning and to his group for putting up with my slow play. Really nice bunch of guys. Matt, you're killing me! Oh to be young again and tall to boot...

Arizona, Part II

So let’s see, where was I.. oh yeah.. Tombstone was great but Friday morning rolled around and it was off to our next destination. We decided to head out to Bisbee and we’re joined by the lovely Bonnie, a friend and associate of Mona’s. Again not too far from Mona’s place and rich in history. Bisbee was known as the “Queen of the Copper Camps” during its heyday and its mines remained open until the 1970’s when mineral harvesting ceased. This didn’t kill the town entirely and we’re all the better for it as it has great architecture and a nice slow pace to it. First stop was just outside of town at a place called the Lavender Pit. This site was part of the Copper Queen Mine and yielded quite a number of minerals and stone. It isn’t named for its color as one might imagine but rather for the then manager of the Copper Queen Branch of the mining company whose name was Harrison Lavender. It is as the name implies a pit!!! It covers about 300 acres and is terraced and is somewhere around 950 feet deep. Would have been something to see it being mined in its heyday.



Just a short jaunt down the road is Bisbee proper. This former Mining Town is now somewhat of an artist community known for its Galleries, Antiques, Community Theatre and well kept historical homes. This place was great to just relax and walk around. First stop was the Mining and Historical Museum. It was a nice walk thru set up in what once was as I recall the headquarters of the Phelps-Dodge Mining Corporation. Tons of artifacts from the 1880’s and displays involving the multi-cultural population of the day. The President’s office is gorgeous with beautiful wood everywhere and a number of portraits of corporate officers as well as furnishings and tools of the trade. Well worth the time spent strolling the halls. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed at present. I believe they’re working on a photo gallery at the museums’ website.



Next stop was the "Copper Queen Hotel". Nice place. Rustic old world charm as it was built in 1902. It was the primary stop for visiting dignitaries and guests when the mining boom was on. We of course managed to find the Saloon in short order. Knocked down a Newcastle there if I'm not mistaken and snapped off a couple of pics. Naked lady portraits are very popular in this part of Arizona.



Out the front door and a quick jog around the corner found us at the steps to the “Stock Exchange” bar. What a neat little place. Well it's not all that little actually. The bar section is but the building itself is pretty good sized. The bar area is really laid back (like everything else in Bisbee) with nice wooden accents, plenty of stools, a really lousy billiard table and a shuffle board table along the back wall. The usual fare of beers as well as some local brews were available. This bar is in what once was the actual stock exchange building during the copper boom. The original blackboards are still in place with stock prices from that era. I really liked the layout of the building. From the sidewalk you go up a short brick staircase to enter the bar but just around to the right you can also go down to a subterranean level which used to house a restaurant. Much to my chagrin it has been closed and is locked up. I really wanted to take a look around in there. At one time you could enter from the restroom area as well. The building's layout was just great and would probably be very popular if such a facility was open out here. Really cool stuff. Erik beat me at the cheesy pool table (bad cushions) but I waxed him at shuffleboard. Mike, Mona, Bonnie and myself had a couple of dark beers and then set out for short walk up to Main Street and the many shops and bars. Sampled some Killer Bee Honey by dipping pretzel sticks in the various flavors. The owner had tons of samples to choose from. Honey Mustard was excellent as were most of the others. You can take a look at his story here. Stopped in and had another beer whilst Mike was perusing the headgear at the Optimo Hat Shop. Other points of interest on Main Street were the Bisbee Restoration Museum, Bisbee Trolley Tours, Café Roca, Café Cornucopia and any number of shops up and down the street.



We had worked up an appetite at this point so we meandered over to Brewery Ave. looking for St. Elmo’s Bar and an eatery nearby. Ended up at a place right next door to St. Elmo’s the name of which I can’t recall but we had a monster plate of nachos and one burrito each. Then of course it was into St. Elmo’s to wash it all down with some grog. Two things Bisbee isn’t short on are historical venues and taverns. We had planned a BBQ back at Mona’s digs that evening but we were so stuffed by early evening we just fell all over the living room trying to digest all the stuff we had consumed that day. I thought I was going to burst!



The final day of touring (Saturday) found us in Nogales, Mexico and Patagonia, Arizona. Lots of shopping opportunities in Nogales and when we hit Patagonia on the way back we stopped at the famous “Velvet Elvis Pizza Company” for dinner. Really unique designer pizza recipes there. Very tasty! Check out their menu.



Back on the road bright and early Sunday morning for our return trip. Left Mona’s driveway around 6:45am and hit Lake Forest somewhere in the neighborhood of 1:30pm. Not bad time at all. Had a great time on this road trip and would highly recommend a visit to this area for anyone looking to get out of the city for a day or two. Hope you enjoyed the read…..

-Scott

Whoa !!!!

Earthquake just rolled through.. slight snap..
Preliminary reports are saying 5.3 or so with the epicenter somewhere near Yucaipa.
I suppose we'll be seeing Dr. Kate Hutton on the news shortly..
No power loss here at work. Damn!!!

Jarrod's Game

Hopped over to Ladera Ranch Saturday and hung out with Phil and Ruth Green. Phil is an ex co-worker who now plays with RC Cars for a living. His son Jarrod was playing in his final game of the season for the "AquaSox" in his recreational league. Great format for the kids as everyone gets a chance at the plate in every inning (3) and swings until they hit something in play. The kids all seemed to enjoy themselves and Jarrod had at least 4 putouts at first base by my count. Then it was over to Lamppost for Pizza. I think Jarrod would have skipped his last at bat for the pizza. All in all a great afternoon. Here's a clip of him scoring from 3rd!!! He came up just a little bit short but had the presence of mind to tag the plate with his hand.

Photo Album Update

Uploaded 40 or so new pictures from the Arizona trip Saturday morning.







Click here to view the updated album and check back every so often as I'm continually adding pics....


-Scott

Arizona, Part I

Let me preface this post by throwing out mad props and a huge THANK YOU to Mona Mikkelsen for boarding us for 5 days, being the designated Tour Guide Extraordinaire and basically running a Dude Ranch for old guys. I for one thoroughly enjoyed my stay.

The Adventure Begins ...

We (Mike, his son Erik and myself) left Wednesday morning around 9:00 a.m. I guess it was and stopped for gas in Blythe. It was a ridiculous 102° and I started to work up a sweat just standing in the parking lot. So we fueled, picked up some Aquafina and a Mountain Dew Code Red and hit the road again. Saw some interesting machines at the wind farm on the way out. Couldn't believe how many of those energy generating contraptions they had on the hills out by San Gorgonia Pass. I mean thousands of ‘em. Quite a sight if you’ve never seen them before.



Went through Phoenix pretty quickly and took note of how big and sprawling the area really is. Chandler is just past Phoenix and is also growing pretty quickly. Joe here at work was looking into buying some property in that area and having a Mgt. company find some tenants for him. Housing prices are still somewhat reasonable out there. Then it was off down the road and into Tucson. Stopped in at the Nimbus Brewery for some beer sampling. I liked the Red Ale. You can buy a sampler tray with six little glasses on it that contain about 3 gulps. Pretty neat set up. It’s the largest Micro Brewery in the state. Check out their website here.



It was only another 70 or 80 miles to Sierra Vista. Mona, (Mike’s Sister) lives outside of the main town. We made a left turn off of Hwy 90 onto this dirt road and drove about a mile in to her place. Simple little doublewide with skirts. Looked like any other home from the outside. Very tastefully decorated with a great back porch area. We pulled in with plenty of daylight left and of course her three hounds came halfway up the drive to meet us. Calvin (Rat Terrier) is the father of the brood that I dog sit when Mike and his wife are out of town. Grunt, (Mixed Breed) a female who she found abandoned out in the middle of the desert as a pup, and Blue (Mixed Breed) who’s origin I don’t really know but is really needy. He has to have someone petting him all the time. They were a blast to take on walks. We walked everyday but one in the morning. The best one was along the dried up wash. Must have been a 3 mile trek with the hounds chasing rabbits and anything else in the bush real or imagined. At one point Calvin disappeared for about 15 minutes but it turned out he was paralleling us in the bushes and actually popped out in front of us on the return route. He had a run in with a rattlesnake awhile back but is still undeterred by the unseen. Most mornings consisted of a light breakfast, then some chores and a road trip. We fed and groomed the 4 horses at about 6 am, then cleaned up where ever they left road apples. Had to unload some hay bales from Mona’s truck too. Not too heavy, but awkward. She needs a quad with a little trailer or something to minimize the lifting.

Anyway, first days excursion was to the town of Tombstone. The former 1880’s mining camp immortalized in so many Hollywood westerns. We started out at The Old Tombstone Courthouse which has many displays and artifacts from the wilder days of the Earp Family, The Clantons and McLaury boys. The building is nicely preserved and they even have a gallows in the adjoining courtyard. Pretty interesting stuff as we spent about an hour slowing walking every room in the building. Had a wall in one room with old photos of every sheriff to hold office since way back when. Also a display case with the tools belonging to the surgeon of the day. Believe me, you didn’t want to be sick back then if you could possibly avoid it. The bone saw for instance was a hand cranked bit and brace type tool. I would imagine they used Opium at the very least for pain killer and mild sedation. There was also a pretty good collection of mining tools including some of the big stuff like an Ore cart, a giant Ore bucket, and a compressed air drill. One section of the upstairs area was a local lawyers office and the back half was the original courtroom. Looked pretty good for it’s age but I didn’t really get close enough to some of the stuff to authenticate. For instance there were two doors against the back wall, one on either side of the judges podium. Since that was the back of the room I’m not sure if they really went anywhere. One was marked “Judge’s Chambers” and the other “Court Reporter”. I’ll have to study the pictures a little closer to decide if they were real or just for show. The courthouse if definitely worth a look if you ever get out there.

From there we jumped over to Allen Street which was the main drag back in the town’s heyday. It holds all the famous and historic Saloons and such. First stop was Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. Big Nose Kate was said to be Doc Holliday’s girlfriend. We of course had a couple of beers here and some peanuts. The wait staff are all dressed in period costume so the atmosphere was great. And of course the walls have a ton of old photos documenting the history of the Saloon and Allen street in general. Really funny men’s room too. The urinal was one big through style unit and it was filled to brim with ice. There was a very ornate sign on the wall above it that read “The ice in this bathroom is hardly ever used in the making of our drinks” Had to whip out the camera of course. You’ll see it in the webshots album. Very friendly staff and live music, all in all a very nice place and a preferred watering hole. Most of the businesses up and down the street are gift shops and stuff with an occasional leather goods store but we were more interested in the historic stuff. Crystal Palace Saloon was a good one, and although the “Bird Cage Theatre” is still standing, it isn’t really open. Just a little shop in the front with old pictures and such. There is a staircase as you enter but I’m not sure it’s authentic. The OK Corral is still there but we didn’t stick around for the reenactment of the Earp Clanton gunfight but I did want to at least walk by the place. Makes you want to do a bunch of research on the likes of Wyatt, Doc, Johnny Ringo, Ike Clanton and the rest of the parties involved. We hit another Micro Brewery on the outskirts of town afterward and sampled some more of the local brewmeisters work. Not bad at all.
Before leaving for the afternoon I insisted on stopping by the old Boothill Graveyard. They take pretty good care of the facility and don’t charge anything to get in. Donations are accepted however. I dropped some cash in the box out of respect to the residents. You get a pamphlet in the reception are that shows the plot numbers and the folks buried there. In some cases a brief description of how they met their demise. Very interesting stuff.

That's enough for this first installment. More to follow in the days ahead..

-Scott