First Dynamic Duo is Molded and Put on the Water!

Photos

Wow! What an incredible day. The anticipation of having a tandem boat for me to paddle with my kids and friends has been eating away at me for years! Actually working on one with David Knight has been a dream come true! Getting to put my desires for this boat into the design process, and having David run with it turned out to be a great combo! You’ll notice that this boat looks unique at first glance, and when you see it on the water, you’ll realize that it is just what the doctor ordered.

Unlike most new boats, this one changes everything. You paddle it with somebody else, making the entire experience unique and rewarding. While I had only very skilled paddlers to choose from yesterday, I can’t wait to paddle with people who either are brand new, or beginners so I can get them out on the river in a way that they couldn’t normally do.

During the day yesterday Leif Koehler was manning the helm for molding and dialed in the Dynamic Duo mold along with Jase and Ben, and Chris. They got it up and running, ran a “dry run” boat to see how it went, and then molded this green one. The only issue was that the DD logo didn’t fit where we intended in the stern because the grab handle recesses were too close to put it there right side up. This green one was molded with the logo backwards on the stern, but then we molded a boat for Wesley Bradley (his wedding boat, no kidding!), and we put two DD logos on the center section, and moved the Jackson logos to the bow. His boat turned out sweet!

We’ll get you photos of the proper logo placement soon. I am too fired up to wait, so here are the photos of the first DD on the water! We put in at the base of the spill dam (dane and i) and headed towards the falls. We got some good eddy practice, did a couple of rolls, ran a few rapids, and then launched this bad boy right off the spout! It was cool! Dane did a boof stroke at the lip, and then I too one more stroke and then did my boof stroke after! That was different! We penciled in at about 60 degrees into the boil and dane went under but I stayed pretty dry!

The boat is REDICUOUSLY stable!!! Wow! I have paddled the other two tandems that have been made in the last 20 years and this is a new game, 100%. Fully JK outfitted with Boat Armor Outfitting, and two different sized cockpits. The rear cockpit feels like a cross between the Hero and Super Hero, while the front cockpit feels like a cross between a Little hero and hero. Awesome! We put Sweet Cheeks 200 on both seats because we are little people (Dane is only 4’9” and I am only 5’6”). That was a perfect set up.

After the falls we ran the bottom run out of Sieve City (see us boofing a hole), and then headed down to surf. This boat is SO fast on a wave that ferrying out and catching a wave is like a slalom boat, just faster! Rocky Island on the Potomac will never be the same as this is the perfect Rocky boat. Dane and I cut up the top wave carving big turns back and forth across the full face of the wave. We flipped once goofing off trying to ender in the 3rd wave and rolled right up like a normal boat, just easier. Something about knowing your buddy is trying to roll too that gives you the extra confidence to just do it. (Clearly, I don’t have a confidence problem with my roll, but I was very aware that dane was in the front and wanted to roll up soon)

We did a few surfs on Brave Wave but it got totally dark so we called it a day.

Look for some video of the falls and the top rapids, from yesterday before it got too dark to video or shoot photos.

It is 18 degrees out and we are going surfing soon!