Drift Anchor to Pace Setter- A Day in the IBIS

One of my favorite things in the world of water sports is paddling with my family. The days my son and I are not chasing finned critters out of our Cudas and Coosas , we just paddle as a family with my bride. For the past several years, she has had to play catch up or we had to slow our paces down to accommodate her. I joked with her that it was like having a drift anchor out . After the purchase of our boats, she started talking about the elite seats we had and that got me to looking at the other boats in Jackson’s fleet. The Ibis looked like it was special made for her. When our local shop got an earth colored Ibis in stock I knew that was to be her next boat. This past week she got to take it out for the first time. Her first comment was how comfortable the seat was. The back support and the ability to trim it fore and aft for performance was a real treat for her. The next comment was how easy the Ibis was to move in the water. Just the weight of the paddle hitting the water caused the boat to move forward. This was the beginning of my biggest surprise paddling with her that day. As we were heading down our favorite creek, I felt a bump and turned to see she had rear ended my Cuda. Usually she would have been several yards behind me and I would have had to start slowing down for her to keep up. Turns out that wasn’t the last time she ran up on my boat , it was pretty funny to see her go from a drift anchor to a pace setter. As soon as we hit open water, she was able to paddle beside me and keep pace for the first time ever. Throughout the day I paddled her new boat as well and was amazed at the maneuverability and shallow draft , even with a 250 pound paddler in it. She didn’t let me stay in it long though, it is HER boat and she is not shy in letting folks know that. Comfort, speed and maneuverability coupled with that incredible earth color scheme make the Jackson Ibis one kayak she is willing to fight for.