[Paddlewise] K-1

I too got a K-1 recently as a replacement for my old beloved hardshell which
suffered an untimely demise while in storage.  The maiden voyage was two
weekends ago, on a lake in conditions ranging from glass to about 2 foot
waves into a rain-driven headwind.  The boat was a pleasure - moved well -
easily as fast as my old hardshell, based on the continued good match of
paddling pace with my hardshell-paddling buddy.  I was also very pleasantly
surprised with the extra "water sense" in the waves - a bit of a flex which
would have a person panicking in a hardshell, but reassuringly absorbs a lot
of energy and minimizes the "buck" a hardshell gives going into the waves.
The one surprise, even in comparison to my demo, was how responsive the boat
was on turns - without a rudder through a winding creek/wetland was a lot of
fun - the boat tracked well but turned wonderfully, too.

Having briefly paddled a K-light - well, I liked and was very impressed with
that boat, but am really happy I ended up with the K-1.  I'd also considered
a Khats-S, but wasn't sure I was willing to live with the lower capacity (I
could camp with it, but the K-1's a lot easier to do so - esp. to pack given
the frame) and somewhat extra skittishness.  No doubt I'd have grown into
it, but I think I'll feel a lot easier when it comes time to debut the boat
in NY harbor.  Maybe I'll be ready for swim escort duty by then, Ralph!

I won't deny having a good case of sticker shock when it came time to
seriously consider the foldable, but the combination of storage options (I'm
another apartment person), impressive, elegant, engineering, the company's
reputation for service, and the general quality and performance of the boat
all made that a lot easier to live with.  Besides, it's a long term
investment and it leaves open travel/paddling options I would never have
otherwise.

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