At this stage in our operation we have the opportunity for experiencing plenty of “Firsts”.
On Wednesday the 21st, Craig Heflin and I drove from Rock Island, Tennessee, to Fort Worth, Texas. We went to see Russ and the rest of the crew from the new Texas Apex Watercraft plant, as well as meet up with Kayak Instruction, Champions Outdoors/Yak Shack, and our first customer- Jeff Sims.
Our goal was to have our first production boats on Friday for the demo at Kayak Instruction on Saturday. Russ, Phil, Chris, Jordan, and Joe all worked long hours towards that goal. Anyone who knows me, knows what I consider long hours is different from what the standards are. In this case, long hours mean 14 hours on Wed, 16 hours on Thursday and 28 hours straight starting at 3:30 am- Thursday AM, to 7:30am Saturday AM. This massive push to get the boats ready for the demo was, unfortunately not rewarded with finished product, but it did produce a lot of good direction and momentum in getting the pipeline filled up, processes tidied up, and production readiness in general was improved.
We used my prototype #5 for the demo. While this boat is awesome and getting close to what you will see in the production boat, it is lacking some of the final pieces of outfitting and finish work.
Dave Holl just created a dream kayaking shop right on the water at an amazing lake front Park in Rowlett, Texas. Thanks to Dave, there is an amazing put-in for kayaks, an outside shower, bathrooms, rental kayaks, kayaks and gear to buy, friendly staff to help anyone who needs it and Apex Watercraft on a pedestal in the middle of his shop.
It was awesome seeing Dave and his daughter working hard together on their dream location for a store. The hurricane that destroyed his last shop was a 5 year recovery period. Before he had his last shop, I opened him up as a Jackson Kayak dealer when he didn’t have a retail location. No other brand would do that at the time. He proved to be an amazing ambassador for kayaking and sold a ton of boats. While mild mannered, Dave is competitive and asks me all of the time what the “record” is for the most boats sold by any dealer. He wants to beat that record. He thinks he will be the #1 dealer for Apex Watercraft. I know there are a few other dealers we have on board that are going to challenge him on that. He doesn’t mind as he loves a good challenge.
I was busy putting one person after another into the Apex Tyr. The smiles were amazing and the feedback awesome. I had people get the boat out of the water by themselves, and that was enough to have 5 different people say they want one and seem serious about it.
We left Dave Holl’s shop on Saturday night and drove to Corpus Christi. Brad Weigman, Jenn Nolan, Jeff SIms, and Craig and I…. A 6 hour drive took us 8 or more…. We checked into a “Tru” hotel by Hilton. Why? Foosball, and walk up “grab a beer and go” service at the front desk. We played foosball until, well, way too late.
Fishing the flats- We were not skunked, but we never found redfish. However, we paddled in and out of some super shallow water that only the Tyr would float in, searching for our target species.
Jeff found a nice founder on a swimbait- giving him a perfect record in his new kayak so far. It was awesome looking down the narrow channel and seeing him hooting and hollering with his Rod bent over and water splashing around.
Oysters and beer rounded out the evening, followed by more beer at the hotel and swapping stories of fishing, family, and other fun things.
I took a look at Apple Maps- Gulf of Mexico- we are on the far West side of Texas. Next target- Ft. Lauderdale, just outside of Miami. We’ll drive in a big right hand turn for 20 hours… However, I will turn the 20 hour drive into a 30 hour drive by side trips. When going down the Grand Canyon, 1/2 of the fun is hitting the side hikes. When driving long distance, it is the side trips…
Henderson Swamp- longest river swamp in the USA- Louisiana. Check…
Blue Springs feeding into Withlacoochee River- Catch Sewanee Bass there- Check- swim down into cave- check.
Ok- we are running out of time to get to the Ft, Lauderdale Boat show- hotel check-in closes at 11pm… ETA on phone says- 10:51pm…. We used all of the available time in a great way.
Tomorrow we’ll introduce the Florida outdoor and boating enthusiasts to the Apex Watercraft Tyr.
Are you ready for the experience? Join the Apex Party!