Review: Hobie Quest

Initial Impressions; First Paddle of the Hobie Quest Kayak

I finally picked up my Hobie Quest kayak from the IFA Surf City tournament, at GOPC in Wilmington. The color is golden papaya—the name alone makes me think I may need to give up my man card. But my other boat is yellow, so I guess that I can’t complain. Other initial comparisons to my Native Manta Ray 14 are that it is about 16 inches shorter and a good bit lighter. The lightness could be misleading, as the MR has plenty of gear installed, including FF, battery, seat and rudder. It was considerably easier to get on top of my car.

I launched at Upper Barton Creek on Falls Lake on Tuesday, about mid-morning, on a sunny and slightly breezy day. I quickly installed the seat, while speaking with JeffO. Came to find out that Jeff may be more distracting than I thought, as I goofed up the attach points. It was easy to fix while underway and still sitting in the seat. One thing to note; the clip retainers for the seat are a silvery shiny metal. I don’t know if they are stainless steel, but I hope that corrosion isn’t a problem in the future on this part.

As a kayak fisherman who prefers fishing saltwater, one could say that I am fairly gear-intensive. The MR14 has a large cockpit and the Quest has a fairly tight cockpit in comparison. If I do fish from this boat, I will have to be more organized. The Quest has a couple of stash places that the M14 doesn’t have, so it may end up being better. There are two side stowage points, covered with mesh. These will be a great spot for pliers, fish gripper and the bags of plastics that typically end up floating around and under me in the cockpit. There is also an easily accessible hatch between the legs, with a Tupperware type tackle tray. It is pretty large—eight inches or more. There is also a hatch in the same area on the MR14, but I have never used it. It is small and not easy to get into and close. I am six feet tall and weigh 220. I was able to easily fit in the cockpit, but this boat is not designed for the tall person. The forward hatch is easily accessible and is secured by a small bungee. It is very reachable and will be usable for storing gear. The back deck is spacious, but not as big as my MR14.
Upon paddling the Quest, two things were immediately apparent. First, the Quest is fast! It is faster than the MR, which I consider a fast boat. Second apparent thing is how much I have come to rely on the rudder in paddling/fishing. Tracking was good to excellent, even though my paddling may have gotten a little sloppy from being able to constantly rely on the rudder to keep me straight. The wind had a slight effect on the tracking, but a decent paddler can easily overcome that problem. Initial stability is good as is secondary, although I didn’t try really hard to tip. I was able to stand and paddle, but I wouldn’t say that it was easy as it would be in a hybrid.

Overall quality is good to excellent, with the exception of the paddle. I did not use the paddle that comes with the boat, but the blades seem loose, even compared to most low to mid-range paddles. The seat seems to be moderately well padded and was comfortable in my two plus hour initial paddle. The seat is high-backed, but did not come up to my high backed PFD. A PFD with long flotation padding in the back might make the seat a little uncomfortable.

I didn’t take my “fishing gear”, but did bring a rod with a crank-bait, to drag around behind me. The Quest has two built in rod holders in the back. These could be a little deeper, but are placed in an area that is easy to reach. The front console will be customizable, with room for a fish-finder or GPS or some combo of the two and a rod-holder as well. And I am happy to report that I was able to knock the skunk off the boat as well.