It’s a bit curious that when using water on the job, firefighter ,Ragan Underwood, is probably in an extremely stressful situation, but when he uses H2O on a lake the liquid helps to aid in achieving total peace.
“There’s nothing better than sitting on that huge back bench with my wife, listening to some music, and watching my kids have fun,” Underwood said. “My boys are six and 10 years old so before you know it they may not want to hang out with mom and dad- so we are on the water with them every weekend we can be.”
Being from Louisiana, Underwood hadn’t seen many Qwest pontoons, but when he did he started looking harder at the brand because he loved the features and the style of the rig.
“I was actually surprised how reasonable they were too,” he said. “I couldn’t find a new one for sale but found one that was only two months old. I drove six hours one way and agreed to buy the boat before I’d even seen it in person. I wanted it THAT much.”
The boat was an 818 with a 70-horse Yamaha and it impressed Underwood from the first voyage.
“With the boat loaded with my family I could still get 23 miles per hour which is more than enough for tubing,” he said. “It handled great and I found it really easy to trailer. What surprised me also was how I could load and unload it, even by myself, without any trouble. I’ve had up to eight people in it with no problem.”
Underwood has had plenty of glass fishing boats and finds that the benefits of the Qwest far outweigh them not being able to get in four inches of water for Bayou redfish.
“I’m actually surprised how the draft is,” he said. “I can pull up on sandbars for the kids to swim and can glide right up and I don’t have to worry about fiberglass getting damaged. We still fish out of it on inland water and it works great. There’s just so much room and the center console is convenient and I can’t say enough about the storage and that huge back bench.”
When it’s time to wash down his boat after its weekly expedition, Underwood said he was impressed with the factory-built cover for his 818 Qwest.
“Even though it sits pretty high I am able to reach every snap and get the cover on in less than five minutes,” he said. “I’ve had smaller fishing boats that took a lot more time. I truly love the boat.”