I have a bit of a quandary. Pam and I had a lovely easy paddle in the perfect weather this morning. I did not, however, announce the outing in advance. The reason is, that I know some folk might like to join us, and I could lend them a boat, but I also know that most of the fair weather paddlers in the group are woefully under equipped, in regard to clothing and winter wet gear. While I dont want to turn down company on the water, frankly, I dont want to have to haul anyones frozen drowned cadaver out of the water and deliver it to their family either. It is a fact, that the very folk who need the expensive winter gear most (that is the inexperienced folks) are the ones who are the most poorly equipped. It is also a fact that many of us have more free time in winter, and one can get some spectacular paddling days in winter, with beautiful calm high pressure days with fantastic visibility and great light. We do have a plethora of members (118 at the moment) but few of those members are regulars on the bay here, and many like the idea, and Im sure would enjoy steeping themselves in the activity, but are hesitant, to invest in the necessary equipment to become proper kayakers. The causes of this hesitation are perfectly reasonable... Some folks just dont know if they are going to really take to it, and dont want to waste the money, while others simply dont know what to buy. What boat, paddle, spray deck, clothing etc. is best suited to their size and intended use? Kayaking, like most sports, does entail a certain amount of initial outlay. But once the main items are obtained the costs are low. There are no green fees for instance. The ocean is free. Half decent second hand gear also abounds. Just dont rush out and buy stuff because it is cheap and available. It may not suit your purpose, and then it is a waste. If prospective kayakers do buy appropriate gear, and then decide to quit, if there is an active group around, chances are that gear can be resold without too much of a loss. I am considering drawing up a questionnaire for our group, for those who are interested, by which we can ascertain some knowledge of our groups paddlers abilities, confidence levels, the boats they own, the subsidiary gear and clothing they have, their familiarity with various aspects of kayaking, navigation, rescue techniques, etc etc. Once we have some kind of database I think we should make a couple of dates during the summer of 2015, down at a shallow beach like White Strand, and get interested beginners out on the water to try out as many different boats as they can, display various forms of appropriate clothing and such, and to share some very basic technique and rescue knowledge. Yes, it will be a wet and splashy day, but we may get a few more people, who have so far only put their toes in the water, making a decision to commit a bit more seriously to the idea of becoming gear self sufficient once they have a better idea of what they need. Any thoughts on the above would be welcome.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 17:44:44 +0000
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