[Paddlewise] Costco selling kayaks

Has anyone seen the kayaks that are being carried by Costco? I have only
seen a picture in the newspaper. They are fiberglass, with an extra large
closed deck cockpit (like a keowee) and a rudder. About 15' long I think.
I would like to know what the performance of these boats is like, and also
how much they will cost. I am worried that this might lead to problems
with total novices buying an advanced kayak with no instruction or
practical information. When we buy kayaks from kayak stores, the
salespeople always give out information on required sagety gear and stress
the importance of instruction. There is a lot of basic knowledge that we
take for granted that the average Costco buyer would never know, nor be
able to learn from the salepeople at Costco. Am I wrong to think that
Costco could be directly biasing the kayaking fatality statistics in the
wrong direction?

For example, the latest Sea kayaker magazine (april) has a  good article
about a harrowing, near death experience (i.e. a safety article). The
person involved had been given a sea kayak for his 50th birthday, and
taught himself how to paddle with the aid a couple of viewings of sea
kayaking video. Even though he learned about the importance of practicing
self-recues, he did not learn some really essential things that led
directly to his troubles:
  1. Dressing for immersion
  2. Listening to the marine weather forecast (he read a newspaper
forecast)
  3. knowledge of tides and currents
  4. knowledge of how sea condtions can change with different locations or
currents, or in the lee of an island or point of land.
  5. The importance of practicing rescues in rough water.
  6. Having redundant flotation in bulkheaded compartments.

 It's a really good article, and worth reading. But seriously, how many
Costco derived kayakers are going to learn about rescues and other aspects
of closed-deck boating? I think this sea kayaker article describes a
person who would self-learn MUCH more than the average costco shopper. Of
course, the counter question is how many costco derived kayakers will ever
get themselves into such a situation where those skills are necessary for
survival? And will costco kayakers be any more likely to get into trouble
than kayakers who get their boats from other sources?

Be safe,
Kevin
	 ___________________                                                            
	/   Kevin Whilden   \
       |Dept. of Geosciences \___
       |University of Washington \
       |kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu| 
        \________________________/                       

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