Re: [Paddlewise] Costco selling kayaks

From:           	"Joe Pylka" <pylka_at_castle.net>
To:             	"K. Whilden" <kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu>, <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Subject:        	Re: [Paddlewise] Costco selling kayaks
Date sent:      	Thu, 4 Mar 1999 00:56:47 -0500

>  ... About the only thing I can think of to offset this is to get the
> message across...   but how?

Exactly what we wrestled with when we decided to do a "newbies" 
workshop for our area, Joe.  How do you get the word out to all 
these "newbies"?  (We have one medium sized "outdoors" shop in 
Annapolis that sold about 300 kayaks last year!  Most were "entry 
level", and some will get used once and then put away.  But some 
will be used by people, and many of these folks will not see the 
need to acquire any training.)

You need to act locally.  You need to organize your local paddling 
groups to provide an outreach to those who need training in at least 
the basics --- and not just operational info: you need to get across 
the concept of risk management and the importance of group and 
<individual> responsibility for safety.  The Chesapeake Paddlers 
Association (CPA) will be hosting a workshop in April, and the 
plans are just coming together now.  If you want to leverage on 
what we're doing in our area for the "newbies", let me know, and I'll 
send you information on what we're doing as we're doing it.  No 
copyrights here --- just info, and the more it gets out, the better we, 
as paddlers, will be.

If there are other paddling groups out there that you're part of and 
you're doing the same thing, please share the gouge!  We all 
benefit from things like this.  I don't know if we have a moral 
obligation to share information with newer paddlers, but I'm driven 
by the realization that I, personally, do have an obligation to others 
newer to the sport than I am.  It takes time and effort, but, from 
experience, it's worth it!

Pass the gouge, please!

Jack Martin
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