>> Kevin wrote: >> 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? > > and Julio wrote: > The same applies to REI selling Sea Kayaks, and paddling equipment > in general for that matter. I think generalization of this nature can be dangerous as well. I actually got my initial baptism to kayaking through a 2 day coastal sea kayaking course offer through none other than REI. The instructor, who happens to be one of the members of this list, provided an excellent class that included paddling strokes, navigation, safety, equipment and both self and group rescue. I think maybe our new Governor sums it up well when he says, "you can't legislate against stupidity". People have the money, they'll buy the boats somewhere, they need to exercise the good judgement to learn how to use them. Clubs and retail organizations should play a role in providing that education, but if the boat owner who chooses to pass on those opportunities then they run the self imposed risk of becoming part of the natural selection process. Cold hearted, cold toes and cold hands Minnesotan. JW *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Mar 04 1999 - 05:25:13 PST
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