Ralph wrote, "...I think, except for absolute beginning paddlers who have signed on to this list, that PaddleWisers tend to be so far along in their own development that they are really unaware what is happening in the real world out there, I mean rentals and even new purchases of kayaks at retail outlets other than dedicated paddling shops." All good points, Ralph. Would like to address the last point --- re retailers. For what it's worth, the Chesapeake Paddler Association (CPA) has developed a pretty good rapport with most of the local kayak retailers. These folks, I'm guessing, probably out of fear of litigation, don't want to get into instruction as a sideline. (It would be interesting to find out just what obligations, if any, a retailer has to its public in terms of education --- probably a state or provincial requirement --- in the use of sold or rented equipment; anybody know for sure?) But they do use the CPA as an educational backup, and, in turn, provide extensive support the club in the form of resources and space when we need it. Maybe the best rule is to think globally but to act locally --- have your local paddling organization, if you have one, become more proactive with the local retailers and/or rental agents to offer the resources of the club to newbies. The option, it would seem, is the concerns being debated in other threads about governmental regulation. The CPA gets great support from the business end of kayaking, and provides some good symbiotic assistance to them, as well. May not be the best model, but it works. Jack *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 14 1999 - 06:52:08 PDT
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