RE: [Paddlewise] LLBean Symposium (was New England)

At 12:21 PM 3/3/00 -0500, Joe Brzoza wrote:
>Is there a website for this Syposium?  

http://www.llbean.com/outdoorsOnline/odp/kayak/courses/symposium.html

>And have people found these to be worth-while?  

I have.  Definately.
>
>I'm kind of a hands-on type of guy and like to be participating in something
>rather than just watching someone else do stuff, so I don't know what to
>think about this sort of thing.  That, and I don't like to go drool over
>stuff I can't afford (I have a wedding to pay for - no wise cracks please).

Well, I just got back from a two week vacation (which included a week in
Hawaii) and signed mortgage papers last night for a house we're buying, and
I still am planning on going.

The nice thing about all that stuff you can drool over is that you can try
it out as well.  The first year I demo'd about 20 different boats from a
variety of vendors.  I could talk to the reps for each and get the inside
scoop on everything I tried.  I found that there were only 3-4 boats that I
would have rather had than what I owned, and I felt that I didn't have the
skills then to fully appreciate them.  Last year I demo'd fewer boats but
found about the same number that I liked more than what I have now, and if
any of them came up on the used market I would be very tempted.   Instead,
I'm building a CLC Northbay this winter.

One of the big advantages of the symposium is that I was able to try out
some boats that I would likely never have a chance to paddle otherwise.
I've paddled several of Nick Schade's boats and last year demo'd a baidarka
in a kevlar layup from a small shop in Maine.

The seminars are also quite informative and can be very entertaining.
There are also about 500 or so other paddlers in attendance and it was fun
meeting so many other paddlers.  Last but not least, Castine is a very
pretty place to spend a few summer days on the Maine coast.

>
>I will be attending the Paddling Expo held at UNH 3/31 - 4/1 though (it's
>real cheap).  Maybe that's a warm up to the Symposium?  I thought I'd at
>least go and see what this Derek guy is all about.

I'm afraid you'll probably have to listen to him too.   He's a funny guy.

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