Re: [Paddlewise] What's Wrong with Kayaking

From: alex <al.m_at_3web.net>
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 17:10:23 -0800
> How come sea kayaking is portrayed as boring?

Because for the most part it is :-)... Ever seen teenagers doing sea
kayaking (not kayak surfing or whitevater kayaking, but exactly sea
kayaking)?

Is a
> picture of a low-end kayak, sitting calmly on smooth water really the
> image of sea kayaking that attracts us to the sport?

Nope... But for many, if not for most, this is how it usually works :-),
only kayaks are, perhaps, less low-end than those on magazine covers.  Also,
those advertised on covers often promote some particular destination, i.e.
hotel and rental shop, not a kayaking manufacturing company.  It's not a
secret that rental shops in resorts are mostly oriented on entry-level
crowd, and offer SOT or el-cheapo polyethilene boats.

Is this really the
> cover shot that is going to attract people to the sport?

It depends - what people :-)...

I think, there are also market reasons behind this scene.  People own same
sea kayaks for dozen(s) of years, but just look into any kayak-related
Classifieds - hundreds of surf and ww kayaks for sale.  And this is not
because all this crowd suddenly stopped being surf- or ww-kayakers - just
their boats became outmoded, because  the industry introduced something new.
Same goes for downhill skiing or snowboards, - compared to cross-country
skiing.
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Received on Mon Dec 20 2004 - 17:12:30 PST

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