Comments on: Paddling From The Beginning – Why Paddle

By: Frank moeller

Frank moeller — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:23:10 +0000

Greetings from denmark.Wich by the way is NOT the capital of sweden;-).I started paddling as a teenager.I was sitting by the the bank of the Maribo lake with my fishing rod,and two kayakers glided past me and continued up a small channel with an overhanging canopy of branches.I just sat there and thought:i want to try that.I phoned Maribo kayak club and i had my first ride in a kayak the next evening.The first ten years i paddled standard touring boats,and in 1996 i saw an ad in the danish kayak association magazine.The ad had a big picture of a guy standing in his kayak,on the water with one foot in the cockpit and the other on the paddle(with float attached),and an even bigger smile on his face.The caption said:why not try a seakayak?Again:i just had to try that.I called him and booked a try-out,and i was instantly hooked.A week later i bought my first seakayak(prijon seayak).A cool thing about denmark is that no matter where you live,you have less than an hours drive to the shore.you might want to consider that when you plan your next vacation;-)

By: Iain

Iain — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:17:57 +0000

g’day from downunder,
seems like a lot of others on this post I came to sea kayaking late in life. Masters swimming was my go until chronic shoulder problems eventually ruled out competition.
Sea kayaking has been a revelation for me and again, like others, my wallet has taken a bruising over the past five years but hey, what the heck!!
I live on and island state of OZ (Tasmania) and within a couple of hours drive can be battling monster swells on our west coast or gliding over azure seas next to pristine white beaches on our east coast. I can’t imagine the crowds you guys must have to deal with every day. I think the whole population of OZ would fit into your west coast megalopolous!!
We have a local club with heaps of friendly and very talented paddlers always willing to pass on their skills …. for free!!
Can’t beat that. Now, where’s my wallet … cheers

By: Sean Smith - Fat paddler

Sean Smith - Fat paddler — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 08:38:28 +0000

After 20 years of rugby as my main sport, I was involved in a terrible car accident that, amongst the many injuries, left me with a shattered pelvis and broken lower spine. After years of rehab, I needed a sport that didn’t rely on running, and since I’ve always loved other water sports (surfing, sailing etc), paddling seemed like a good idea. That was less than a year ago – now I’m completely addicted and have paddled over a 1000km so far and looking to paddle many thousands more!

By: Kellie

Kellie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:30:45 +0000

I’ve always loved being around water. I tried sailing, windsurfing and kayaking and just fell in love with kayaking – it’s something I can do by myself (I’m sure the “rule of three” will be covered later in this “Back to Paddling” series). Like silbs, I come to kayaking later in life. I figure better that I found out later as opposed to never. It took me two years to work up the courage to talk to shop folks and go to demo days (in the meantime, I spent my time in rental kayaks paddling in large circles). Spent far more on my first kayak than I ever thought, but never regretted it. Given the choices at “demo days,” it was hands down the best one for me at the time. No one warned me however, that soon (quite soon), I would want another boat, and then another. Really, it’s nice to be ready for any paddling occasion, though there’s limited room in the garage. If I had a house, I’d just build a bigger garage, but I’m not complaining!

By: Keith Braun

Keith Braun — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:04:45 +0000

Hey Y’all….. here’s my 2-bits My wife and I live in Calgary, Alberta Canada and we’ve been avid hikers / backpackers in the Rockies for many years. We began to notice that the mountains we’re getting more and more busy… this coupled with 3 knee surgeries we decided to explore our options and sea kayaks were definitely the perfect fit for us. But then came the task of getting educated on the sport. I went for 10 days kayaking the Queen Charlottes with experienced kayaking friends and was immediately hooked. The big question was which boat is best for us???? Then we discovered TRAK Kayaks manufactured right in Calgary. We found after many hours of considering different boats, the TRAK kayak was perfect for our needs. It’s quite an amazing boat…. Folds into a travel friendly bag, assembles in 10 mins, has great performance, excellent secondary stability, very comfortable, keder access to the stern compartments, very durable…. But most impressive is the adjusting shape via the 3 hydraulic jacks making the boat amazingly versatile. We have taken our boats on a second trip to the Queen Charlottes and paddled for a week. No problems flying with them, arrived there from Calgary in 3 hours! Sweeeet! We had enough storage in each boat to take a ltr. of wine per day on the water! Not exactly a luxury we had when backpacking!  We have taken these boats on both flat water and white water and have a howl on both! I really have to say that kayaking has changed the way we view the outdoors and travel + our TRAKs have made it very convenient to access water pretty much anywhere! Any questions on the TRAK Kayak or kayaking around Calgary or the Queen Charlottes, feel free to connect. Cheers, Keith