Spring demo season is a wrap

Eddyline's Journey was the talk of the show, wherever it went this Spring.

The past crazy month and a half was packed with six demo events all over western Washington. A little work, a whole lot of fun and a bundle of new paddlers joining the family. That's what it's all about, building the fun factor and spreading the gospel about paddling.

Getting to know my colleagues in the industry was terrific for me, having seen the retail side of the business for a few years and now feeling the sore muscles from the hard work we all put in as reps. As always, there's a good level of camaraderie between competitors and it's an awesome feeling knowing that, as I'm hoisting that last boat onto my trailer at the end of the day, there'll be someone there to help if I need them.

Late April featured Dave King's annual Symposium in Port Angeles, hosted by his shop at Olympic Raft and Kayak. Three days of paddling and three nights of music and fun. Thanks Dave, ORK staff and volunteers for showing this old demo rookie how it's done.

Alder Creek hosted their demo day at the end of April, and we got to get out the Esquif fleet for this one. Paddlers of all ages and abilities showed up at Vancouver Lake, and the weather mostly cooperated in spite of dire thunderstorm predictions. Thanks to Dave Slover for recruiting the Boy Scouts to help out!

The first weekend in May, Mitch from Popeye's and I headed to Bellingham for the WAKE demo. A nice community event, with a great turnout. Thanks for setting up this one goes to Bambi Krieg, who's also Director of WCSKS coming up in September.

The big one this Spring was as always the Puget Sound Sea Kayak Symposium in Tacoma. Amazing weather, lots of sunscreen and a huge turnout of happy paddlers and interested onlookers.

A couple weeks ago we wrapped the demo season with REI days in Seattle and Portland. Long days, but great weather and again, the economic news may be dire but maybe people want to save a little gas and use a bit of human power on the water. In any case the turnout for these events all Spring was excellent.

Now that the season is a wrap, yes we have lightly-used boats and gear from Eddyline, Stohlquist, and Bending Branches available at sweet prices. If you know what I have and you know what you want, talk to me. I will be selling the boats through your nearest dealer.

Port Angeles beach in the morning, before the crowds got all the boats wet.

In the red bandanna, Mitch, from Popeye's Marine in Everett, helped dozens of happy new paddlers get acquainted with Eddyline and Emotion boats at the WAKE demo day.

Two gorgeous days of paddling beneath Mount Rainier greeted the throngs at PSSKS.

REI's demo days in Portland and Seattle hosted nearly 1,000 visitors each.