There seems to be an awful lot of discussion on the level 0 or intro stuff, but I think we are missing the involvement of other clubs that really are much more suitable for that. I have always steered beginning people that want to lean kayaking to places like the Housatonic Valley Paddle Club where the conditions are perfect and have the structure for it.

The part that I struggle with is the people from those groups that are interested in the Sound but are afraid of us. We do not seem to have a great reputation with them for watching out for the weaker paddlers. We paddle in general, much faster and in some cases much much faster than even people that have paddled for a while. This is not everyone as there are some that are much more agressive and take to the Sound pretty quickly, but I think these are the exception rather than the rule.

That first step is intense for changing from flat water to the Sound and transitioning to a more advanced level that the paddler is unsure of. We would obviously need to know that they want an eye looking out for them, but our group would need to be more watchful of the group. This is not the nature of the paddles though.

Just some thoughts from a different perspective,

Bill Hills