In a brief essay titled Freedom Lost, appearing in the Summer/Fall 2012 issue of Adventure Kayak, sea kayaking elder John Dowd argues that the number of "serious" sea kayakers (not defined) is dropping, and that this is the result of sea kayaking becoming a "belonging or following activity" rather than a "freedom-centered activity". Dowd poses both of these trends (do they exist?) as serious problems for the future of sea kayaking (are they?), but offers no data, only a few ambiguous and enigmatic personal anecdotes. Is any of this true? If true, is any of this relevant?

Dowd's essay is an amplification of opinions he previously expressed in a letter published in the Spring 2008 issue of AK, in which he bemoaned the fact that a high percentage of those completing sea kayaking courses do not continue paddling. Again, no data. Again, how true? If true, how relevant?

But the absence of data does not deter Dowd from fashioning a bizarre hypothesis of would-be sea kayakers becoming deterred from becoming fully involved in the activity because they sense a loss of "freedom" in being urged to learn to roll, to master "in excruciating detail...an array of marginally relevant white water strokes", and to learn "a forward stroke taken straight from flatwater racing." Horrors! Sea kayaking is in danger of being swallowed up by a "macho white water attitude with its over-emphasis on technique". Again, is any of this true? Does any of it represent a loss of freedom? Are people being compelled to learn to roll and to master those nasty white water and flatwater strokes? It is all very strange.

I believe (no data) that the truth is as follows: John Dowd and his fellow sea kayaking entrepreneurs/gurus of the 1980s, acting through TASK, the Trade Association for Sea Kayaking, did spawn their longed-for explosion of interest in paddlesports. And, for a while, the expanding interest was directed into sea kayaking. But now, the latest crop of new, easiest-path, "freedom"-seeking recruits has turned away from sea kayaks and sea kayaking and instead are buying Pungos, SOTs, SUPs, and are heading, without instruction, for the nearest pond, lake, river, beach.

There never were going to be a whole lot of folks interested enough in the discipline that sea kayaking--the most basic, stark form of marine boating--requires. And there never were going to be that many who would stick with open water, cold water, tidewater, choppy water, breezy paddling for 10,20,30 years--the number will fluctuate, but will always be small.

I don't know exactly what is troubling John Dowd about the state of sea kayaking today, but his concerns as he has stated them recently are so far wholly without supporting evidence, or inner logic.

These types of soft diatribes are encouraged by AK mag as I believe that's what the readership desires to read - unsubstantiated and subjective editorial from founding fathers and other industry names. I do think there needs to be a place for these opinions and indeed, this type of journalism. Dowds has been involved with sea kayaking from a seamanship-centric perspective long enough that one assumes some merit is due.

I tend to form my opinions by listening to what the retailers and tripping providers observe, as they keep a close eye on trends and know the marketplace, etc. From what I gather, the issues are multifaceted and there are no simple answers to why there are surges and declines. Certainly, selling rudderless, skegged performance sea kayaks with attending hard skills development programs isn't the brunt of buisness, and never has been. Comfortable touring-class boats and freedom-found excursions are the main forte with a growing interest, as noted, in SOTs, etc., which I don't equate the growth thereof because true sea kayaking and seamanship is being presented as overly skill-based.

Dowd's previous rant against germaine skills-based schemes like BCU and ACA was similarly uninformed in my opinion, but again, it was an op-ed piece that had merit if it gets folks talking and looking at the sport with fresh keeness so we can stay earnest in the fight to maintain currnt freedoms.

I have a lot of respect for John. I don't always agree with him but will listen and consider is points. I may strain to see the validity at times of what he is sying but when I place myself in to his perspective and bias, I understand why he says what he does.

I've had a family health crisis in my family for three years now that is winding down tragically so have not been keeping up with some of the things you take note of but anyone I have talked to in my periphery understands the inherent dangers of the ocean and other wide bodies of open water and the need to take courses, get the right gear and use a lot of judgement and wisdom. Those that don't never will. Excuse my poor edits here, I am exhausted these days.

It's too bad there isn't a link available because before I comment I'd like to read the article in question. But I'll comment anyway, from what I'm taking away from your comments.

I am an ACA L4 coastal instructor and an ACA L4 WW instructor. This is relevant insofar as the idea of technique being urged by instructors. All instructors urge the development of good technique. Good technique is about protecting the body and about repeatability (muscle memory). I teach a lot of beginner classes and I ask people what their aspirations are in the beginning of every class and most just want to paddle around on the flat water. They don't want to drown doing so and want to be able to get where they're going without feeling like they've been run over by the proverbial Mack truck from paddling all day, or days, with their shoulders. I also place a lot of emphasis on basic rescue and the idea that the paddlefloat should be considered the self rescue of LAST resort.

Regarding WW technique; a great deal of modern sea kayak technique comes from WW and river boating. This includes strokes and rolling. I would argue, and have at length, that the idea of "fundamental" has evolved. As is the way it is taught. In Greenland the first thing a boy is taught, before he can paddle around, is the sculling brace followed by rolling as swimming simply isn't an option. We approach it differently. We teach how to get your boat around and then gloss over how to deal with the aftermath of a capsize. To not engage in the horse before the cart argument that is also found here, I submit that there are no hard and fast ways for teaching or doing and that my "adventure" may be way below the bar for some and way above the bar for others.

I'm all for seamanship. I work hard and read a lot and practice all of the time (muscle memory for the brain). When I run trips I encourage people to follow along on their charts and to observe where they are and what's going on around them rather than just blithely paddle along. If they find that interests the and ask questions about how to calculate the best time for crossings etc, I answer and make recommendations of what to read or classes to take (generally I offer these through the club I volunteer for). I also tell people that ANY map works for navigation. Topo's, charts, a road map that adequately shows that coast (ala Chris Duff and Ireland) can work. I can't compel good seamanship. The external compulsion for seamanship is subtle, until it's too late. I can encourage it but, until a new paddler is interested they won't bother. I imagine that troubles John, but there it is.

To wrap up, I also think there is an age issue. I'm 39 and I live in one of the sea kayaking hotspots, the PNW. I'm not anywhere near the top end of the age scale of sea boaters, in fact I'd say I'm towards the bottom. I can attribute this to many things, but that's a different discussion. Given the age that many people move into sea boating without other marine experience, they can't see past just floating around. That is their adventure. If that is what John has his knickers in a knot about then that's too bad because he's one of the ones that encouraged many of these people to get out in in the first place as many have his book.

Mark, try www.adventurekayakmag.com to try to read Dowd's essay. You may have to subscribe in order to access the article, but I don't know for sure. Doug, I appreciate the AK "diatribes", as I've followed with enormous interest over the decades the course of how sea kayaking is viewed by the public at large, by the growing number of "kayakers", and by the greybeards (like me) who were around when there weren't a whole lot of people paddling any sort of kayak on open water. The AK diatribes I've seen so far, by people like Dowd and Hutchinson, remind me of the old saying about the French ancien regime--they learn nothing, and they forget nothing.

For more input on this topic I checked out an interesting thread, www.westcoastpaddler.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5310 Several people repeated what John Dowd had told them, essentially paraphrasing some of Dowd's AK comments; a few others stated that they saw no signs of a falling-off of interest in sea kayaking, but most did agree that there were fewer sea kayakers on the water. I noted down, under various categories, the reasons people thought this was happening, as follows (many gave more than one reason): Bad economy, 29% of reason; Demographic changes, 29%; Sea kayaking as a bubble, 16%; Growing interest in SOTs, SUPs, rec boats, 13%; Growing interest in performance, surf, Inuit paddling, 10%; Elitism of sea kayakers, 3%. Nobody said that, in their opinion, it was due to people being told they ought to try to learn to roll, or to master difficult or unusual paddle strokes; nobody agreed that sea kayaking was evolving from a freedom-centered to a belonging-centered activity. Interesting.

My beef with Dowd's reasoning and logic goes back to his disdain, often and loudly expressed in the 1980s, for wearing any thermal protection when paddling on lethally cold water. His preferred technique was to sit on his wetsuit and then, in the event of a capsize, fire off a few flares and attempt to put the wetsuit on in the water. Brilliant.

I read the AKmag commentary and, much to my surprise, a bit of what he said struck a minor chord with me. In the Chesapeake Bay Area where I paddle, I've noticed what appears to be a confusing mish-mash of advice on paddling strokes. For example, the forward stroke is often taught in a "racing" form, with a high-angle paddle paddle position very close to the boat, high upper hand position, and removal of the blade at the hip. It's about as far from the touring stroke that I use as one can get, and it makes no sense to me as a sea kayaker.

The same thing goes for sculling, which I consider to be an excellent exercise for improving blade control, a great technique for stabilizing the boat, and a fundamental building block for confident edging in forward and reverse sweeps. A low-angle scull is also a very secure and stable way to move the boat sideways in rough conditions.

Warren Williamson, a man whose kayaking skills I greatly admire has noted the advantage of being able to "scull up" from an inverted position, pause to collect one's wits, and then roll up from the side sculling position. I took what he said to heart and
feel that the hours I've devoted to sculling have paid very good dividends indeed. This past winter, a very highly ranked ACA instructor critiqued my use of a low angle scull during a winter pool session. His point was that "proper" sculling technique used as vertical a paddle position as possible.

If I had to place my money on the table, I'd think it wise to defer to the Inuit, the people who invented sea kayaking. What do they know? What can we learn from them? Plenty. The only thing that stands in the way is Western hubris, our smug cultural conviction that in a few decades(or less)we can improve on thousands of years of real-world R&D. When it comes to open-water technique, I'll take their word on what works best any day of the week.

A vertical scull for support?

Admittedly, Warren and I have argued about paddles and technique every now and again when I run into him at Deception Pass but sculling up to collect you wits is what made my roll reliable in the first place and I always encourage people to learn it as it's another tool in the box.

Also, I do teach a shortened forward stroke that ends at the hip, though it's not at all close to the boat. It tends to be closer to the wake line. I've never seen anyone teach a racing forward stroke except in a racing class.