You raise another consideration in your post, Jeremy--to what degree a sea kayaker is involved in--experienced in--the activity. In previous posts in this thread, I postulated that there are 3 distinct types of sea kayakers: explorers, players, and racers, and that one's style of kayaking could be plotted on a triangular grid with those 3 categories as "pure" endpoints--but of course any particular sea kayaker can locate him/herself anywhere on the grid, depending on the mix of one's interests. In my own local kayaking group, we have a few pure racers--fitness/speed lovers paddling surf skis or go-fast kayaks (often solo)--many players paddling SOF Inuit boats or their fiberglass equivalents, or surf kayaks, and who spend almost all their time on the water perfecting their braces and rolls (usually very social)--and a few explorers (I am one), who paddle all day using their boats to go places and see things (often solo). But most of our paddlers are more well-rounded and balanced kayakers, enjoying almost equally all 3 of these styles of kayaking.

Your post, though, suggests to me that a further refinement adds another dimension to the triangular grid, one at right angles to the grid itself that would show the degree of experience of and commitment to sea kayaking--from casual/novice where it's too early for a paddler to have figured out what style they prefer--to committed/experienced enough for the paddler to have evolved into being whatever type of paddler that bests suits their interests. I realize that this is not the equivalent of the Theory of Relativity, but I find it's fun to think about sea kayaking styles/tendencies in this manner.