Is there a warranty on new prelude?

[FullGnarlzOC]

They dont need to be brow beat... and thats not something i do... I joke with it about people online - because its fun to do.

and yeah - I use the word I because I get so much slack for being "I"... I fell the need to have to explain to you, why I do what i do.

You got nothing to say to me man. Keep doin what you do. And I'll keep doing what I do, and am trying to do. You can bash me for it all you want...

[Sir Adam]

"you can bash me all you want"

Just not here


I do think we (myself included) need to do a better job of building ALL of us up. As y'all are likely tired of hearing me say, it's all about getting out there, regardless of what you paddle. I just happen to prefer one blade vs. two.

FullGnarlz, though a bit, ah, "boisterous", is running some good stuff. Personally I think he'd go farther by letting his paddling speak for itself, but other than keeping this board a place for all to feel comfortable post at how he conducts himself is no concern of mine.

The same goes for other folks.

[Smurfwarrior]

An interesting read...

http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html

[FullGnarlzOC]

the whole internet 'courage' thing applys more to others than it ever would me....

If I feel like saying something, or feel a certain way about something... I'm going to say it.

As for letting paddling do the talking... I will probably get to that point... But, i definitely enjoy being an active personality in the boating world.... I could back off, and not post that much, and have no static in my post... but thats not appealing to me. and frankly.. I think I can make more of an impact with speaking up, as opposed to not.

Ya'll will get what Im' about before its all over, you'll find humor where you dont currently see it. Hopefully sensitivity will drop, and this whole fourm will lighten up...

[Sir Adam]

The forum is not likely to "lighten up" much more than where we are at now. We've been this way for over 10 years, for better or worse.

No problem with speaking your mind and posting a bunch, unless anyone decides not to follow our simple rules.

I've been really pleased lately by the level of discussion going on in different threads right now - great stuff... and that includes this thread.

To get back on topic, get a Prelude or L'Edge and keep on pushing your limits and having fun.

[FullGnarlzOC]

A prelude I believe...would teach me to be a better boater... and i would definitelyh become a better boater in the long run. The downside is, I'd have to go through Prelude school of hard knocks... and going through that school on class V is a concern...

A l'edge on the other hand, I could hit the ground running, and progress much safer with it, and be much cleaner...

If I was to get a l'edge - it would definiely be wood gunneled.

[RodeoClown]

Ever look at the demographics on who watches your videos on Youtube? On all of mine, the 45-54 age group is the top, followed by 35-44, and together those count for somewhere between 60-75% of the view. Not sure how many future gnarls runners there are in those age groups. My guess is that there are a lot more class III kayakers who are kind of bored with running class III, and with the right sales pitch could be talked into trying to run it in an open boat, and would figure it out pretty quickly. The other plus, as a broad generalization, is that compared to they under-25 crowd, they have some degree of disposable income, which is important when you're trying to talk them into buying another boat.

I've never paddled a Prelude- so I'm not going to say it's a bad boat (I doubt it is). I will say that paddling a bad boat doesn't mean you'll become a better paddler, it means you'll become a frustrated paddler who has an easy excuse when things don't go right. I know that from personal experience.

[FullGnarlzOC]

I didn't realize that demographic feature was there. I just checked the overall video demographic and it has 30% at age 18-25 and 20% at 26-35. The rest falls under what urs does...

I think alot of those older range group comes from link exposure... for instance, just by posting on Cboats alone your chance of a 35 and under person is way less than over 35 yrs old.

With facebook, you have a better chance with a wider population...but still, most boaters are 35+

I think the key is putting a really 'hip' video together, with great music, then make sure it gets views anyway you can, so it starts populating on the search engine...and then you'll get your 'wandering' under 35 yr olds... people browsing videos on youtube, secretly looking for something...more

[FullGnarlzOC]

You are right about the type of people that can afford a new whitewater canoe... but almost any age group can buy a used canoe... and that's money in the bank. First step is getting them in the sport

The right type of exposure, in the right places, is all it takes. It's just a matter of figuring out how to do that... and doing it.


Also right on the boat... I think the L'edge is the way to do it... but it could be done in a prelude...it would just be more...frustrating...

[the great gonzo]

The Prelude is ok. If you are worried about it being too much of a handful in class V water, then maybe you just aren't a class V boater yet. I know I am not.

I thought along similar lines as you did, run hard stuff as fast as possible, but life and school have taught me differently.

Sharman, the head of the whitewater program here at TRU put it quite well:
'Anyone can become a class 3 boater in a few month. Then it's time to slow it down. before you are starting to run class V rivers, you should at least have run 100 different class IV rivers of different character, volume and steepness and continuity. But not only with the goal of making it down, you should be be able to stick to your line 99 out of 100 times and do so with style and grace. Once you can do that, then you are a solid class IV boater and you can start looking at running class V.'
By that standard I am not even a solid class IV boater yet ... ...

Don't focus on what boat allows you to make down a class V rapid, focus on skill progression and developement instead.
That is what will give you longevity at a high level in this sport, especially when you get into the realm of class V. That's wherre the stakes get really high. It could be your life.

TGG!

[jatakasawa]

This has nothing to do with waranty, but neither does 35% of this thread. Anyhow, here I go.....

Doug Ammons said it best when he said that boating will never be "mainstream." It demands too much of us. We're all in love with boating so much that we follow rain, drive hundreds of miles, spend lots of $$ and generally wear ourselves down doing these things. WW boating in general takes a huge commitment that the regular joe can't live up to.

Secondly, within the boating world, canoeing is seen as difficult, imractical and harder on the boater than kayaking. Kayaking will always appeal more to the masses. Why lumber around with a big canoe when you can sling that kayak over your shoulder? Why learn the finesse to use water features when you can bully your way around with two blades?

This whole "trying to attract new extremists to the sport" approach seems worthy, but I don't have the energy for it. I don't care who gets into c-boating. I agree that more canoeists means a variety of products etc., etc.,

Canoeing has roots that date back THOUANDS of years, and as long as rivers continue to flow freely and men and women have a hankering for exploration, camping and hitting some rapids, canoeing will remain. I'm just a lucky participant in this long and varied sport.

[FullGnarlzOC]

I have the energy for it!! lol. It's a worthy cause, and an incredible challenge... growing a sport that seems like it won't ever be mainstream... I just have this feeling that all it takes is the right type of exposure and push... and we might see the OC1 population shoot up.

I'd like to see the OC1 Creeking scene burst into forefront of boating within the next 5 years, and I think that's a very do-able goal to set. All it takes is getting out there and doin the dam thing - and it will come!!

Remember... stay positive, stay after it, and we'll get there! Wouldn't you feel good Justin if you either converted or introduced a new boater into the world of OC1?! If we all convert at least 1 person, we've double our population...just something to think about.