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Been kayaking since the 70's - heck, back in those days people would point and stare as I paddled by - kayaks were a very unusual sight in those days, more associated with eskimos than anything else.
In the 80's there were a few informal kayaking clubs here in San Diego. We would get together and paddle or fish out of our touring boats on weekends.
I remember when the first rotomolded kayaks came out, and even though they were primitive by current standards, we saw great potential for fishing in them.
I was heavily involved in signing up for Ed Gillett's Baja trips through his Southwest Kayak shop in the late 80's and early 90's. Great trips that were super inexpensive as you were expected to feed and transport yourself. God I miss those trips, and his shop. There used to be a great emphasis on expedition kayaking here, which no longer exists. Hell, I wouldn't even know where to go to find a good expedition kayak anymore...
Plastic Navy came along next, and somewhere along the line I stopped kayaking for some years as I was doing other things. I'm sure an internet search lead me here when I got all hot and bothered about kayaking again.
In the intervening years nearly everything I had known disappeared and faded away. Ed and Katie closed up their shop and Ed went into teaching high school, all my old paddling buddies moved away or quit paddling. My touring kayaks sit in the rafters of the garage waiting for that next Baja tour that may never happen. Replacing them is a PA14 that I would have never dreamed of years ago...
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