Unsolicited plug post! :)
My old paddle that I bought from Randy at New York Kayak back in the early 00's finally gave up the ghost during the great weekend I had at the Hudson Valley Paddlesports Symposiums. I was doing a paddle float self rescue and at the point where you reach down and put your weight on the paddle shaft to get your second leg into the boat, the shaft just gently folded under my weight. Didn't snap, the joint had been getting looser and looser and the carbon fiber had worn thin inside. I finished the rescue with the greenland paddle I carry on my front deck as a spare (one really nice thing about a traditional GP as a spare is there's no mucking around with putting it together, it's ready when you need it) and then went home and started shopping for a new paddle.
Unfortunately New York Kayak closed last year. I was so fortunate to have a really high-quality outfitter that I could get to on my lunch hour for so many years - in the past I would've just gone over there, said "Hey Randy, I broke my old paddle" and he would've fixed me right up. I wasn't even sure what kind I'd had, it was before Werner was putting the name on the blade. I checked with Werner on FB and they ran it by their very experienced repair guy, who id'd it as a Kauai. Unfortunately they don't make those anymore but they recommended a couple of modern equivalents. Various friends let me try theirs out - Cyprus felt too small, Ikelos felt too big, then I went on a fast paddle with a couple of friends at the club and after stubbornly struggling with a low-angle paddle from the club container all the way to Ruffle Bar, Carlos suggested I try the Tybee. AHHH! Not as fancy as my old one but felt right, and that's the main thing.
I had hoped to shop local but August got a little crazy so I just hit the "order online" button on the Werner site - they gave 3 options and I picked Rutabaga, with which I was the most familiar - I have a number of Midwestern paddleblogging friends and they all seem to have mentioned Rutabaga favorably.
I did end up complicating matters a little bit. I've heard a rumor that outfitters use "212" as jargon describing the very demanding type that a Manhattan client sometimes turns out to be and at one point I was afraid I was bordering on that. "212" reflects the Manhattan area code. I did my first change request on line, I'd ordered a 220 cm and when I got it realized I wanted a 215 - they took care of that just fine, said send it back with a note and they would call me about the shipping, which I would have to cover. I did that then got to use a Shuna carbon fiber for the Breezy Point swim I helped out with - that's when I was afraid I was getting to be a bother; I called Rutabaga (from my office, which is in the 212 area code!) to ask if instead of switching a Tybee for a Tybee, I could instead switch to a Shuna. I figured they probably wouldn't mind TOO much because this was a switch to a more expensive paddle, but it was going to involve a little more attention.
However it all ended up being a moot point, because they didn't have the Shuna CF in stock and I decided to just stick with my original switch - probably should've been sniffier about it to maintain the "212" reputation but hey, I'm really a "718" with "808" roots, both a little less high-maintenance. Customer service rep was really nice all the way through, and the next day when the paddle I'd returned was logged back into their system, she called me back to talk shipping; I mentioned I was hoping to get it by Saturday so I could use it for a thing I was doing on Sunday; she said I could use UPS to be sure but she also said that the basic 5-day shipping through the USPS usually got things there in 4, particuarly since she was going to be able to get this into the morning pickup since it was still very early there in Wisconsin. I went with that, and sure enough, when I went down to the lobby this afternoon on my way out to pick up some snacks for tomorrow's students, there it was with that friendly note on the box. Very nice! I like to shop local but I would definitely order from these folks again.
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Funny thing - well, not THAT funny - look how close the Tybee blade shape is the the Kauai blade shape. I am definitely a creature of habit when it comes to gear - whatever I was happy with before, I just want that again.
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