Upcoming Demo Days?

[UnkleRob2020]

Good morning. I tried to get to the demo day at Big Bass USA this weekend. It was my intention to purchase a new kayak, provided one that met my minimum requirements was available. God had other plans, however. I wasn't able to cross the bay bridge on Saturday. I have no idea what was going on, but part of the bridge appeared to be closed and it also seemed that Rt 50 East was closed at Romancoke. I spent two hours trying to get over the bridge and eventually retreated.

Does anyone know of any demo days coming up?

Thank you,

Rob

[Mark]

Can't help you with an upcoming Demo Day, but here's why you were stuck in bridge traffic:

https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/...774-story.html

[J.A. Veil]

Sorry that the odd events at the bridge kept you from your water trial. If you are really serious about trying the Falcon 11, I suggest that you contact all the Native regional dealers and see if: a) they have a Falcon 11 in stock, and b) will they arrange a private water trial for you. Some of the shops are located next to the water (Big Bass USA, CD Outdoors, Patuxent Adventure Center), so that a water trial would be easy for them to do.

Having said that, before I bought my Falcon 11 on April 29, I checked around with four regional Native dealers. Only Big Bass USA had them in stock that week, but others were expecting to get them soon. As a last resort, I could meet you at the Tucker St ramp in Weems Creek for a short water trial of my Falcon 11.

If there are other kayak models that are of interest to you, check with the regional dealers for those brands too.

As a head-up to any prospective kayak buyers, manufacturers are struggling to meet demand. Native is back ordered, and I suspect other brands are too. I was in Annapolis Canoe and Kayak last week. Their storage racks are normally full with many dozen kayaks. There were only a few in stock, and those were all already allocated to customers who had pre-ordered. Further, the cost of the polyethylene powder that is used to form the kayaks has gone up substantially in cost over the past year as it is a petroleum-derived chemical.

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Some manufacturers are likely to raise the price on models shipped this summer compared to the ones already in stock at a dealer. That is part of the reason I bought my Falcon 11 in late April.

[dsaavedra]

I believe Delaware Paddle Sports will let you demo whenever you want, provided you call ahead to arrange it. Not sure if they charge for demos or not.

Same thing with Annapolis Canoe and Kayak, you can demo any time you want for a fee which is subtracted from your purchase price if you buy the boat https://www.annapoliscanoeandkayak.com/rentals-demos/