Paddlers head to Back of Beyond

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, January 22, 2003

It’s not where you’d expect to find a shop that sells 17-foot-long touring kayaks.

Were it not for a few whitewater craft hung outside the small basement abode at 195 Winslow Way, you might not notice the island’s newest paddlesports shop at all.

That lack of fancy signs and slick advertisements is just fine with Udo Wald and Janet Nicholson, owners of To the Back of Beyond Explorations. In their old-fashioned yet proven plan, community comes first, and business comes from being a part of it.

“It is essential,” said Wald of their commitment to bolstering the community through their business.

An example of that focus is the weekly paddle session Wald hosts at Waterfront Park. Leisurely and affordable (free for those with their own boat, $15 to rent one), the two-hour excursions are guided by Wald, and tailored to the skills of each group – sometimes 30 strong.

Back of Beyond has also run trips for the Island Senior Center, the Boys and Girls Club and local schools.

“We took them up to the petroglyphs on the north end of the island,” Wald said of one of the middle school trips. “It was great to see their excitement.”

With his round gold-rimmed glasses, a full salt-and-pepper beard and pleasant accent, the native of Germany has long been an enthusiastic emissary for an activity that he believes satisfies both body and mind.

“(Kayaking is) a great, low-impact exercise,” he said. “It works all the larger muscles from the waist up and even the legs a bit.

“It also puts you right on the water with the wildlife…there’s a Zen-like quality to it.”

It’s also a sport that is accessible to just about anyone who wants to do it, explains Wald. A low center of gravity, a range of kayak shapes and sizes to match body size and aspirations, and clothing technologies have all brought the fun of navigating costal waters to a safe level for anyone with a little instruction.

“It’s a sport that anybody can do, “ Wald said. “Whether it’s exercise, relaxing, bird watching or whatever, you can do it in a kayak. That’s the beauty of it.”

Trial run

It was the legendary kayaking of the Northwest – known throughout the world for its eternity of sheltered waters and shorelines to be explored – that drew Wald here six years ago from San Diego.

In part, it was the very popularity of the sport that made Wald and Nicholson’s decision to open their business last July, at the peak of the kayaking season, a challenge.

With most kayaks built by small, high -quality manufacturers, it was hard to get inventory, Wald said; by the time summer had ended, the business was just getting rolling.

But that trial run laid the foundation for a busy spring and summer, says Wald, who plans to add tours, rentals and classes for adults and kids to the store’s retail operations by March.

Wald also plans on having both kayaks and canoes covering a full price range, along with a complete selection of accessories from custom boat-building supplies and paddles to long underwear and a complete selection of paddle-friendly clothing.

Although his weekly paddles currently depart from Waterfront Park, Wald sees Manzanita Bay, Point White, Liberty Bay, Blakely Harbor, and Blake Island as likely tour destinations and launch points.

Along with local, peninsula and eventually Mexican tours, Back of Beyond will offer a mothership-hubbed San Juan tour – the first on Memorial Day weekend.

“A friend of mine turned an old ferry into sort of a B-and-B,” Wald said. “It sleeps 10, so we’ll go up, cruise around the San Juans and take day paddles from the ship.”

In fact, Wald’s vision of the paddleshop’s possibilities are as various as the anecdotes he has for the origins of its name.

His favorite, says Wald, surrounds the legendary defender of the desert Southwest, Edward Abbey.

“Abbey was leading a trip into the Maze,” an extremely remote and mysterious section of Utah’s Canyonlands, Wald says, “and when the tourists asked him where they were going he said, ‘Out there…to the back of beyond.’”

“It’s a destination,” Wald said, “but it’s also a state of mind.”