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ne of the beauties of kayaks and kayaking is finding that you don’t need a lot of boat or space to enjoy the water. It’s fitting then, that the Paddle Pamlico kayak shop in Oriental has moved in to a cozy new spot.

Out back. Signs out front on Hodges Street point toward the back of the parking lot where you can find one of the two new entrances to Paddle Pamlico.

Paddle Pamlico hasn’t moved far. It’s only steps away from where the paddle shop operated in its first years, in the front of the white, red-roofed building across from the Town Dock. (The Village Gallery is in front now.)

These days, kayakers will find Karen Prince’s kayak store at the back of the pebbly parking lot and and through a cheery courtyard.

Karen Prince and Tom Watts at the courtyard entrance to Paddle Pamlico, one of two entrances to the kayak shop’s new home.

One feature of the new space — in addition to its coziness — is that it is twice as easy to get in to. There’s another entrance on Factory Street.

Tom Watts outside the Factory Street door to the paddle shop.

Tom Watts says that with this move, Paddle Pamlico is “going back to being a paddle shop”. This means selling “hard goods” — those things folks absolutely need for the sport — such as kayaks, paddles, personal flotation devices and bilge pumps.

Paddle Pamlico continues to stock kayaks by BORÉAL, Hobie and Eddyline.

Paddle Pamlico also offers years of personal experience to make sure the equipment suits the kayak owner. Tom’s buying tip —borrowed from a kayak manufacturer — is: try before you buy.

Paddle Pamlico is ramping up its kayak rentals for those who arrive in town without a kayak… or paddle.

The shop is also organizing more kayaking events, such as the once-a-month, Full Moon Tour. Tom describes it as, “paddling up Green Creek to watch the sun set, then turning around toward the bridge to watch the moon rise.”

Look for Paddle Pamlico to be involved with upcoming Fairfield Harbor tours and the Pamlico Paddle on August 8th.

Folks with kayaking ideas of their own — kayak fishing trips, anyone? — can be accommodated. Just ask.

Paddle Pamlico’s summer hours are Thursday to Sunday 10a to 5p.

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Paddle Pamlico led a Full Moon Tour in early June. Here kayakers depart from Oriental’s harbor before sunset in order to paddle back, by full moonlight, a short time later.

If you stop by Paddle Pamlico and see this sign, chances are Tom is at the Town Dock helping a customer test-drive a kayak or leading a tour.

Walk on in.. from either door. There are kayaks for sale inside. As well as tours arranged.

Since moving in to the new space this spring, Tom says there’s been one visitor who prefers winging it to paddling: a cardinal who sits in a nest in the cedar tree outside the courtyard entrance. She’s been known to fly in one door and out the other, using it as a shortcut in her search for food.

Posted Friday June 19, 2009 by Bernie Harberts