I’ve been thinking on the hobby part a lot, and believe the very-involved to then-waning-interest hobby bit is near routine with some folks/some things, although if I get into something it is more likely to last at least for at least a couple years, if not decades.
I’ve had a bunch of “hobbies”, from dirt bikes as a youth to screw-that two wheel nonsense, gimme a truck with cap for long cross country travel; haven’t made a cross country trip in the last 7 years. Skeet shooting to re-loading to duck hunting to barely remember the last time I fired a gun. Organizing monthly club trips to solo paddling and reclusively playing with boats and gear in the shop.
Through the years I’ve seen a surprising number of paddlers fall way, from younger folks who streaked across the paddling-verse like a brief meteor, to some long-time die hards, who stuck around to “conquer” the skills ladder, or later become dedicated to a specific paddling niche, from racing to sailing to poling to, dare I say it, sea or whitewater kayaking.
I guess I never put paddling in my hobby category; it’s something I did with my dad as a child, in my teens and twenties with friends, and for decades later with my family and club companions.
It’s a - grabs calculator - 57 year continuum. Unlike past come-and-gone hobbies paddling has always been a constant and I think, I hope, always will be in some form, if frequency reduced.
I might need help getting out of the canoe, but what are friends for?