Soul Boaters

James Brown has nothing on these guys.

In fact, if the Godfather of Soul was a kayaker, chances are he would be right alongside Ed Lucero, Chris Emerick, Tamara Robbins and Brennan Guth this year as they embark on their first annual Soul Tour to river festivals across the country. The idea, says ringleader Lucero, is to promote safety and good judgment while providing a venue for people to test new products. "I started thinking about it after Chuck Kern's death in 1997," says Lucero, whose original plan was to tour the country in a bus with the back chopped off to serve as a stage platform. "The whole purpose is to give people something to look for safety-wise and get them psyched about river running. I want to get old-school paddlers into new school products--which are better and safer--and at the same time bring old-school ethics to the new schoolers."

Sponsors seem open to the idea, with such companies as Surf the Earth, Orosi, Mountain Surf, Riot, Dagger, Eskimo, 5.10, Patagonia and Salamander all signing on to align themselves with soul. "I think it's a great concept," says Eskimo's Terry DelliQuadri. "That's the essence of what kayaking's all about. Our slogan is 'Spirit of Kayaking' and a soul-boating tour fits that perfectly."

Each event the group attends will feature free demos, a booth, pamphlets, sponsor banners and, of course, a whole lot of "I feel good" soul. It's this soul that Lucero hopes will convince more people to join the tour and follow it throughout the year. And, of course, it's hard to ignore the tour's hidden agenda: "It's going to be like Endless Summer was for surfing," says Lucero. "And naturally we'll get to paddle a lot of great rivers along the way."

--For more information, surf www.mountainbuz.com/soulboating --edb