A few breaks of mid-morning sunshine yesterday prompted me to head up to Freeport for the L.L. Bean PaddleSports Festival. Not being in the market for a canoe or kayak -- mine are both fairly recent purchases -- I simply poked around and looked for interesting gear.

This past weekend's L.L. Bean PaddleSports Festival featured dozens of canoes and kayaks for sale and demonstration.
ALL PHOTOS SCOTT ANDREWS

Since I have a number of friends who live in small spaces and travel a lot, I was particularly intrigued by the Puffin line of inflatable kayaks put out by Pakboats, a New Hampshire-based company.

Sales rep Elaine Egidio pointed out that strictly speaking the Puffin isn't an inflatable. True inflatables require the rigidity of air pressure to keep their shape. Instead, the Puffin has a folding metal frame and uses its air bladders mainly for floatation.

Pakboats sales rep Elaine Egidio holds the Puffins' suitcase-sized carry case.

Elaine fills the Puffin's bladder with air (pump hidden behind boat).

The smallest member of the Puffin family weighs only 17 pounds. The largest is a 14-foot tandem model with a carrying capacity of 400 pounds. All four Puffins that I looked at can be stuffed into a suitcase-sized carrying sack which can be checked as baggage on commercial airlines.

Small recreational kayaks seemed to generate the most interest. Leader in the field is Wilderness Systems, a North Carolina-based company. The firm's Pungo models have become wildly popular.

Small recreational kayaks seemed to generate the most interest from attendees. A couple try out a pair of Wilderness Systems' Pungos for size.

Fishing from kayaks is another activity on the upswing, and Bean flyfishing instructors were on hand to show us how.

Demonstrating flyfishing from a kayak.

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