My journey with Vagabond Kayaks has ended

 I've long had a mantra, "Nothing lasts forever". In pretty much every situation, it is a good thing - including a bowl of dessert. And so my journey with Vagabond Kayaks had ended.

This is my 'farewell letter' sent to my suppliers, dealers, distributors, operators and posted on Vagabond's website for the many Vagabond customers who love their Vagabond kayaks.

To the many people that have been part of my Vagabond Kayaks journey,

 What started with a dream and a business plan first written in January 2016, evolved into Vagabond Kayaks. Vagabond was created by me and Celliers Kruger and where he brought his technical experience and beautiful kayak designs to the party, I breathed personality and brand into Vagabond through my passion for our products, people and sharing of adventures and experiences. With essential funding from our investor partners, Celliers’ work creating the kayak designs and moulds began in mid-2017. My tasks only kicked in the few months before our July 2018 launch in creating the brand, website and content. My responsibilities escalated four years ago when I took over sole management and running of Vagabond.

 As you well know, Vagabond, like many companies, has been through a number of major storms. Start-up challenges, which are common to all new businesses, looked to be reaching an end when COVID hit. The factory had to close and international container orders were lost as we, the business and our customers went into lockdown. We emerged from this into unrelenting power-supply issues in our hometown, which led to the factory and Vagabond moving to the city of George at the end of 2020. That summer saw South Africa implement restrictions on water access – never good for business – but for us bought time without the pressure of main-season orders while the factory was rebuilt. By late 2021, production delays had improved and Vagabond entered the start of its best season ever through late 2021 and into our autumn 2022.

And then, disaster struck. The factory that moulded our kayaks was closed in late June 2022 and Vagabond has been on ice since then. This has been a saga deserving of a book!

 These past 10 months have been an incredible strain on me through months of legal battles and dealing with my wounded ‘child’. This past local summer would have been incredible for Vagabond. My heart broke over and over with every call and email that I answered from customers enquiring not just about ‘kayaks’ but seeking our beautiful Vagabond kayaks, specifying models and their wonderful certainty that nothing else would be better for them. They were, of course, correct. Once you’ve paddled a Vagabond kayak, there is no other kayak to even consider.

We did test moulding of some kayak models late last year with another moulder – with great success. Unfortunately, they do not have big enough ovens to mould our most popular models: Kasai, Marimba and Mazowe. We were left in limbo.

By January, I had my mojo and forward vision back but my Vagabond partners, the original investors in business, decided at the end of February to retain the assets and run the business themselves.

While my passion for Vagabond and enthusiasm for a vision I’d planned for the way forward burned as strongly as ever, I felt relief at this decision – and I still do. I grieved Vagabond last year through the immense trials we went through so it is with an element of relief that my journey with Vagabond has ended. The weight on my shoulders has been considerably lighter for the first time in many years.

For me, Vagabond has been a journey of learning and growth, stresses and also joys.

Although I had paddled on-and-off for 15 years before starting Vagabond, I had to leap into really learning about kayaks, the market and the industry. I have enjoyed meeting and communicating with kayak dealers and distributors around the world and here at home in South Africa. I’ve been blessed to work with so many incredible suppliers who go above-and-beyond through their own manufacturing struggles, the global shipping crisis and numerous curveballs. I love interacting with Vagabond customers, receiving their messages and photographs of their outings with friends and family, their travels and their explorations. Kayaks bring joy, activity and adventure to people’s lives.

I learned that I love being in the factory – I revel in the action and magic of turning plastic powder into a completed product. Tour guiding visitors through the factory was always a delight for me. I can assemble a kayak, cut and drill into it with confidence to install accessories and I derive joy from using my heat gun and soldering iron to heat weld and repair injured kayaks.

I went in with lots of media experience but no business experience; I have come out of this journey with dozens of proficiencies from import and export to cloud accounting, product costings, stock flow and lessons learned in business management.

The past 11 months, a period that has brought much sadness and distress, has taught me to stand up against bullies and to fight for what is right. Because of this, Vagabond will make it out the other side.

I have just completed handover to my partners and so this is my farewell as the Managing Director and jack-of-all-trades for Vagabond. I am signing off to jump into new adventures.

Your email contact for Vagabond will be office@vagabondkayaks.com . Other details will be updated on the website and communicated in due time. There is a solution to get Vagabond back into the market.

The one question I am regularly asked now is, “What are you going to do after six years of living, breathing, eating and sleeping Vagabond?”.

18-months before starting Vagabond, I started YOLO, an exceptional composting solution for the domestic market with the YOLO Compost Tumbler product. Like Vagabond, YOLO too was affected by the factory closure and I have got it up and running again. I have a lot of rebuilding to do in the market with our compost tumblers and the calf hutch, the latter being a product for the dairy industry. www.yolocomposttumbler.co.za

22-years ago, I created AR Gaiters, a shoe covering that prevents sand and grass seeds and grit from getting into your running shoes. This small business started with me sewing gaiters for myself and then for friends and then for adventure racing teams. My mom took over running AR Gaiters in about 2012 and it has grown organically from there, especially over the last 6 years. It is at the stage where my mom needs help and AR Gaiters has capacity to expand. We have four models of AR Gaiters for the trail running, hiking, adventure racing and orienteering market. I have just built a new eShop with an expanded product range from other trusted suppliers. I’m excited about some new AR Gaiters products that I am developing in addition to our new avenue of offering customised fabric designs for events. www.argaiters.co.za

 My main line of work, before Vagabond, was in writing for magazines, websites, and adventure brands specifically in the genre of trail running, adventure racing, events and travel, with other themes from data warehousing to biotechnology (I have a science background) coming in occasionally. I look forward to writing again.

I will remain living in George. I love it here for the nature, mountains, trails and abundance of scenic paddling spots. If you’re ever in the Garden Route over a weekend, look out for the monthly social paddle outings that I organise for my Kingfisher Social Paddle Group. You’ll find me there with my green Marimba kayak.

While I wave farewell with my Vagabond hat on, I haven’t disappeared; I’m around and the world is small. Who knows where and how our paths may cross.

While this email is a bye, it is also a thank you for being part of my Vagabond world. Whether you have supplied me with nuts and bolts, fittings, materials and graphics, processed forex transactions and booked containers, or you have proudly represented Vagabond to the public by spreading the joy of our kayaks to your customers, or you've sent me stories and photos of your paddling adventures, I thank you for being on my team and playing an important part in my journey.

I wish you successes, rewards and joy on your own journeys.

Lisa