Kaayko Scouts
The rules
Who can take part
Anyone may add a spot. To be picked you must be 18 or older, have given an email with the spot, and have put it up for the monthly picks. Pieces ship to US addresses only for now.
How picks are made
Kaayko makes up to ten picks in each calendar month, usually at its end, judged on the photos, the accuracy of the pin and how useful the note is. Kaayko’s choice is final. A month may have fewer than ten picks, or none. Only new spots that Kaayko approves count; suggested edits and reports do not.
How often
One pick per person per month, however many spots you add, and one piece per shipping address per month. Entries that look like one person under several emails are checked before a pick is made.
Hearing from us
If your spot is picked, we email you that day. The email has a link to your Scout page at kaay.link/m that works for 14 days; after that, sign in there with your email and your Scout code. Claim your piece within 30 days of the pick, or it lapses.
Your Scout page
The first time you give an email with a spot, a suggested edit or a report, we email you a Scout code. Sign in at kaay.link/m with your email and that code to see every spot and report you have sent with it. There you can take your name off one, put a spot up for the picks or take it out until it is picked, and withdraw a spot still in review: it leaves the review queue at once, is never published, and its photos and your details on it are deleted (Privacy says what little stays). A spot that is already live may be relied on by other paddlers, so taking one down is a request: a person at Kaayko decides and writes to you either way. Keep your code private. You can have a new one emailed from that page at any time (apart from a pick email, we send at most six code or link emails a day); the old one then stops working. A code sent before the rename starts with MK and keeps working.
The piece
One piece of your choice from the Kaayko store, listed under $25: today a magnet, a mug or a t-shirt. Pieces sold by independent Kreators are not included. You claim it through a $0 checkout that asks only for your shipping address, never a card. Once claimed it cannot be exchanged for money or for another item; if it arrives damaged we replace it (Returns).
Nothing to buy
No purchase or payment is needed to take part or to receive a piece. Shipping is included.
Your photos and your spot
You confirm the photos are yours and the launch is open to the public. You allow Kaayko to show your photos, pin, note and chosen name on Paddling Out. Take your name off the spot’s page at any time on your Scout page, or write to help@kaayko.com (you will need to if you gave no email). We may shorten or correct a name before it is shown.
Changes
Kaayko may change or end the monthly picks at any time. Kaayko may refuse or withdraw a pick that breaks these rules, for example photos that are not yours or a launch that is not public.
Not a safety endorsement
A spot on Paddling Out is not a statement that it is safe to paddle. A report from a paddler (wildlife, a hazard, whether paddling is allowed) is what they say they saw: Kaayko checks it before it shows but cannot confirm it, it is not permission to paddle, and no report does not mean there is nothing there. Check the conditions and the local rules before you go.