Bob Licht had to wait 20 years for the world to discover what he already knew. Sea kayaking is adventure without all the risk, travel and hassle.

"It's the antidote for people's busy lives," Licht says.

The benefits and attractions of the sport seem obvious now. On any weekend day, scores of kayakers are paddling the waters of Marin with the brightly colored craft lining the shoreline of Tomales Bay and cruising the churning waters of the Golden Gate. Paddlers have discovered a sport that will take them from splashing novice to confident beginner in a few hours with a craft that can be toted on a car rack and still carry enough gear for a weekend expedition.

Somehow it wasn't so obvious when Licht climbed into his first boat.

In 1982, when he launched Sea Trek in Sausalito, Licht would slide into a two-person kayak and paddle up and down the Sausalito waterfront coaxing tourists and people off the sidewalk to climb in the empty seat and give it a try. He put on races. He sent out fliers. He worked hard to make people understand that sea kayaking is not white-water kayaking. It's easier. It's safer.

"People thought it was dangerous."

But Licht believed in it.

He'd found the boats on a trip to Baja with Outward Bound in the mid 1970s A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Licht already had given up teaching for the outdoor business. "I worked in a hard-core ghetto environment for a year and that was it. I didn't want any more of that," Licht says. White-water rafting seemed tame by comparison. He owned one of the first six rafting permits on the South Fork of the American River. "When I sold my river company, there were 100," Licht says.

He liked the rafts but sea kayaks represented something different. The learning curve was smooth. The boats could hold a lot of gear. They could take paddlers on self-contained trips.

"I just thought it was the greatest thing. I was in awe."

He started telling more friends about what he'd found in Baja and took them there to see the magic of deserted shorelines and crystal blue waters. He sold his first commercial Baja trip in 1978.

Then it struck him that there was plenty of water right in Marin's backyard. He could take paddlers to a wilderness just around the corner.

"People didn't have to travel to have adventures," Licht says. "I was absolutely convinced I needed to start a kayak company."

Sea Trek opened on Schoonmaker Marina in 1982, carving a corner out of an old warehouse and putting in a phone line. It was not an overnight sensation. Kayaks were still seen as tippy boats for extreme adventurers. The fear of being upside down and underwater kept customers away. Licht had six boats when he started and some times had to struggle to fill them.

"It was very slow," Licht says. "But it supported me."

It wasn't until the early 1990s that the sport he believed in so much began to catch on. There were layouts in magazines like Outside. Sea kayaks began showing up on top of sport utility vehicles in car commercials. The public began to understand that kayaks were a way to be on the water without smelly motors, boat trailers, sailing expertise and any of the major expenses and hassles of boating.

"It went mainstream," Licht says.

Sea Trek now has 100 boats in its fleet. The company can put 150 people in the water at one time. The guide roster numbers 50 and on weekend days he can have 20 of them leading trips. He still books the Baja vacations and has added Alaska to the schedule.

His youth kayaking summer programs doubled in 1999, and he hopes to do the same this summer.

There are now at least five other sea kayak businesses based in Marin. Kate McClain runs one - Blue Waters. She says every sea kayak outfitter owes Licht a debt. "He played a pivotal part in helping move it along," McClain says.

Scott Tye at Off The Beach, a sea kayak rental and retail shop in Stinson Beach, calls Licht a "pioneer."

"He made it happen," Tye says. "He turned a purist paddle industry sport into a mainstream, baby boomer, Generation X sport."

The world has caught on to what Licht learned two dozen years ago. Sea kayaking is a part of the recreational landscape now. It's an "institution now," Licht says.

"It's not the fringe any more."