Sea Kayaking Skills at Fidalgo Paddlesports

Duration

7 Hours

About

This is our class to learn to sea kayak!

Our Essentials of Coastal Kayaking I, II & II series is built upon laying a foundation for new and developing sea kayakers to gain the technical knowledge, rescue skills, strokes, boat handling and judgement in order to safely and effectively begin kayaking in open water coastal environments.

In this class for beginning sea kayakers, the first in our series, we will begin by introducing you to the gear of a sea kayaker such as PFD’s, immersion wear and paddles. We will size boats while discussing design and performance characteristics of different sea kayaks and safety considerations. Upon completion of our initial classroom we will transition to water where we will discuss and perform a wet exit, a basic self rescue technique in shallow water under the direct supervision of our instructors.

The remainder of the morning will consist of finding initial balance and stability of our kayaks and instruction on basic strokes and maneuvers, while our afternoon will transition into self and assisted rescue techniques while continuing to refine all we learned from the morning. We strive to give each student plenty of time to learn and progress at their own pace, while providing tailored feedback and guidance.

By course end students should feel they have the skills necessary to sea kayak in protected near shore environments without the presence of currents and waves with grace and style, technique and developing proficiency while having the environmental awareness and rescue skills to take care of themselves and others.

A sampling of the course content includes:

• Decision making and outfitting for kayaking
• Forward, reverse, sweep, draw and sculling draw strokes
• T-rescue and paddle float rescue
• Low brace
• Edge awareness and stability, hip control and upper/lower body separation
• Launching and landing techniques

Ages: 16 (with parent or guardian also in attendance) and up.