Why we love MEC Toronto Paddlefest
We just returned from MEC Paddlefest Toronto, an intense weekend celebration of canoeing, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding and other human-powered craft.
It’s hard to wrap your mind around all that goes on over the course of this two-day event.… read moreHow to improve your sea kayak rescue skills
Alec prepares to do a reenter and roll.
Early summer seems to be rescue season. Kayak clubs schedule rescue sessions, symposia offer rescue classes, and many paddlers take advantage of the now-warm-enough water to practice a few self- and assisted rescues.…
read moreTaking advantage of all the lake offers
This is the season of changeable weather. And Lake Michigan is highly responsive to those changes. One day it feels like fall, with strong winds out of the north, big waves, abandoned beaches and a chill in the air; the next it feels like summer, with warm breezes, gentle waves, motorboats zooming and the beaches full of bathers.…
read moreThe pleasures of a Level 4 class
It’s not often that we get to coach higher-level classes. In the great pyramid of kayak lessons, beginners form the base. Comparatively few people seek out instruction after they’re solid intermediates.*
So it was a pleasure for Sharon to spend Memorial Day weekend teaching a Level 4 Open Water Kayak Training for Geneva Kayak Center with Scott Fairty, one of our coaching mentors.…
read moreRescue Me! Thursdays offer free training
Tom Lindblade (far left) and Scott Fairty (second from left) with some of the participants in a recent Rescue Me! Thursday.
This is year two of Rescue Me! Thursdays, an initiative of the Illinois Paddling Council.…
read moreDynamic Trio? A study in green
During our recent Instructor Certification Exam, we had the opportunity to try out several boats we hadn’t paddled before, including the Jackson Fun Runner and the Jackson Dynamic Duo. For a moment, it appeared that we had created a Dynamic Trio.…
read moreRiver Kayak IDW/ICE — done!
Have Kayaks, Will Travel: whitewater edition.The first kayak class we took was offered by the Chicago Whitewater Association (CWA) at our local YMCA. A group of dedicated paddlers taught us to roll and paddle in the pool and on local rivers.…
read moreSea kayak instruction in motion
I’ve been pondering the idea of coaching on a journey for a few years, and so it was a pleasure to put this into practice on a recent “destination course” I was able to assist with circumnavigating Cumberland Island, Georgia, for the Geneva Kayak Center. … read more
A hiatus on posting but not on paddling
Sometimes you blink and six weeks go by. The innocuous question,”What have you been up to?” is completely overwhelming. “What haven’t we been up to?” you want to reply.
In situations like these, a picture truly is worth 1,000 words.…
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