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Free Sheltered Water Training


rfolster

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I am looking for students who are willing to commit to a series of training sessions over the summer in order to progress from a Level 1 or 2 "quiet" water paddler to a Level 3 "ocean" paddler.  You can follow this link to refer to our Trip Levels page to get a sense of where your paddling experience and skills might be.  The series will be a minimum of six sessions (can be more), each between 2-4 hours, and will be held in sheltered waters (not on the open ocean).  Skills that will be worked on will be: effective forward and reverse strokes, steering, turning, moving sideways, and bracing.  We will also work on group skills such as basic awareness of navigation, rescue skills, and other tips on how to be an effective group member.  Specific lessons and overall progression will be tailored to the group.

I am offering this training series for two specific reasons: first is to provide "novice" paddlers (who don't feel that they are ready to paddle on ocean trips) the skills they need to go on ocean trips with confidence; the second is to continue my coach training towards assessing for my UKCC Level 2 certification this fall.  If you would like to participate or have questions, please send me a Private Message or email me at robertfolster at verizon dot net with the following information:

  • What city/town you live in
  • What brand and model boat you use
  • Describe your current skills
  • What your future goals might be

Participants are required to have their own transportation, boat, paddle, PFD, and sprayskirt.  Sessions will be held in sheltered areas somewhere north of Boston up to Portsmouth, and may include slow-moving rivers, ponds, lakes, protected harbors, etc.  Once you have completed the initial six or more sessions, you can then decide if you want to continue on to open ocean skills development which will introduce waves, current, and surf to the mix.

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7 hours ago, Nick1979 said:

Does one need to be a paid member to attend?

Yes.  Memberships cost only $15 for a year, which I think is a bargain for six training sessions, not to mention all of the other workshops and trips that membership provides.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is truly an amazing opportunity!  Rob with your permission I would like to pass along this information to the outing club Women Outdoors https://www.womenoutdoors.org/greaterbostonarea which I am also a member of. Some of their membership are beginning/intermediate kayakers and may be interested. How many students are you looking for?

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Beth, permission granted!  I would only ask that they join NSPN to participate.  I am looking for as many students as I can find since I need to maintain a minimum throughout the course series, and I understand that some may have scheduling conflicts.  However, I will only have no more than six in a session at any time, so I may run two or three separate course series if I get enough interest.  If anyone is unsure if this course series is too much, or not enough, for your current skill level and goals, please contact me so we can discuss whether or not this would be right for you.

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Hi Rob;  Well the Women Outdoors folks are very interested; in fact I was asked if they got together a group of six women, would you be willing to do an all-woman's class as well? Let me know if this would work for you; if yes then we can post it under the "all women" section of the event listings with a link to you.  Either way, I am sure you will get a bunch of interested folks contacting you. Thanks again for doing this!

Beth

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