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Suggestions for intermediate rough water skills training?


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While WALES! sounds wonderful, my skills, budget, and wife all say that trip is not for me this year. However, I would like to attend some intermediate rough water skills training closer to home this summer, and my calendar is quickly filling up. My wife would like me to restrict myself to day trips. Though I might be able to sweet talk her into letting me go for a long weekend.

Any suggestions?

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Bill-

Can you tell us what intermediate rough water skills you hope to experience? Everyone's definition of rough water differs; and we don't know where your current skills and experience are at. The more details the better.

Phil

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While WALES! sounds wonderful, my skills, budget, and wife all say that trip is not for me this year. However, I would like to attend some intermediate rough water skills training closer to home this summer, and my calendar is quickly filling up. My wife would like me to restrict myself to day trips. Though I might be able to sweet talk her into letting me go for a long weekend.

Any suggestions?

greg teaches intro to tide race paddling several times throughout the summer. i help. so does paula. we've held the new england intermediate rough water weekends down offa ct/ri several years and some other form of rough water paddling when that hasn't been offered. call me or call him or her or get a group together and lets head down.

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Don't want to turn this into a commercial post but:

CT and RI have a lot offer and Greg is tops. Worth the trip..

I would love to run a rough water intro course up in this area and it would prep and prime anyone for time with Greg and Paula in CT catching the ebbs and floods.

Can't beat surf and rock play. Remember that the Piscataqua river has 2-3 knot flows and offers many teaching spots..

All good rough water paddling starts with boat control and stepping up your basic skills in bigger water...simple as that.

Paul,

ACA lvl 4 instructor

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Can you tell us what intermediate rough water skills you hope to experience? Everyone's definition of rough water differs; and we don't know where your current skills and experience are at. The more details the better.

By intermediate rough water, I mean conditions which exceed NSPN L3 criteria, but which are mostly within NSPN L4 criteria.

In my Sea Kayak, I consider myself a solid L3 paddler, trying to become an L4 paddler. I've also become addicted to Greenland rolling. To become an L4 paddler using NSPN's paddle level criteria, I still need to practice paddling in up to 25 knot winds, up to 4 foot waves and surf, up to 4 knot current, improve my "Surf skills," improve my "Tidal current skills," and get my sustained paddling pace up to 4 knots. Any training which safely moves me toward L4 is good.

So far, I've basically paddled in L3 and milder conditions. I do not have much if any sea kayaking experience in L4 conditions. Last summer I started joining the Tuesday night surf sessions, but never made it on a "big" surf night. I have also done a tiny bit of rock gardening, but still consider myself a beginner. The bumpiest open water paddling I've experienced was either the confused chop in Boston Harbor (which I loved), or a paddle at Newburyport where the tide opposed the wind at the mouth and kicked up a little excitement. Though I have a solid flat-water setup roll, I don't know if I have a sea kayak combat roll, because I've never accidentally capsized my sea kayak in water more than about a foot deep.

I am also a solid class 2 white-water paddler, working on becoming a class 3 paddler. In my WW boat, I have a good chance of rolling up in a combat situation, but it is not a certainty. In a pool, my Sea Kayak roll with a Greenland paddle is much more reliable than my WW roll.

By the way, I posted this in Events and Commercial Classified because I wanted to allow commercial responses. Though I'm definitely cheap enough that an NSPN "developing L3 paddlers into L4 and beyond..." series would be perfection.

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Check out Seacliffkayakers.com in Boothbay. John Carmody is a fabulous coach and offers classes in all of the areas you mention. Surf skills, tide races, etc... He's helped me and many others in the club improve their skills immensely.

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Bill, if you're a white water paddler, you're probably more rough water- savvy than you think, as whitewater , along with surf , is a classic way of advancing rough water skills.

Portsmouth area has the Piscataqua River and the bridge at Little Harbor , by the Wentworth hotel at New Castle Island; at max ebb there will be some action right under the bridge, and at green can # 9 on the river opposite the old naval prison.

Nahant is a great surf spot on the right day, though it gets crowded with swimmers in the summer. Jenness Beach in Rye NH is a good surf spot, but for this reason its a magnet for board surfers, and kayaks and board surfers don't mix, so that has to be contended with.

Popham Beach, just south of Bath, ME is a prime spot. We'll try to organize a intro-to-moving water safari there this summer.

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Thanks for all the suggestions so far! :bravo:

Bill, if you're a white water paddler, you're probably more rough water- savvy than you think, as whitewater , along with surf , is a classic way of advancing rough water skills.

I do think it will be more of a challenge to get my sustained pace up to 4 knots, than to paddle in rough conditions. However, it still seems prudent to first encounter rough water in a well spotted training environment, and not wait for unexpectedly bad weather on an L3 trip. :D

We'll try to organize a intro-to-moving water safari there this summer.

An intro-to-moving water day would be wonderful. Combining the NSPN "Master Calendar" and my personal calendar, assuming we wait till at least June for warmer water, it would need to be on August 18th, 19th, 25th, or 26th or sometime in September to avoid hitting a weekend which already has at least one paddle scheduled! :cheer: I just love the way the 2012 calendar is filling up so early! :cheer:

Google says Bath, ME is almost 3 hours away for me, :( , but something on the North Shore of MA, or the NH coast would definitely be wonderful.

greg teaches intro to tide race paddling several times throughout the summer.

It looks like www.kayakwaveology.com is probably the closest commercial option suggested so far. Depending on where in Rhode Island they meet, Google is giving me driving times in the 1:45 to 2:30 range. I'm already booked :cheer: for the tide race weekends he has on his calendar. However, his surf weekend in April looks promising. I just used his contact form to see if I can attend it as a pair of day trips (to preserve domestic harmony).

Check out Seacliffkayakers.com in Boothbay.

At first I thought the seacliffkayakers.com/Classes.html page was empty. After I figured out that I was supposed to click the links for class descriptions I got a bit excited. A number of the offerings sound great. Unfortunately, when I went to seacliffkayakers.com/Calendar.html I did not find any of the classes I was interested in listed. There is a lot of open space on the calendar, but :cheer: this is not the year to procrastinate on picking dates! Google also estimates a more than three hour drive for me to Boothbay, ME. Which makes a day trip challenging. Perhaps he will offer something further south someday.

Thanks again,

Bill Voss

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! :bravo:

I do think it will be more of a challenge to get my sustained pace up to 4 knots, than to paddle in rough conditions. However, it still seems prudent to first encounter rough water in a well spotted training environment, and not wait for unexpectedly bad weather on an L3 trip. :D

An intro-to-moving water day would be wonderful. Combining the NSPN "Master Calendar" and my personal calendar, assuming we wait till at least June for warmer water, it would need to be on August 18th, 19th, 25th, or 26th or sometime in September to avoid hitting a weekend which already has at least one paddle scheduled! :cheer: I just love the way the 2012 calendar is filling up so early! :cheer:

Google says Bath, ME is almost 3 hours away for me, :( , but something on the North Shore of MA, or the NH coast would definitely be wonderful.

It looks like www.kayakwaveology.com is probably the closest commercial option suggested so far. Depending on where in Rhode Island they meet, Google is giving me driving times in the 1:45 to 2:30 range. I'm already booked :cheer: for the tide race weekends he has on his calendar. However, his surf weekend in April looks promising. I just used his contact form to see if I can attend it as a pair of day trips (to preserve domestic harmony).

At first I thought the seacliffkayakers.com/Classes.html page was empty. After I figured out that I was supposed to click the links for class descriptions I got a bit excited. A number of the offerings sound great. Unfortunately, when I went to seacliffkayakers.com/Calendar.html I did not find any of the classes I was interested in listed. There is a lot of open space on the calendar, but :cheer: this is not the year to procrastinate on picking dates! Google also estimates a more than three hour drive for me to Boothbay, ME. Which makes a day trip challenging. Perhaps he will offer something further south someday.

Thanks again,

Bill Voss

Seacliff Kayakers schedule is not set in stone, so if there were offerings that sounded of interest, your best bet is to reach out to John Carmody directly by email or phone and let him know what your goals are. While he'll likely be updating the calendar for 2012 soon, he tends to tailor the classes he has based on needs of students. it is a bit of a drive up to Boothbay, and most easily done as a weekend trip vs a day trip but there are a range of options in terms of where to stay-from a decent inexpensive motel to camping at Hermit Island which is lovely. There are a variety of playgrounds as well-surfing at Popham is a treat, as well as Tideraces at various places. So the trip to Boothbay is worthwhile and likely to leave you wanting for more!

I haven't paddled the CT waters where Kayakwaveology is located, but am told there are lots of fun places to be found there as well. Good luck with your journey!

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Seacliff Kayakers schedule is not set in stone, so if there were offerings that sounded of interest, your best bet is to reach out to John Carmody directly by email or phone and let him know what your goals are. While he'll likely be updating the calendar for 2012 soon, he tends to tailor the classes he has based on needs of students. it is a bit of a drive up to Boothbay, and most easily done as a weekend trip vs a day trip but there are a range of options in terms of where to stay-from a decent inexpensive motel to camping at Hermit Island which is lovely. There are a variety of playgrounds as well-surfing at Popham is a treat, as well as Tideraces at various places. So the trip to Boothbay is worthwhile and likely to leave you wanting for more!

I haven't paddled the CT waters where Kayakwaveology is located, but am told there are lots of fun places to be found there as well. Good luck with your journey!

And... bring your wife to Boothbay ~ there is lots to see and do outside of kayaking!

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