As a continuation of the spring Common Adventure Model classroom and on-water sessions, I am proposing three single-day on-water-classroom paddling trips over the summer. These will be a mix of CAM theory discussions combined with hands-on paddling, and will be designed as a refresher course for those who have already taken the CAM workshops in the past as well as a teaser/introduction for those who have not. The focus will be on effective group paddling and individual responsibilities within the group, as well as discussions about other CAM concepts and philosophies as the group sees fit.
An example of what a trip might look like:
On the beach discussing launch preparation, beach briefing, gathering on the water, and group formations
On-water working on different group formations and communication, handling crossings, evaluating conditions
Long lunch stop to review morning topics and develop afternoon agenda
On-water review of changes in conditions, incident management, navigation
Post-paddle review and Q&A back at the launch
The trips will be operated as CAM trips with all participants expected to provide input, along with overall guidance and education from myself and/or other leaders. Each trip will be held in a different location to provide a diversity of environments and to increase access to our geographically diverse membership.
The proposed locations are:
Marblehead
Boston
Portsmouth
The proposed dates are:
Sunday, June 12th
Saturday, July 16th
Saturday, August 27th
All attendees must be current NSPN members, and all skill levels are encouraged to sign up. Considerations for weather and overall group interests will dictate the design of the trips, and may justify multiple groups if enough people sign up, however there is the possibility that the conditions may not accommodate all skill levels. In that event, all efforts will be made to provide an alternate date or venue for those paddlers.
Those that wish to participate should post to the thread on the Trips forum which dates they are available along with which location(s) they would prefer for each date. More than one location can be listed for each date, and we will decide which location for each date based upon the majority of preferences. Anyone wishing to help with the instructional portion of each trip should PM me so that we can work on logistics as the trips develop.
