JanetL

Summer Skills sessions return for 2022! Skills Practice sessions are a series of on-the-water events offering NSPN members opportunities to practice and improve their fundamental paddling skills. These sessions will be held in coastal saltwater locations, allowing us to practice in a range of real-world conditions from protected water to open ocean. Sue H and Janet L are the organizers for this year’s program. Each session is dedicated to specific kayaking skills, with peer facilitators from the club who will assist the practice and development of strokes and other ocean kayaking skills. The goal for these sessions is peer-facilitated practice, not professional coaching or instruction – those are great things, but not what we are offering with our sessions. Sessions will typically split into pods, each with its own facilitator(s). Although there will be a topic-of-the-day for each session, the activities of each pod are steered by its members, so not all pods will do the same things in the same way. All attendees are encouraged to contribute their own practice ideas. Skills Practice is a dogma-free zone! Who can benefit from Skills Practice? Any NSPN member, from newbie to expert, can get something out of a Skills Practice session. Practice at the level that works best for you. If you are familiar with a topic and want to help others gain that knowledge, consider being a facilitator. Is this some kind of official NSPN course on “How To Paddle”? Nope, it’s not official, and it’s not even a set course. The focus is on picking up skills from each other, without prescribing any single way to paddle. What you get at a given session depends on who is there and your willingness to “practice” (sometimes this is simply listening, observing and asking questions, remember, you are in the driver’s seat!) Where and when does this happen? Sessions begin at 9:00 am sharp on Saturday or Sunday mornings at various locations in the North Shore/NH area, and will usually end from 1-2 pm. See date listing below, and NSPN trip calendar for dates. Exact locations and activity focus will be announced a few days in advance to reflect weather and sea conditions. Some sessions will incorporate a brief paddling trip. Want to attend a session? A link to a sign up form will be posted about 1 week before each session. There are no level requirements: all members are welcome. The number of slots will be limited depending on the number of facilitators available for a given session. However, some sessions may work best if you’ve done a preceding session that lays some foundation. What do I need? Our sessions are using American Canoe Association insurance, so you will need either an annual ACA membership ($40) or a 1 day membership ($10) for each session that you attend.. You will need a closed-deck sea kayak suitable for coastal paddling, with sealed bulkheads or float bags, and grab lines along the perimeter. Dress for immersion and a spray skirt are required (and for a few sessions, a helmet). Bring lunch, snacks and fluids for yourself. Optionally, bring a tow line, radio, and spare paddles. (Don’t have something? Contact the organizers and we’ll try to scare something up for you.) Want to facilitate a session pod? We want you on board to share your knowledge! Please PM the organizers with your availability, contact information, sessions of interest, experience helping other paddlers improve, and gear you may be able to lend. How does facilitation work? Although demonstration and explanation are part of the picture, the main aim of Skills Practice is to give paddlers the experience of performing a skill. This often involves breaking it down into clear, approachable steps. Before each session, we’ll have some online exchange among facilitators to share our thoughts. Got another question? Post it here or send us a PM (JanetL / Sue H.) Tentative dates: subject to change and will be kept up to date on the NSPN Calendar. June 26 July 10 July 17 July 31 Aug 21 Sept 25

Sue H and I will be organizing these next year. More details/dates to come, but we will need help on the water for sure -- let me know if you are interested in facilitating one or more of the sessions!

I’m in!

In, weather permitting.

We have a few open spaces from folks who can't make it. Please PM me if you'd like to come and haven't signed up yet.

Beautiful day on the water. Thanks for organizing, Jim.

Walking around/jumping off rocks in paddling clothing is one of my favorite activities, and one I think is underrepresented on most of our paddles. Count me in!

Registration is now full. Please send me a private message (NOT a post here) if you want to be on the waitlist.

There are 2 spots remaining, so if you'd like to come, sign up soon.

count me in

Not this time, Mike. https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class and https://cpr.heart.org/en have MANY options for CPR re-cert if that helps!

Registration is LIVE! Enrollment is limited so sign up today. You must be an NSPN member to attend.

Great to see all the interest! Keep an eye out for a registration link in the next few days. It will be in the greater Boston area.

Thanks Don! It was fun to run into you.

We got you, Sandra!

Yall are in! (the 6 posts plus me) See you there.

Celebrate the opening of West Beach to nonresident parking for the fall with me! We'll head out along the coast to Manchester, with time for play as conditions allow. 9:30am launch. Max 6 paddlers... RSVP here. Please bring clothing appropriate for immersion, a sea kayak with deck lines/bulkheads, lunch, and a helmet if you want to play in the rocks.

what size are they?

Join Janet Lorang and Joe Berkovitz for a beginner-friendly but not beginner-exclusive camping trip in Casco Bay, Oct 16-18. You can stay just Saturday night, or stay on both nights. We will launch from the north side of Casco bay Saturday morning, camp on a protected MITA island, and do a day paddle on Sunday, with options to stay Sunday night or paddle back to the launch for those who work Monday. We welcome those new to kayak camping and will provide instruction ahead of time on packing, gear, and Leave-No-Trace techniques (via Zoom the week prior). This should be a great time of year - less traffic, fewer bugs, and still warm water. If you want to come but lack any needed camping equipment, please get in touch with Joe and me via PM - we can likely round up anything you may need to borrow. Sign up on the google form: https://forms.gle/5bKDjNUY4UtggwMUA Limit of 6 paddlers; COVID-19 vaccination required.

I paddled with the videographer last weekend; sounds like he's doing as well as can be expected. Has some healing to do.

But yet I can't find a sprayskirt that fits both me and boat in stock anywhere! Who is buying them all?? ?

I’m sure some of the folks here know some of the people involved. Really well-done rescue IMO and I hope Mike is recovering well.