|
Newsletter, November 2003
Just Some Quick News
With the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium followed by the First Annual Whitewater Symposium (read my notes) the last month and a half has just flown by! I got my whitewater certification updated at the latter symposium which took place at Zoar Outdoor. There were several classroom areas - three outdoors on different segments of the Deerfield River and three or so indoors at a cute elementary school. The food was excellent and being very close to Vermont we were able to take in the beginnings of fall colors! I was really inspired by the speakers - Sam Drevo had us jumping about on land emulating cart wheels and Eric Jackson is so full of enthusiasm he just wills a person to believe in what he is saying! His "closed faced" draw was a big topic of conversation (and always do it behind the hip).
Over breakfast Eirc shared more of his main points - always make a turning stroke on the inside of the turn, but if you are going to sweep, use a quarter bow sweep (forget the stern draw) while keeping your torso and eyes pointing toward your goal.Of course, these two points actually contradict each other...I've decided to get his DVD and even see if I can carry it in the web store.
Speaking of the web store, I've added some new products:
Sheltered Wings Binoculars, sponsored by Audubon:
Binoculars
Gaia paddling accessories - they have a great, self draining paddlefloat and cool duffles:
Gaia
Handheld GPS - both Garmin and Magellan:
I'm making a schedule for next year - please send in date requests for courses - especially instructor's courses for whitewater and coastal kayaking. We have enough people now for a whitewater instructors course so I am going to find an instructor to work with our group. Other courses include Deception Pass, Basic and Intermediate Whitewater, Whitewater for Sea Kayakers, trips from Freshwater Bay and Crescent Beach, exploratories at Makah Bay, Surfing and the usual beginning courses, stroke and rescue workshops.
The Florida IDW and ICE have been postponed and votes are in for mid-January; write if you are interested or have alternative dates.
I've been paddling a lot on various parts of the Snoqualamie River both working on some of the new strokes I learned back east and going on trips with paddlers from the summer classes. We have a new group of beginners signed up for the course which begins November 22 (brrr) and several helpers lined up as well!
I've also gotten on with the Stevens Pass Ski School! I'll be teaching beginning skiing on weekends so hopefully I'll see some of you up there! It's about time I got back to the snow...
Sunday evening pool sessions - boat control, rescues, pool slalom - even
Upcoming Dates
November 1 - Intermediate River trip, Cascades
November 2 - Intermediate River trip, Cascades
November 8 - Intermediate sea kayak course (you took a beginners course in the spring and now want to do more after paddling all summer). Port Townsend
November 9 - Crescent Beach and/or Freshwater Bay. Depending on conditions we will either surf, tour or rock hop! Intermediate paddlers welcome.
November 15 - Deception Pass - tides, currents, eddy work, scenarios.
In the works: January - IDW and a fun kayak tour in Veracruz, Mexico - hosted by Rafael Mier Maza.
Instructor's Corner
From my whitewater update with Gordon Black the word of the day seemed to be different strokes styles are ok so long as safety is maintained, and movement objectives are clear. I showed my bracing to several IT types and they gave me the thumbs up - we all executed a roll and we all had a slightly different style. The playboats have driven a whole new range of strokes - even one called the anti-eddy-turn! Draws of all sorts were prevalent - use them to slice into and through an eddy executing a gliding S turn.....
Tooting One's Own Horn -
Tides and Currents Class (Break out and solve a trip planning problem):/Very good - liked the problem - learned a lot! / Good definitions of terms - exercise was frustrating and good to do! / Useful info and good application exercise. / Great eye opener for someone new to the sport - spent whole life in great lakes!
Basic Kayaking: Excellent overview, this class really helped me understand the basics! / Very nice low impact approach for beginners. Thorough coverage of basic strokes and rescue techniques.
Day Tour: Andree took our party of seven, ages three to sixty three, up Chimacum Creek. It was a fantastic experience and we'll do it again!
Images/Movies
Movie clips of paddling! Movies
You will need the Quicktime player from the Apple: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/.
The On-line Store!
Click Here
paddling.about.com.
Check it out! (For one thing, I need the click-throughs!)
My article on whitewater kayaking - City Sports NW - Whitewater Kayaking
Brochure - Brochure
Andree Hurley
Kayak Instruction Excellence
211 Taylor Street, Suite Five
Port Townsend, WA 98368
(360) 379-4182
(206) 669-1622 cell
|
