Intro to Sea Kayaking Skills - Info page

Thanks for your interest in our "Intro to Sea Kayaking Skills" through OutdoorsNB Inc.

To help you determine if this course is right for you, consider the following:

Skill level target: New Paddlers, with little or no prior experience in kayaks and no prior courses. You are a paddler who is looking to take day trips in sheltered locations away from open water in low winds and low current.

Gear level target: ***All paddlers in Canada must, at a minimum, have a paddle, an approved PFD, and a Transport Canada-mandated safety kit. For our Intro to Sea Kayaking course, we require:

MUST HAVE

Kayak - 13' or longer with a bulkhead or inflated air bag in the front and in the back (We rent these with gear if you don't have one)
An appropriate 2-bladed paddle (We sell these if you don't have one)
A Transport Canada OR ULC OR TC OR Harmonized approved PFD/Life Jacket (We sell these if you don't have one)
A safety kit conforming to Transport Canada requirements for paddle craft (We sell these if you don't have one) Whistle should be on the PFD
Cockpit Skirt (We sell these if you don't have one)

SHOULD HAVE

Wetsuit or drysuit
Spare Paddle
Hand-operated bilge pump
Neoprene Cockpit Skirt

This 9+ hour course is geared towards new kayakers with proper gear who are looking to take recreational kayak touring seriously. They may be new to kayaking and may have purchased their first kayak, and want to learn the basics of safety, rescue, planning, and efficient and effective paddling of their touring or sea kayak. Successful participants of this course can move on, after mastering these skills, to take the "Sheltered Sea Kayaking Skills Course"

We created this course to be the starting point for new paddlers using Touring or Sea Kayaks. This is the base of the Paddle Canada Sea Kayak multi-tiered program.