I bought a kayak (a Perception America 13.5) from Craiglist a few weeks ago and have been enjoying the sport as the summer has been dwindling (my very rainy soccer game yesterday is a sign of what's to come for the Fall & Winter seasons). I decided to sign up for the class at NWOC to get some official instruction and to learn the skills correctly from the start so I could get rid of any bad habits before it was too late.
The course was fantastic! I highly recommend it to anyone interested in kayaking. No experience is required. My class was the last of the season until next April. The class can take up to 12-14 people, but our class was only 4 people. The small group was good because you get a bit more personalized instruction. The course is broken up into four differnet parts. The course was $185. If you needed to rent a kayak, it was $40 more, and if you needed to rent a wet suit or dry suit (with booties), it was $15 more. I had a boat, so I just paid $15 extra for the dry suit rental. I should also mention that even if you do have a boat, they'll let you use demo paddles for free. On the day trip we had a few different paddles. I have the Werner Skagit, which has a carbon shaft but is otherwise pretty basic. It good quality but was affordable and there are better paddles out there. I tried some other ones on the day trip that were all carbon-fiber and were incredibly light!
For parts 1-3 below, we had one instructor but for part 4 (the day trip), two instructors came along. One was always leading and the other was always in the back, just like on a hiking trail when you're in a group.
Here's a brief summary of the class structure and my experiences with each part (see the bottom of this post for a quick map I drew up that shows our route):
Part 1 -- Classroom Instruction (2 hours). This part provided an intro to the sport of sea kayaking and it was held at NWOC on Westlake. We watched a brief video then discussed some basics, then went around the store discussing various gear and the purposes of everything.
Part 2 -- In the Water (2 hours). Normally this is held on the lake at NWOC, but for this last class of the season (and probably for the first few classes of the Spring), they hold it at a swimming pool. The main reason is because the sun sets earlier as the season goes on (or is just starting). In my case, it was at Shoreline Center pool which is right next to where I play soccer quite frequently. This part of the class taught basic paddle strokes, recovery (getting back into your boat when you fall out -- both by yourself and with the help of another kayaker), and other skills such as bracing (using your paddle for control and to prevent tipping).
Part 3 -- In the Water + Classroom Instruction (about 3 hours). The first part was paddling out from NWOC to Lake Union. We basically just applied skills learned the night before in the pool in a more realistic environment. We all wore either wet suits or drysuits. I had a wet suit and gave it a try but planned on wearing one of their rental drysuits for the day trip (Part 4). After being on the lake, we broke briefly for lunch then returned for some classroom instruction on tides and currents. We talked generally about them, then discussed the currents that would be in effect for our day trip the next day to Deception Pass.
Part 4-- Day trip to Deception Pass! We launched the kayaks from Bowman Bay at about 10:30am. Bowman Bay is right before Deception Pass if you are heading to Whidbey Island. At first, we reviewed paddling strokes and bracing techniques before setting out of the bay towards Deception Pass Bridge. The bridge is of course actually two separate bridges that meet in the middle of a small piece of land called Pass Island. The openings on each side of Pass Island are Deception Pass and Canoe Pass. The latter is much smaller which is where we paddled to first from our starting point. When we got there, we observed the currents and discussed how they work and how to work with them and against them to get where you needed to go. We talked about eddys, which are swirling water and reverse currents that form as the main water currents flow over obstacles, such as rocks or points in the walls of the pass. When we got to Canoe Pass, the tide was ebbing -- meaning it was going out of the pass back towards Rosario Strait. It was amazing to see the water literally flowing through the pass like a river! Believe it or not, the water level was even a bit higher when we looked "up stream" (further in the pass). It was very very strange. An eddy line is where the main currents and eddys meet. You can actually use these eddys and their reverse currents to go "up stream" -- in our case, to go through Canoe Pass even though the current was flowing out to Rosario Strait. We practiced paddling across the eddy line from one current to another, then turning around to go with the main current, then turning back to where we started. It was tricky at first but we got better after some practice (by "we", I'm referring to the students; the two instructors have been paddling for 20+ years and were pros). One girl in the class fell out but she was fine and was back in her boat quickly with the help of one of the instructors and her excellent training over hte previous three parts of the course! Since the current was pretty strong, moving at about 4-6 knots, we paddled back a bit and had lunch on a small beach. We ate lunch around 1:00pm and the slack tide (when water is neither ebbing or flowing) was scheduled for 2:30pm. During a slack tide is when the water is very calm because it's no longer moving through the pass. After lunch, we went back to Canoe Pass. The water was still flowing, but much less vigorously. After some more practice with the eddy line, we forged through Canoe Pass!! It was a cool feeling looking up and seeing the bridge. I have always thought that people in small boats in the pass were not the smartest folks but I learned through this class that it's really a matter of being educated on how currents work, having good instruction on techniques and safety procedures, and being properly prepared to be in the water if that were to happen (we all had wet suits or dry suits). After going through Canoe Pass, we proceeded around Pass Island and back through Deception Pass. Next, we paddled straight out to, and around, an island (I believe it's called Goose Island), then back to Bowman Bay. There were literally hundreds of birds on the island -- mostly Sea Gulls, but also some dark blue birds I didn't recognize and even a large blue heron. We saw a Bald Eagle too earlier in the day near the bridge. We got back to Bowman Bay at around 3:00pm or thereabouts and stopped at the Skagit River Brewery in Mount Vernon on the way back.
Route Map (click for the full-size version)
As mentioned above, I would highly recommend this class. It was fun and I learned tons!
