I went back out to Patriot Lake this morning to teach another class for Outdoors, Inc. This was the fourth of six sessions I'm scheduled to teach. There's one next Saturday for kids ages 10 to 15, and then the last one on the schedule for now is August 24. You can find more information here.
Each class is a stand-alone kayaking "primer," with a different group of students each week. Most of the students are newcomers to paddling, and we cover as many of those frequently-asked questions newcomers have as we can. We talk about things like putting on and adjusting a sprayskirt and PFD; stretching the skirt onto the cockpit coaming and then doing a wet exit; putting together a break-apart paddle and understanding the various feather angles; adjusting the boat's footpegs and deploying the rudder; and the basics of a good forward stroke. We finish each class with a "tour" around the perimeter of the lake, a distance of between one and two miles, I would guess.
I also try to help the students make some sense out of the huge variety of boats that are on the market, as I mentioned in last Monday's post.
At the very least, I hope each student comes away feeling as though he's made a productive use of a Saturday morning and learned a thing or two he didn't know before. With any luck, maybe a few will appreciate what an incredible way this is to enjoy the outdoors.
No comments:
Post a Comment