Instructor Sponsor: Martha Gitt 

Contact Martha with any questions regarding the training mailto:marthagitt@yahoo.com

Class Location:

Saturday June 5th Ready to Launch at 10:00am

Summit Lake 5993 N. Messick Road New Castle, Indiana

South Boat Launch Near Harvey Shelter ( Enter park and go left at the T intersection and follow the signs to the boat launch)

We will be camping at Summit Lake State Park Campground. Campsites are competitive so reserve your campsites soon.  

Join us for a fun weekend of practicing sea kayak handling and rescue techniques.  We will focus on how to manage your boat to keep from capsizing, and how to get yourself and your friends back into their boats when the inevitable happens in open water.  There will be plenty of time to work on strokes, bracing, balancing, towing, and rescues.  Plus, time to play games, show off your skills, and build the teamwork necessary to explore new places.

This year we are creating a two-day class so that everyone has a chance to learn as they do best and practice, practice, practice.  On Saturday we will go over the full course of rescue skills and techniques.  Then sit around the campfire and chat about what we learned and what we want to learn the next day.  On Sunday we will circle back and finesse these skills, try to fix whatever needs to be fixed, and continue to play on the beautiful water at Summit Lake.

This clinic is a chance for new paddlers to learn open water rescue techniques and a chance for more experienced paddlers to compare techniques and practice them in a safe environment.  This clinic is important since kayakers need to regularly practice these skills so they are “fresh” when we get into a real rescue situation —you want to know how to get yourself or someone else back in their boat quickly and on your first attempt.   Open water paddlers should take this course before attempting any "big water" adventures with or without a group.

We will start off each teaching segment by systematically walking through the steps to complete a rescue so that newer paddlers can learn the tricks associated with performing each rescue. After walking through “one way to do a rescue”, we will compare notes and discuss/demonstrate alternative approaches that people may have seen. 

Course Content: 

• Wet exiting your boat 
• Solo Reentries (Paddle Float, Cowboy, Reenter and Roll) 
• Assisted Reentries (T-Rescue, Stirrup Rescue, Scoop Rescue) 
• Towing - contact tows, short tows, and regular tows. Will discuss when to start towing and when towing may be needed to assist a rescue  (I will bring extra tow ropes if you don’t have one.)

Required Equipment:

• Touring or Sea Kayak - Kayak must have flotation in both bow and stern either sealed bulkheads or flotation bags
• Spray Skirt
• Life Jacket 
• Kayak Safety Gear - Bring the kayak safety gear that you normally carry:  pump, paddle float, stirrup, tow line.   Please do not buy this equipment just for this class since you can borrow from other participants to see what works for you before you buy.

An Indiana DNR 2021 Non- Motorized Sticker is required for each boat $5 at the gate or can be ordered in advance online

Covid Policy:
During all scheduled club activities, we will follow CDC and Local Mask and Social Distancing Guidelines.
Participants are expected to withdraw from the event if experiencing symptoms or if in a quarantine status