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2009
Theme: Long Term Development
Day one of your paddling experience, you encounter the elements--the
paddle, boat, and your mind-body-spirit. You begin to see how they
interact. You learn how to make the kayak move, stop, and fall over,
or not fall over. This opens the door to your quest for efficiency,
grace, speed, knowledge, adrenaline, solitude, or whatever inspires
you.
Paddling can be a lifelong pursuit. That's the beauty of it--you
can have fun at any level, and no matter now good you are, there
is still more to learn. Does doing something well appeal to you?
How about the freedom of paddling to a remote place? Or the sense
of accomplishment after running a rapid, or riding a wave, or completing
a long crossing?
Paddling is a simple, low impact way to have a good time. It's
an immediate connection with the elements in a playful expression
of human spirit. It can also be a vehicle for a deeper connection--to
the natural world, with a group of people, or to an inner journey.
This is where the long-term development comes in.
Long term development is:
- time to learn and engrain skills at successive levels
- the value of expeditions, short or long, historically significant
or personally significant
- the value of play in learning skills
- involvement in related fields such as natural history, sports
psychology, conservation, anatomy & physiology, nutrition,
oceanography, cartography, river hydrology, yoga, racing, philosophies
of coaching
- family trips, club trips, team challenges, regular workouts
with friends
- imagining what you'd like to be able to do or where you'd like
to be able to go in your boat
- attending cool symposiums like this one!
LoCo 2009 has full-day classes with broad topics so that there is
more flexibility to meet your needs. There is more time available
for learning, and less shuffling around. LoCo 2009 also has multi-day
courses with even more flexibility. In 2,3, or 4 days, there is time
to identify and develop the skills you need to reach your goals.
Class
Descriptions
Introductory
Classes
Quickstart
One-hour introduction to kayaking. Fun and basics! Various
coaches.
Intro to Paddling
How to get in and wear the boat, followed by the fundamental safety
skill of falling out, all in a controlled, supportive environment.
Try out different kinds of boats--canoe, sea kayak, whitewater kayak,
sit-on-top. If you have little or no kayaking experience and want
a day or 2 of training, start here. Various coaches.
Paddlesports Immersion 3-day Introduction
(including BCU 1* Assessment)
Start like the above Intro to Paddling, but allow more time for
learning, practicing, and playing games. The assessment involves
review exercises, listening to your goals, and working with you
to develop an action plan to guide your future training. This course
is appropriate for those with little or no experience. Various coaches.
BCU One Star Assessment
"A Flat water award that demonstrates an individual has basic
boat control and foundation skills." Assessment for one star
involves various basic exercises (for ex. turn the boat in a circle;
stop; controlled wet exit). Upon completion, "candidates"
recieve feedback on their strengths and on what can use improvement.
For specific course content, please refer to BCU
star awards link. Various coaches.
Dryland
Classes
Trip Planning and Navigation
Plan for safety by understanding the sea and tidal environments
Coastal Navigation and Tidal
Planning
Since good planning prevents incidents, this navigation course is
considered part of the BCU's safety curriculum. There are no prerequisites
for this classroom course, everyone is welcome, and no boat is necessary.
It is a prerequisite for new 4* Sea Leader training or assessment.
For specific course content, please refer to tidal
planning syllabus.
Build Your Own
Would you really like to go paddling but find that the gear is stretching
your budget? Learn the hands-on skills it takes to build your own
kayak, and actually make a Traditional Greenland paddle. There is
something soulful in creating your own craft and paddle.
Greenland Paddle
Carving
Paddle carver Don Beale's work has been moving paddlers for years.
Using traditional dimensions customized for the paddler size and
preferences, Don hand crafts each paddle to order. In this class,
he pre-cuts the blanks and walks students through shaping and finishing
their own Greenland paddle. It's a rite of passage for Traditional
paddlers, and a hands-on connection with an ancient craft. Follow
this class with Greenland Traditions and learn how to use your paddle
as well. Price includes $30 for materials. Carving instructor Don
Beale.
Building Strip Kayaks
Teacher, paddling enthusiast, and boat builder Greg Bridges from
Bend, Oregon has built stitch and glue kayaks, skin-on-frame kayaks,
and "strippers". Discover the accomplishment of working
with your hands and wood and fiberglass. Greg describes techniques
from lofting plans, stronback set up, stripping, and glassing. He
offers hands-on exercises along the way. Students come away from
the class with the knowledge and confidence to build their own stripper.
You can also walk away with custom wooden beer coozy. A post kayaking
essential! Builder & instructor
Greg Bridges
Calm
Water Classes
This is the next step once you're comfortable with the wet exit
and basic boat control. Calm water classes build awareness of
body-boat-blade relationships. They cover edging, steering, forward
paddling, bracing, rescues--the foundations for a paddler to tackle
wind, waves, current, surf, or a pleasurable day of paddling.
Kayak Foundations 4-day (including BCU 1*
assessment)
This course is valuable for almost all levels of paddler, as 4 days
allows time for customizing content to meet student goals. Begin
with an informal 1* assessment to ascertain a baseline of skills.
Depending on weather and individual goals, this course could use
some wind or current for training purposes later in the week. Kayak
Foundations is appropriate for students wishing to train for BCU
2* assessment, or simply wishing to improve their basic skills.
A calm, controlled wet exit is a prerequisite.
BCU 2* Assessment
Do you have paddling experience but think you could improve your
efficiency or finesse? Assessment is a check-up on your skills,
involving various challenges or exercises. Upon completion, "candidates"
recieve feedback on their strengths and on what can use improvement.
We recommend starting with training before assessment. The 2* Assessment
will involve skill with a single blade (like a kayak) and a single
blade (such as a canoe). The award is not craft-specific, but skill
in multiple types of craft is necessary. According to the BCU, this
is "An improvement award that helps paddlers develop fundamental
paddlesport skills on flat water. The emphasis is on gaining a breadth
of experience, creating the desired movement of the boat and developing
an understanding into how the paddle, boat and water interact."
For specific course content, please refer to BCU
star awards link.
Performance Paddling
Refresh the details of boat control before your 2* or 3* Sea Assessment,
or refine these skills for personal satisfaction. Brush up on the
forward stroke as well and be as efficient as possible. Coach
Jean Totz
Foundation Safety and Rescue Training
Make your rescues truly efficient and prepared for rough water.
This full day of rescue practice and incident management is a prerequisite
for Coach Level 1 and 4* Sea Leader Courses, and a valuable training
for all paddlers. Practice towing. Discuss risk management techniques.
Completion of this BCU course earns a certificate. Prerequisite:
2* skills (award not required).
Balance, Brace, and Roll
A day of good, wet fun and development of important skills. Using
edges is the basis of efficient steering. Start with good posture
and good boat fit. Then begin training those muscles and practicing
balance. Develop balance in a low-pressure, high fun environment.
As confidence grows, see how effective edging can be! Breath control,
calmness, and body awareness form the foundation of any roll. Compare
and experiment with bracing and roll techniques from Greenland traditions
and European traditions. Class is staffed by Greenland and European-style
coaches.
Greenland
Traditions
Immersion, literally and figuratively, in the techniques that the
Inuit kayak hunters used centuries before the modern kayak was "invented".
Learn and fine tune Greenland forward strokes as well as effective
application of the Greenland paddle for maneuvering and support.
Explore Greenland style rolling, and its many variations. Appreciate
the fine points of Greenland paddle design and spend some time in
a skin-on-frame kayak if we can find one that fits. Learn how to
throw a harpoon and how seal hunting was done. Understand some of
the story of traditional Inuit and modern Greenland life and language.
Coaches
Don Beale and
Henry Romer
Efficient Forward Stroke
It's what we spend so much time doing. Paddle smarter not harder
by utilizing good technique.
Body Blasting
Sometimes called Boat-(Tai)Chi, this course is a bit of a cross
between Yoga, Pilates, Flexibility, core strength training. It increases
awareness about what parts of the body you use and can use in boating.
Includes some dry land training and puting folks through dry land
rolling moves to be able to improve and visualise whats going on.
Coach
Dave Brown
Relaxing the Roll
Draw on the traditions of Yoga and Greenland paddling to take the
stress out of learning to roll. Breath work and body awareness draw
on yoga for inspiration. Traditional kayaking offers the balance
brace to our toolkit as a way to separate the roll into smooth steps.
The roll becomes a slow motion act of grace instead of a desperate
clawing for survival. Coaches
Djuna Mascall and
Mark Whitaker
Observation and Feedback
Workshop
An integrated course for both students and coaches. Students choose
what strokes or concepts they want help on, and coaches set tasks
that will enable them to give valuable, specific, personal feedback.
Run by a coach trainer who also offers suggestions to the coaches.
Coach
Phil Hadley
Boat Control
Efficient, comfortable paddling begins with an awareness of what
your body is doing. Then connect that awareness to the paddle and
the boat. This helps with everything from steering to calmness in
challenging circumstances. Valuable for all levels of paddler.
Games!
Friday afternoon Games-designed to utilize skills and be tons of
fun!
Dead Fish Polo
Preposterous Propulsion Relay
Pony Races
Cooperative Challenges
Dynamic
Water Classes
Let the adrenaline begin! Do you have good foundational skills?
Then come out and play in the wind and waves, surf, and current.
Observation and Feedback
Workshop--Dynamic Water
An integrated course for both students and coaches. Students choose
what strokes or concepts they want help on, and coaches set tasks
that will enable them to give valuable, specific, personal feedback.
Run by a coach trainer who also offers suggestions to the coaches.
Tidal Current and Wind
Wave Intro
Build confidence in dynamic conditions. Apply techniques to use
the wind and current to your favor. Good flat water boat control
is a prerequisite.
Dynamic Water Navigation
Once you have a foundation of dynamic water skills and basic navigation,
put the two together. Good planning is a start, but what happens
when the weather changes unexpectedly and you have to redirect your
course? Practice navigating on the move. Islands in the Lewis &
Clark National Wildlife Refuge make an excellent classroom for navigating
in a confusing area with tidal influence and a typical afternoon
wind. Coach
Karl Andersson
Sea Paddler 3-day Training
I know how a bow rudder works. Do I apply it to turn upwind or downwind?
Take your foundational skills into dynamic environments and work
with the elements. Let the wind do the turning for you instead
of struggling against it. During 3 days, the Sea Paddler Training
can focus on students' areas of greatest need, and give depth to
the 3* Sea syllabus. (prerequisite--old 3* training or 2* award,
or documentation of equivalent skill)
BCU 3* Sea Assessment
"The three star paddler will be a competent performer in sheltered
to moderate water environments and have the ability to paddle unsupervised,
with similar standard paddlers on sheltered water." Ready for
some really good feedback on how you're doing in wind and waves?
Prepare to be challenged. Assessment requires prior training at
old BCU 4*, new BCU 3*, or old BCU 3*, plus dynamic water training
and experience. Please send proof with registration.
For specific course content, please refer to BCU
star awards link.
BCU 3* Canoe Training
Learn the graceful art of canoe poling. Also experiment with trim
in the wind, and various techniques for breaking into and out of
current. Play solo with the single-bladed paddle. Paddle in tandem
and discover what various forces do when applied in different ends
of the boat, and master the hardest skill of all--tandem teamwork.
You'll be surprised how valuable this can be, and fun! Coach
Dave Brown
For more info see 3*
Canoe syllabus
BCU 3* Canoe Assessment
A test of skills in open boat and dynamic water. Candidate to demonstrate
"personal competence in paddling open water in wind conditions
of force 2-3 and in simple moving water as part of a led group."
Coach
Dave Brown
3*
Canoe syllabus
BCU 3* Surf Training
Play at the coast in little boats! Increase your comfort and understanding
of this high-energy environment. Coach
Dave Brown
BCU
3* Surf Trainer's Notes
BCU 3* Surf Assessment
A test of skills in surf-specific kayaks. Coach
Dave Brown
BCU 3* Surf Sylabus
BCU
3* Surf Assessor's Notes
Leader/Coach
Classes
Observation and FeedbackWorkshop
An integrated course for both students and coaches. Students choose
what strokes or concepts they want help on, and coaches set tasks
that will enable them to give valuable, specific, personal feedback.
Run by a coach trainer who also offers suggestions to the coaches.
Coach
Phil Hadley on Saturday.
Incident Management
Take your good rescue skills into wind and waves. Where is a capsize
likely to happen? What are the consequences? How quickly can it
compound? Where do I want to position myself so I can improve the
situation? Practice handling dynamic rescue situations. Start making
yourself an asset to your paddling group. Coach
Jen Kleck on Saturday
BCU Four Star Sea Leader
Training 3 days
A leadership award in moderate water, including navigation. Becoming
a leader in the BCU is a significant step. Because this award is
a certification of leadership, membership in the BCU and current
first aid are required. The Coastal Navigation and Tidal Planning
course and Foundation Safety & Rescue Training are both prerequisites
for training. Coaches
Axel Schoevers and Coach
Karl Andersson
(prerequisites--old 4* training or old 3* award; BCU membership
Membership
form link, First Aid recommended, Coastal Navigation & Tidal
Planning, FSRT)
BCU Four Star Sea Leader
Assessment - A leadership award in moderate water, including
navigation. Becoming a leader in the BCU is a significant step.
In terms of the old system, think of this as what would have been
an old 4 1/2 star award if there had been one; it takes the old
4* and adds leadership and more navigation. Because this award is
a certification of leadership, membership in the BCU and current
first aid are required. The new Coastal Navigation and Tidal Planning
course is also a prerequisite for assessment, or in conjunction
with the training.4-star update/assessment (prerequisite--old 4*
award plus BCU membership Membership
form link, First Aid, Coastal Navigation & Tidal Planning,
and FSRT; or 4* Sea Leader Training.) Coach
Dave Brown
For specific course content, please refer to BCU
star awards link.
BCU Four Star Assessor Training
- Once you have your Coach 3 certification and 5* award, you may
apply to BCUNA for "4 Star Providor Log". This course
is then the next step in being able to run the new 4* leader courses
in your discipline. Then you develop a personal action plan, observe
courses, run courses, and get signed off on them. It is rare to
have these courses offered in the US, so take advantage of this
one if you are ready! Coach Trainer
Dave Brown
BCU Informative Update - This is being
held Friday evening as an Informative
Update lecture. Coach
Phil Hadley
BCU Coach 2 Training
- This 4-day course is for current BCU Coach 1 with a 2* multi-discipline
award, and a 3* award in any discipline. Current Coach 2 Trainees
under the old scheme should take this training if they want to progress
to the new scheme Coach 2. The Coach 2 Assessment is a separate
event. Candidates must also register with BCUNA via the CR form
linked below before attending the course. Run by
Phil Hadley and Jen
Kleck.
Pre-course
Information.
Coach 2 Course Guide
BCUNA CR form
ACA Open Water Coastal Kayak
Instructor Update (level 4) - Instructor update (IU)
is intended to provide instructors with a forum for continuing education
and an update on SEIC policy. IU's are part of the four year maintenance
cycle for current ACA instructors. We will spend some time in seminar
and lots of time on the water sharing ideas. Run by Pete
Stevens. ACA website
ACA Leadership Workshop for
day trips - This workshop is intended to provide the
minimum skills and training necessary for an adult leader (age 18)
with at least ACA Basic coastal kayaking skills (level 2), to safely
lead a trip for participants with beginner level paddling skills
on lakes, rivers and other protected coastal environments in gentle
conditions and water levels. Wind not to exceed 10 knots, current
to 2 knots and waves not to exceed 1 foot. Participants in this
workshop must be or become ACA members. Run by Pete
Stevens. ACA website
Traditional
Classes
Traditionally, a kayaker was sewn into a skin-on-frame craft and
sent without flotation into icy waters to hunt large sea mammals
with a harpoon and other humble tools. The paddle was a narrow,
double bladed affair carved from driftwood. Modern kayaking is enjoying
a rediscovery of the ancient skills, from boat- and paddle-making,
to techniques of using them. Modern paddlers of all stripes can
learn from the old ways.
Look for Greenland expertise in the following classes. Also join
us for Sticks & Stones, LoCo's annual Greenland Roll-off.
Greenland Paddle Carving
Greenland Traditions
Relaxing the Roll
Balance, Brace, Roll
Traditional Greenland Rolling
Competition.
Sticks and
Stones
This is a friendly, lighthearted competition fun for beginning rollers,
experts, and spectators. Henry Romer runs the show, enunciating in
Greenlandic, translating, and judging for points. It's as informative
and inspiring as it is fun to watch. |