Photo by Sean Morley
Feb 15-21 Matanzas Rough Water Training St Augustine, FL $450 for 3 days $750 for 6 days
Join the Wave Padder crew for our most popular event. The February Matanzas training is THE rough water instruction event on the East Coast and sells out well in advance every year. This full week provides training for all levels with a stellar cast of coaches, and includes L-4 and L-5 ACA instructor certification and update programs.
In a nutshell, the Matanzas event is about improving rough water sea kayak skills, but it’s also about all those things that are involved with “learning” any outdoor skill, like managing risk, learning to read the environment and make reasonable predictions, learning to take maximum advantage of a learning environment in the safest way possible, preparing and practicing for incidents when and if they occur and learning to function supportively and effectively as a team. The formal coursework is partly on water and partly in the classroom, followed by an informal social period in the evenings where the exchange of information continues. Our review of experiences and lessons learned in a group setting while memories are fresh is an important part of each day. Many of our participants say they learn as much from other people’s reported experience as they do from their own.
Groups are divided each day by desired challenge level. The Inlet allows for a dialed in approach most days, with lesser challenges available closer in and greater ones further out. We will run ACA L-4 and L-5 updates and certifications concurrently with the other programs. You do not have to be a candidate to participate in the on-water parts of those programs (though you do need to be comfortable in the required conditions). Instructor candidate presentations are open to all attendees.
The core group of coaches will be back this year including Tom Noffsinger, Ashley Brown, Jeff Atkins, and Dale Williams but will also include visiting coaches from the west coast to include Laura Zulliger.
Cost for the event is $150/day, three days minimum or $750 for the full six days. The meeting location is the Shrimper’s Beach House in St Augustine Beach between 7th St, 7th Ave and Atlantic Alley. Accommodation should be sought within walking distance since there is limited parking at the house. There’s a Hyatt two blocks away and a fair number of Airbnb options.
For further questions or to sign up, just email Dale at: seakayakingusa@gmail.com