Anyone interested in joining a Kayak safety class?

Hello everyone,

Since I am fairly new to kayak fishing, I was thinking of going through basic kayak safety session. I visited the Kayak Academy in Issaquah today and spoke with the folks there. George (the owner) said we could have a class geared towards kayak anglers if there were a few people interested. Please note this would be a kayak safety class and not a kayak fishing class. The class would be for about a couple of hours on Lake Sammamish. They are currently available to do this between Aug 22nd -Sep 7th. I was thinking of doing this on either Wed (Aug 28th) or Wed (Sep 4th).....just so we don't use up any weekend (fishing) hours!!! As far as the time goes, I would like to start as late as the folks at KA are willing to do this. Cost would be about $65 if you bring your own boat or you can rent from them for $15-25.

So......anyone interested? Please let me know ASAP so we can get things arranged.

Ali

If George is putting on a safety class, don't miss it.   If you don't know who he is, look up George Gronseth and youll ser why. Hes written many a safety article for Sea Kayaker Magazine as well as is co-author of Sea Kayaker Deep Trouble.

-Allen

I'll be in Bellevue for an all day meeting on the 28th.  Supposed to get out at 5PM.  Given traffic, and that I'd need to get out of the suit I'll have to wear all day and into some kayak friendly clothes, I can't imagine I'd be able to participate unless the start was 6PM.  Which would put the end at around 8PM from the sound of things.  Doable, but would make for a rough, looong day, as I'd still have to drive home. 

Get the details for date and time worked out.  If I can swing it that sounds like a fun, interesting class.

How many people do you need to get onboard for the class to be worth their while?  I'm interested but my schedule is going to be pretty packed most of that ~2 week period and probably could not make either of those two Wednesday dates.

I will get some details from them later today and let you guys know. I would also prefer a 6:00 time frame if they can accommodate that. From what they said yesterday, about 3-4 people would be sufficient. I will confirm though.

Ali

I spoke with them again and yes George will teach the class. Also, the 6:00 pm start time works on the 28th so let's plan on at least that day to start with, if there are more people interested then we can arrange additional dates.

Craig, see if you can shuffle things around and make it on the 28th.

Ali.

Where at on the lake?  The state park on the south end?

I believe he said the Tibbetts Beach area. That's at the south end.

Hello everyone,

I called the folks at the Kayak Academy today to basically apologize for not communicating with them earlier and for canceling the plans for tomorrow. Instead of canceling, they have offered to hold the class anyway....I will definitely be there!!!

So....if you are interested, there is still time to register tonight and tomorrow, just call them ASAP at 206-527-1825.

The class will NOT be taught by George as previously planned (that's due to my lack of communication with them).

I would attend, but there is no way for me to do it on Wednesday, unless I take a day off at work. Weekend would work for me in a much much better way.

Hope it was a good class.  Schedule conspired against my attending.

It really was and I am so glad I made it to this one.

So here's how it went....I went there without my usual fishing stuff ( rods, FF, net, etc.) so the PA 12 setup was a tad bit lighter than it normally is. My teachers were two brothers (really nice guys). They had brought a drysuit for me to use and it was pretty handy during this lesson. After the introductions and filling out the release forms, etc. we hit the water. The first thing they did was capsize their boat and showed me how to get back in. Then it was my turn to capsize the yak and that's when the fun ended!!! Tell you what, the PA 12 is a B+*^% to turn over, truth is I could not do it on my own after a few attempts ( if anyone reading this knows how to do it then PLEASE enlighten me). After a few attempts, I got some help to turn that thing over and now came the part of mounting it... tried to do that a few times and finally got on from the bow.

Then they showed me some basic stuff about the basic paddling strokes, avoidance techniques, etc.

After the little break, I was taught how to recover from a capsized yak when there was help around. This was a lot easier!!!

There are a lot of CRITICAL things that I learned today and hopefully they will help me as I enjoy this sport. My experience was in a pretty calm and controlled environment but still quite an awakening. For those of you who have not gone through a capsizing drill, please know that it may not be as easy to get back in as you may think! I urge you to be prepared before hitting any major body of water...

SumpNZ, CJB and ColdFusion, if you are still interested in the class, please contact them and let them know what times work for you. I apologize for not coordinating this in a better fashion.

Ali.