Sea Kayaking Course
Nighttime Kayak & Navigation Course
Before there was electricity and GPS, mariners navigated at night via the stars. Now, in Puget Sound type urban environments, there is so much peripheral shore lighting and ambient light in the broader region that opportunities to kayak safely and confidently in low/no light exists, using those different types of "stars" as reference points. This course will help develop the skills to paddle safely between dusk and dawn.
Contacts
- Rolling Enrollment: Sun, Jul 2, 2023 - Tue, Jul 4, 2023
- Committee: Kitsap Sea Kayaking Committee
- Members: $50.00 Guests: $75.00
- Availability: 4 (5 capacity)
- Cancellation & Refund Policy
Navigation skills, safety considerations and group dynamics will be heavily emphasized.
There will be a few online zoom sessions beforehand to jointly plan the outing in detail.
A Blake Island campsite along the Western edge has been reserved for July 2nd and 3rd evenings. (It is closest to but not at the NW paddle-in sites - which are first-come, first-serve and not reservable.)
July 3rd, 2023 has a full moon - assisting our night time paddles considerably.
- 10:13 pm rise (@131 degrees)
- 4:57 am set (@227 degrees)
Plus, the long mid-summer sunlight will make it so there is only about 6+ hours of "night time", given the late-dusk and pre-dawn light before these sun rise/set times:
- 5:17 am rise (@54 degrees)
- 9:10 pm set (@307 degrees)
The Weekend leading into Tue July 4th! Get away from the sound of all the July 4th fireworks - out onto a wide open fetch where you can comfortably see them, without hearing them so loudly.
Potential Paddles: In our pre-meetings we will likely decide where to go on the water. Here are two good choices:
1. VERY EARLY MORNING Paddle to Winslow on Bainbridge Island - to get fresh coffee - leveraging a long North East fetch in the morning.
2. VERY LATE EVENING Paddle to Alki Beach - to get some pizza - enjoying a long North West fetch in the evening.
Commit? This is the inaugural course offering. By registering and paying a nominal fee, you will be making a commitment to me and the Mountaineers to help iterate the course content for future similar offerings.
LEADER-PERMISSION to REGISTER. Please indicate in your request to register, information such as this:
1. Have you taken any solo multi-day kayak trips before?
2. What navigation skills do you have; nav courses you've taken; nav tools you regularly use?
3. Have you read and re-read books such as:
4. Why do you want to join the course?
THANK YOU! HOPE YOU JOIN!
This course has no scheduled activities.
Readiness Checklist:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17uzmlWUcq1rhGnIfptZ7--sp27M9Urz-3jnRG-zBuXU/edit?usp=sharing
There are no materials for this course.