Sea Kayaking 401 - Exposed Coast Expedition Training - Sitka, Alaska
Ever dreamed of sea kayaking in Alaska, but didn't want to do it with beginners in double kayaks? Want to kayak in ocean swells, paddle rock gardens, and outer coasts? The dream can come true by joining us on our Exposed Coast Expedition Training in SE Alaska. If you've worked hard to develop your kayaking skills and feel ready for an advanced kayak trip (with coaching), reward yourself with the adventure of a lifetime in one of the last great wilderness coasts.
We only offer this trip once or twice a year. Plan ahead and get ready to take this class in 2010 or 2011. See the bottom of this page for prerequisites.
Instructor: George Gronseth, Barb Sherrill, plus guest staff
Location: Begin and end in Sitka, Alaska (several airlines offer daily flights from Seattle, WA)
Duration: 10 days total (eight days on the water)
Class Size: 6
Fee: $2750 (Private hotel rooms included before and after the paddling)
(arrive in Sitka, Alaska no later than mid-afternoon on the start date and leave Sitka no earlier than middle of the last day)
Call us at (206) 527-1825 or E-mail us at info@kayakacademy.com to make a reservation.
This trip is the ultimate advanced sea kayak adventure ... eight days of kayak camping along the open coast of the Pacific Ocean in SE Alaska with George Gronseth. And you'll be paddling in one of the Kayak Academy's performance, composite, one-person kayaks with skegs (rudder-free). The camping is incredible, and there's hardly any mosquitoes! We'll camp at some of the most beautiful beaches in all of Alaska, some with views of volcanic cone of Mt. Edgecumbe (3271') on Kruzof Island. In the middle of the trip you'll get to enjoy a soak at a hot spring with natural mineral-water, and on the last night before returning to town you'll get to sleep on an authentic Alaskan float house (with a wood stove and hot shower).
We start with a trip planning, chart folding, food preparation, and safety meeting at our hotel the day you arrive. The next morning we'll load up the kayaks, and paddle out of Sitka Sound and round Cape Burunof - the beginning of the exposed coast. You'll kayak in rock gardens, experience wilderness camping, and see lots of bald eagles -- all in the first day of paddling! The kayaking, camping and wildlife get even better as we go. There're sea otters, puffins, harlequin ducks, loons, and lots of other wildlife including humpback whales, orca whales, and brown bears. The rock gardens, slot canyons, and capes get progressively more challenging as the trip builds to rounding the exposed outer coasts of Peisar and Biorka Islands. From Sitka south to Cape Ommaney (at the south end of Baranof I.), Biorka Island is the most exposed island on the Pacific Ocean side of North America. Rounding capes and circumnavigating these outer islands are to sea kayaking as summiting a mountain peak is to climbing. It's a test of your skill and nerve, and it's an achievement you will always remember. Go with us and you'll be one of the few who can truly call themselves an open ocean sea kayaker.
After rounding Cape Burunof, we'll paddle a loop around the Necker Islands -- an archipelago that forms a partial barrier south of Sitka Sound off the west coast of Baranof Island. Along the way you'll: surf ocean swells, thread a loaded sea kayak through rock gardens and slot sea canyons, explore a sea cave (conditions permitting), navigate challenging outer coasts, and practice decision making as you take turns being leader for the day. If you're into it, you can fish for salmon from your kayak, forage for edible kelp, pick wild huckleberries, and learn about other safe survival foods. You'll learn to find and purify drinking water, plan food for long expeditions, build fires in wet conditions, pack efficiently enough to get everything you need for a week or longer trip into a kayak, stay warm and dry while camping in rain forest climates, and use Leave No Trace camping skills. In other words, you will learn and practice the skills needed to plan and lead your own future wilderness expeditions. You'll also: practice chart reading and compass skills, try night paddling and rescues, on the water navigation, advanced rescues and rolls, and learn safety and etiquette for camping in bear country (we provide bear-resistant food containers, pulleys for hanging food, and bear-repellant pepper spray for each person). All this while spending over a week exploring a beautiful Alaskan wilderness coastline teeming with wildlife.
This expedition is based out of the beautiful, historic Russian-American town of Sitka, Alaska -- a gem worth the trip in itself. We recommend spending some extra days after the trip to check out the Inuit (Eskimo) kayaks at the Sheldon Jackson museum, Sitka's Totem Pole Park, salmon running in Indian River, the Raptor Recovery Center, a great bookstore specializing in Alaskan history, and day hikes to Mt. Verstuvia (3354') behind town. And of course Sitka is premier destination for charter fishing as well.
Our kayaks are barged up ahead of time so you won't have to make do with a clunky, cranky, rental kayak of questionably seaworthiness. All the kayaks we provide are fiberglass and have retractable skegs, front and rear bulkheads, adjustable backbands (not tall seat backs), and most have day hatches and either Kayak Sport, VCP, or Sea Dog brand rubber hatches covers -- we'll spoil you with good gear.
These trips are made possible by our Special Use Permit for the Tongass National Forest lands, Kokatat Gore-Tex dry suits (Which you may rent from us if you don't have your own.), the Kayak Academy's very own premium rudder-free fiberglass sea kayaks (i.e. Tiderace, Impex, Wilderness Systems Tempest, and Sterling Kayaks) which we'll provide for your use (or if you prefer we'll ship your kayak from Seattle at our expense if it meets our standards), and our staff of highly skilled, experienced instructors (George Gronseth: founder of the Kayak Academy; Barb Gronseth: founder of Issaquah Paddle Sports, ACA Open Water Sea Kayak instructor and veteran of eight Alaskan Outer Coast Expeditions plus one to Glacier Bay; and Robert Cline: ACA, BCU (4 star plus), and Kayak Academy trained, veteran of five Alaskan expeditions (four Exposed Coast Expedition Trainings with the Kayak Academy and one to Prince William Sound). Robert is also our Russian language expert for translating the place names we visit in Russian-America (AKA Alaska).
"I didn't think about work for the whole week", PB
"Every day had some great new experience", MF
The total cost for the expedition is only $2750, which includes: permit fees, transportation within Sitka, lodging in Sitka the night before and after the paddling days, one night's lodging on a float house cabin with a shower on the last night before returning to town, use of the Kayak Academy's one-person rudder-free sea kayaks (with skeg), full neoprene spray skirts, spare paddle, signal flares, bear-repellent pepper spray, bear-resistant food box, group cook tarp, camp stoves and fuel. We will also give you your own US government navigation chart, tide tables, a waterproof logbook, and the Kayak Academy's fifty page "Sea Kayak Trip Planning and Leadership Guide" and our thirty page guide to expedition planning. The cost of this course is comparable to that of guided tours in Alaska, which offer none of the training materials let alone the advanced kayak instruction by George Gronseth, or use of one-person kayaks seaworthy enough for trips along exposed ocean coasts. A $100.00 discount is available for early payment/reservation (before January 1), and $100.00 discount available for using your own kayak if it is approved by the Kayak Academy and you deliver it to us 10 days before the trip (in time for us to take to the barge company) we'll even pay the cost of shipping it to and from Sitka and Seattle.
We will all share in the cost, planning, and cooking the food (that's part of the learning), and you will need to provide your transportation to and from Sitka. Sitka can be reached by scheduled jet service on Alaska Air (Boeing 737s) NW Air, Delta, and other major airlines or by the Alaska State Ferry (which leaves from Bellingham, Washington and takes about five days to reach Sitka - camping is allowed on the ferry and is a lot of fun if you have the time). As compared to other NW sea kayak destinations, a three hour flight from Seattle to Sitka beats the heck out of waiting in line at the boarder, fighting the traffic in Vancouver, and driving a two days to reach some busy paddling destination in BC, Canada ... especially when you consider that you'll be paddling in Alaska!
Prior trip experience alone is not enough to qualify for this training expedition, as a minimum you'll need to have a reliable Eskimo roll, and at least one of the following courses: Surf Kayaking, Tidal Rapids Training, High Wind Kayak Training, White Water River Kayaking. (If you lack these prerequisites you may be able to take our SK 301 Adventurous Journey - Intermediate Plus Level Trip - On The Coast of Alaska (Sitka) .) The best preparation is the Kayak Academy's Five Day Training Camp plus one or more of our above intermediate courses, however some upper level BCU four and five star kayakers or ACA Open Water kayak instructors may be able to qualify for equivalency for this expedition. With the Kayak Academy's lessons, most beginners will be able to take this Expedition after one to two year's of practice. With our Five Day Training Camp, intermediate kayakers can generally meet all the prerequisite training and practice in a year. So start preparing for next year's trip (or the year after that) by signing up now for our Five Day Training Camp or other intermediate courses (Cross-Over River Training, etc.) this year.
