Important Basic Instructions:

Life Jackets – Personal Flotation Devices

On our river/creek trips wearing a life jacket, zip upped or buckled, is required, non negotiable.  When you need a life jacket on a river you have to already be wearing it.  There is no time to find it and get it on.  Incidentally, I am done rescuing folks who argue with me about the life jacket requirement.

On our flat water lake and wildlife refuge trips life jackets can be optional in warm weather.

Always carry a kayak (with 2 people)  over concrete, pavement or gravel.  Never drag it.  It does major damage to the bottom of the kayak.

Getting into and out of the kayaks or canoes: Have the boat totally floating and parallel to the shore. Do not let the front or rear of the boat rest on the shore or it will be unstable.  You will get your feet wet when kayaking so plan footwear accordingly.  Same with loading your gear.  Do not load the boat with it resting on the shore or it will be difficult to launch and damage the boat.  place most of the weight behind the seat.  Kayaks are designed to be tail heavy and handle best that way.

And do not ever drag a canoe or kayak across pavement or gravel.  Carry them, with 2 people.

When getting out f the canoe or kayak, never ram the front of the boat up on the bank.  It makes the boat very unstable and causes damage to the bottom of the boat.  Just pull parallel along side of the shore or sandbar to get out.  It is much safer.  Again, you will have to get your feet in the water.  You just do.  It is part of kayaking.  I either wear sandals or rubber boots depending on the weather.

Getting Balanced:

After you get seated, place your hands on the side of the kayak adjacent to your hips, lift yourself up and set back down and you will be perfectly balanced for your trip.

Paddle Usage/Grasp:

Kayak Paddles are designed to be used with the convex side of the paddle facing you and engaging the water.  The long end of the paddle up.  Do not use it like a scoop or spoon.  And yes, all YouTube paddle instruction videos are wrong.

Paddle Strokes:

Forward Strokes Straight – Draw the paddle rearward parallel to the keel of the boat and at the end of the stroke, rotate the paddle slightly out away from the boat to keep it going a straight line.

Forward Stroke Turns – To turn left paddle in an arc on the right and vice versa

Back paddle Strokes – In fast water, the back paddle is very important.  It can get  you out of trouble when headed toward a tree.  To pivot the front of the boat quickly to the left, back paddle hard on the left side of the boat.  and vice versa

Paddle as a Rudder – When going through fast riffles and turns in fast water, you can hold the paddle directly behind the boat and use it as a rudder as you are moving through fast current.

Reading the Water in a River or Creek

Avoid making contact with all down trees and wood in the stream.  Getting up against a tree in a river is a terrible position to be in.  Water rushing under the trees creates a vacuum that sucks kayaks and their contents under the water and lodges them beneath the logs.  Avoid all down trees in the river.

Reading the Vees

A V pattern on the water surface that has the point of the V facing you means there is a rock or log there and avoid it.  A V pattern that is open to you means this is good clean water come here.  The larger the open V the cleaner the water is.  Avoid contact with all objects not moving the same speed as the current.

Keep the Front of the Boat Headed Downstream

The most common way someone capsizes or get separated from their kayak or canoe is to be crossed up sideways to the current.  Keep the front of the boat headed downstream and even if you do hit something it usually does not knock you out of the boat.

Brown Water Vs Green Water

When in a shallow creek or river, you want to stay away from the water that appears to be brown and stay in the water that appears to be green.  The brown color is actually the gravel on the bottom of the stream and you are likely to drag bottom in brown water.