Kayak Practice | Irene’s Kayaking Blog

Finding Whitewater Kayaking Buddies Around Seattle

(Updated for 2018.) OK, I’ve heard enough whitewater kayakers tell me that when they first came to Seattle they had a hard time finding paddling buddies and generally getting started, so here are some good resources: ProfessorPaddle.com ProfessorPaddle.com (PP) is the core whitewater kayaking forum and river resource for the general Seattle area. Here you’ll […]

Why Kayak Slalom Skills Make You a Better Creekboater

Here’s a sweet video of whitewater slalom kayaker Campbell Walsh in 2009 in Great Britain, notice the side to side ferry moves using a wave hole starting at around .10, it’s a gorgeous example of boat handling skills and shows you why the kind of techniques that paddlers learn by practicing slalom can give you […]

Whitewater Kayaking Beginner Tips 2 – Eskimo Roll

Troubleshooting the eskimo roll is one of the key things that I think is super helpful for people starting out whitewater kayaking, and I wish I had learned a lot of these rolling tips sooner than I did. The Eskimo Roll Having a reliable roll is key, and I mean key, to having confidence and […]

Beginner Whitewater Kayaking Tips 1 – Forward Stroke

My friend Jake and I took a new paddler (Tom) down part of the Skykomish River the other day, and it reminded me of all the great kayaking tutorial videos I always tell myself I should put on here. This post is for all the paddlers who are looking for some kind of road map […]

Video: Kayak Stroke Tutorial from Michele Ramazza

This is a really in-depth, well explained video tutorial on the kayaking forward stroke by Italian slalom and whitewater paddler Michele Ramazza. If the forward stroke sounds like the simplest of things, keep in mind that people make hour-long videos and write actual books about the forward stroke. Doing it well is not actually all […]

Video: How to Hand Roll a Whitewater Kayak

Hand rolling your whitewater kayak is a really useful thing to be able to do, whether it’s because you broke a paddle, got it knocked out of your hands, or threw it to the side after securing your boof on a 90-foot waterfall. Ha! Oh wait, I forgot – not a joke for some people. […]

Whitewater Kayaking Eskimo Rolling Videos

Since a lot of people are taking whitewater kayaking classes and learning how to roll right now, I’m posting a video or two that I think teach it reasonably well. I’m saying reasonably because I didn’t learn how to roll from a video so I really don’t know how these will go over, however I […]

Whitewater Kayaking Classes Around Seattle in 2013

Spring 2013 whitewater kayaking classes are gearing up around the Seattle area. If you’re thinking about plunging into this ultra-fun sport, here’s where you might want to start out: The Washington Kayak Club Beginner Whitewater Course starts March 11 and goes to April 6, 2013. Cost is $175 for WKC members, $255 for non-members. It’s […]

Whitewater Kayaking Stuff I Wish I Had Known Early On

OK, I’m not exactly a guru of whitewater kayaking, but I have done enough things wrong in the past four years of paddling that I feel like pointing out some tips to new people in the hopes that it will save you time, stress, maybe injury, and very possibly extend your time in this sport. […]

Tips on Buying a Whitewater Kayaking Drysuit

It was December of 2008 that I splurged on my Kokatat Tropos drysuit at Kayak Academy (a great deal for around $500 on sale), knowing that it was my only ticket to getting out on rivers during any kind of cold weather. After 200 rolls in the pool that month I joined the Washington Kayak […]

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