Sea Kayak Guide Training

The Naturally Superior Adventures sea kayak guide course is designed for people who to play a leadership or guide role in commercial, organizational (scouts, guides, schools, churches) and self organized (friends & family) group trips by sea kayak in the Great Lakes freshwater environment.

This sea kayak guide course blends paddling and rescue techniques along with camp craft, group dynamics and leadership, risk management, nature interpretation, story telling and the guide’s service mentality.

It’s a focused amalgamation of the Association of Eastern Canadian Sea Kayak Outfitters (AECSKO) (now defunct) program with, most appropriate features the Sea Kayak Guide’s Alliance of British Columbia (SKGABC) and the Sea Kayak Guide Alliance of Canada (BC) programs.

The course is also covers relatively new (2010) Transport Canada requirements for “Guided Excursions” which specify requirements for volunteer and paid guides/leaders on guided excursions.  Finally, the course covers guiding requirements and operating guidelines in Lake Superior’s, Pukaskwa National Park.

Instructors:
Lead Course Instructor is Conor Mihell. Conor is a Paddle Canada, Level 3 Instructor, Instructor Trainer, and outdoor journalist with in excess of 10 years guiding multi-day trips on the Great Lakes, especially Lake Superior for various outdoor adventure companies. Conor also wrote the first Naturally Superior Adventures Sea Kayak Guide manual.

Courses Assistants may include David Wells, Director of Naturally Superior Adventures, Virginia Marshall, Editor of Rapid Magazine and experienced Lake Superior Guide, Ray Boucher, Paddle Canada Level 2 Instructor Trainer and visiting instructors from College and University outdoor programs

Course Length:     

Sea Kayak Guide Course Only = 5 days
Paddle Canada (PC) Level 1 skills & Guide course = 7 days
Paddle Canada (PC) Level 2 skills & Guide course = 9 days

Assistant Guide Course Prerequisites:  

PC Level 1 sea kayak skills or equivalent
20 days of sea kayak experience including a minimum of 10 overnights

Assistant Guide: Proposed for Certification:

Successful completion of Guide Course
PC Level 2 sea kayak skills or equivalent
PC Intro to Sea Kayak Instructor or equivalent
Wilderness First Aid (20hrs)
Min. of 3 multi-day trips of at least 3 nights per trip as Apprentice Assistant Guide.

Lead Guide: Proposed for Certification:

Assistant Guide Cert (or equivalent)
Successful completion of Guide Course
PC Level 2 sea kayak skills or equivalent
PC Level 1 Sea Kayak Instructor or equivalent
Advanced Wilderness First Aid (40hrs)
Min. 3 multi-day trips at least 3 nights per trip as an Assistant Guide in Level 2 conditions.
Marine Radio Operators License

You do not need to be a Paddle Canada member to participate in the Guide Course.

Instructor/Student ratio: 1:4. Instructors and Lead Guides: Participants.

Course Topics:

•  The Professional Guide: Standards, Duty of Care, Transport Canada excursion guide regulations
• Trip group dynamics, judgment, decision making and risk management
• Signalling and communication: Flares and VHF marine radio operators license
• Environmental ethics: Low impact camping and nature interpretation; Parks Canada guidelines
• The coastal environment: Weather, sea state, hazards
• Navigation: Maps and charts, using a compass, stating your position, ranges
• Commercial/organizational trip planning & logistics
• Menu planning, food selection, meal preparation, trip packing
• Making camp: Stoves, water, tents, tarps, safety gear, first aid, repair kits and sanitation
• Group paddling skills, rescues
• Trip incident scenarios and night paddle
• Nature interpretation

Course Textbooks: The Lake Superior Guides' Manual and Scenarios Booklet are included with registration. Both provide a solid set of reference and study notes for course participants. Our Guides' Manual sets the standards for sea kayak leadership on the Great Lakes. We will refer to the Scenarios Booklet for case studies and based-on-a-true-story simulations.
Schedule: We plan on one day at Naturally Superior Adventures base to cover pre-trip preparation followed by a 4 day group tour on Lake Superior where manual topics will be covered through discussions, actual practice and scenarios. Completing pre-course assignments and reading materials will help you get the most from this course.

While on trip each participant will have the opportunity to lead the group through and be responsible for dealing with typical day-to-day and possible emergency scenarios encountered on typical guided sea kayak tours.

Our instructors are experienced, knowledgeable, are experienced commercial guides and certified by Paddle Canada. Sea Kayaker Magazine Reader’s Choice ranked Naturally Superior Adventures among the best sea kayak schools in Canada.

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