Kayak Zak's | Adaptive Padding Tips

Worden Hosts United Nations

A MULTINATIONAL SEA kayaking gathering will hit the North Olympic Peninsula this weekend at Fort Worden State Park.

Licensed instructors from Great Britain, Canada, United States and Greenland will come together to form a "Coalition of the Paddlers" at the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium.

And while that assemblage of kayaking expertise doesn't include mighty Poland, it is quite impressive.

This group will drop its collective kayaking knowledge on the Peninsula this Friday through Sunday. With a total of 50 clinics, lectures, demonstrations and on-water classes, the cold waters off the Quimper Peninsula will offer something for all abilities . . . especially with the addition of the Adaptive Paddling Tips and Techniques class at 9 a.m. Friday.

This session will give attendees with physical limitations the opportunity to work within themselves on the kayak.

Instructor Marna Powell out of Orick, Calif., will teach students how to deal with their deficiencies on a kayak. That was exactly what she had to do four years ago when a leg injury deteriorated to the point that she needed a permanent leg brace.

"The secret is to keep moving," Powell said. "They told me I needed a new knee and a sedentary life. That was just not acceptable."

So now Powell _ an instructor for seven years _ uses special equipment of her own while teaching others what they need to do to glide across the water. The techniques apply to kayakers with debilitating spinal injuries, joint pain, preexisting conditions and shoulder injuries. The benefits can be felt by kayakers young and old.

All Powell does is learn what her students do well, and find a way to make it work.

"I look at an individual and try and figure out what they can do best," Powell said. "I try to teach a variety of ways to do things, because certain skills lend themselves to certain body types."

The on-water class is open to anyone able to transport themselves in and out of a kayak, and will take nearly three hours in order to give Powell a chance to meet each participant's needs.

Among the other classes offered are basic kayaking, paddling techniques and "Greenland Rolling," which will be taught by the Ichiro of kayaking world _ Doubside.

The American kayaker known by one name only traveled to the not-so-green island to learn the various native kayaking techniques.

Organizer Nikki Rekman explains, "Greenlanders used kayaks primarily as a tool for hunting so they had to be able to roll the kayak many different ways.

"[Doubside] has gone to Greenland and been taught by some of the traditional Greenlanders how to roll." Those techniques will be passed on to the students.

Night activities

On Friday night, the "Reel Paddling Film Festival" will present a number of paddling films. The following night on Saturday, keynote speaker Nigel Dennis of Great Britain will give a presentation of his travels.

Dennis circumnavigated south Georgia Island on his trusty sea kayak. He will share those adventures with the audience along with some others he's had along the way.

Both nighttime presentations will be at the McCurdy Pavilion in Fort Worden.

Also on Saturday night is a salmon barbecue as well as live music and a beer garden stocked with some of Port Townsend's finest from the Port Townsend Brewery.
A barbecue ticket is $25.

Along with the classes and demonstrations, there will be more than 200 kayaks from several major manufacturers sitting on the beach available for a test run.

Several other kayak vendors will be in attendance as well selling everything from paddles to dry suits. A pair of one-day silent auctions on Friday and Saturday will also help benefit two local environmental groups committed to marine conservation.

Nearly 1,200 registered participants took part in last year's event, and organizer Nikki Rekman expects about the same number this time around.

In order to get access to all of the different seminars, attendees must buy either a three-day pass ($130 per person) or a one-day pass ($65 per person).

There is also a one-day beach-only access pass ($30 per person) that allows access to the demos. For more information, visit wcsks.org.