+ Do I have to complete a waiver or hold harmless agreement?

• Yes. We are legally required to have all participants fill out a standard release of liability and assumption of risk (ROL/AOR) agreement approved by our lawyer and ACA.
• Participants under age 18 will have a waiver completed by their parents. You will receive an electronic form to fill out when you sign up or a paper copy upon arrival at course start.

+ Why do I have to provide personal medical information?

• Our instructors are medically trained and the instructor team will have a minimum of one certified Wilderness First Responder. It is critical to their ability to care for you that they know your current medical situation, physical health, and current medications.
• Secondly, kayaking and spending time in outdoor settings has some inherent risks. We reserve the right to refuse services to participants who we believe would be at personal risk or would pose a risk to the overall group and trip safety due to medical issues.
• Finally, the questionnaire helps us bring the equipment best suited to you physically and experientially, as well as food required based on any dietary restrictions (if applicable for your event). The questionnaire helps us determine all of these things. We do not share your medical information with anyone. Your questionnaire is destroyed after your course or event.
• If your course does not include a questionnaire, please help us keep you safe by sharing emergency medical information.

+ I have a disability that impacts my ability to paddle. What accomodations can you provide?

• We strongly believe in making every effort to help everyone enjoy the experience of kayaking.
• We follow the American Canoe Association's (ACA) established Essential Eligibility Criteria (https://americancanoe.org/essential-eligibility-criteria/) for our events and experiences.
• Additionally, we do not currently have instructors on staff who are certified/endorsed in Universal Paddling (formerly Adaptive Paddling) and we do not possess the equipment that would be needed to safely allow all disability types to participate.
• We will support as best we can, but may not be able to offer accomodations to everyone.
• Please contact us to discuss your accomodation needs and find out what is possible.

+ Do I have to wear a personal flotation device (PFD, a.k.a. ‘life jacket’)?

• Yes and it must be worn at all times on the water.
• If you don’t have one, we will provide you with one and ensure proper fit. If you bring your own we will inspect it.
• Your PFD must also have an attached and accessible whistle.

+ Can I bring a child or youth participant?

• We love kids and love sharing nature and kayaking with them.
• That said, we do not currently have the equipment set necessary to support youth kayaking for most children under 15. When that changes we will make updates or announcements.
• At this time no unaccompanied minors may take part in our courses. We hope to offer that opportunity, such as dedicated youth courses, in the future. We are able to support youth kayaking programs at schools and organizations that have their own kayak equipment.
• All youth, regardless of age, must still meet ACA Essential Eligibility Criteria (https://americancanoe.org/essential-eligibility-criteria/) for our events and experiences.
• Minors are ultimately the responsibility of their parents or adult guardian. A waiver is required, to be signed by a parent/legal guardian.

+ Do I have to wear a paddling helmet?

• Helmets are only required on our classes or experiences with planned rough water or surfing activities, and on some classes where we are doing planned rescue drills.
• We have helmets available for rent on courses that require them. If you bring your own, it must be a dedicated watersports helmet, not one from another sport, like a bicycle helmet.

+ I don’t have kayaking equipment. What are my options?

• We get a lot of people traveling to events who are visiting Florida from afar or are just exploring the sport of kayaking and haven’t acquired equipment. It’s no problem.
• Standard rate is $35 for kayak and $10 for kit. Rental price is included on some events, as stated in event announcements.

+ What are your group sizes or instructor-to-student ratios?

• We keep our group sizes low to make for a high quality experience.
• Our maximum is a 1 instructor to 5 participants ratio, both for insurance purposes and the experience.
• We will take additional participants if additional instructors or qualified assistants are available. Maximum group size is included in the details for each event.
• Some lessons are best taught at a lower ratio, such as 1:1 or 1:2 for rolling or other private lessons.

+ Do I have to wear a spray skirt? What is required if I do?

• Yes and No.
• Spray skirts or spray decks are neoprene and/or nylon garments that the kayaker wears and attaches around the cockpit of their kayak. This is critical to preventing water from flooding the cockpit and swamping the boat.
• However, in calm water with novices or beginners we will often paddle without one, allowing the paddler to grow comfortable before adding that equipment later.
• In rougher waters and for advancing technically in skills and strokes, the spray skirt is required.
• Prior to wearing a spray skirt, paddlers will be taught how to safely perform a ‘wet exit’ and will demonstrate that in a controlled environment during our water comfort assessment.

+ Where do you paddle?

• We’ll answer that question with a question" "Where do you want to go?"
• Our ‘backyard’ is the Gulf Coast of Florida, specifically Tarpon Springs, the Anclote River, Anclote Key State Park, and other surrounding areas, like Honeymoon Island, Clearwater/Caladesi and further south to places like Fort De Soto and the St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay area.
• We love to paddle all over Florida, and we frequently travel to other destinations out of state. Keep an eye on our events page or contact us to set up a custom trip. We love going to new places!

+ What kind of technical skills training do you offer?

• We have a huge range of American Canoe Association (ACA) or custom training curriculum to work from. We offer group and one-on-one personal coaching.
• Anthony is a Level 4 Open Water Coastal Kayak Instructor. That means he can teach skills courses and conduct formal assessments up to Level 4 skills and conditions. He is also happy to work with people getting into a kayak for the first time and has worked with lots of people at both ends of the spectrum.
• Other course types might include rescue skills, sea kayak navigation, backcountry or wilderness camping skills, sea kayak trip leading (great for people who lead groups), boat maintenance, preparation for instructor training, kayak surfing, and of course, kayak rolling.
• Anthony also works with a couple of other coaches who are instructor trainers (ITs) or instructor trainer-educators (ITEs). Watch events and announcements for instructor development and certification workshops with them, where Ant is an assisting instructor.
• Anthony is endorsed to provide ACA Level 2 and Level 3 trip leader training and assessment. This is a great credential for individual paddlers and people leading trips for clubs and organizations, or school outdoor programs that include kayaking. We can provide this training in a program built specifically for organizations and the needs of their staff. We will also offer it as open-to-the-public enrollment.

+ Can you teach me to roll my kayak?

• Yes! We offer rolling sessions by request and occasionally will post a scheduled group rolling clinic.
• Please be aware that it can often take people multiple sessions with personal practice time in between lessons to master this skill. Even then, good kayakers will continue to pursue training to refine their roll, much like a golfer might take regular lessons from a golf pro to dial in their swing.
• There are also a variety of different rolls we can teach that have application in different conditions, and so you can build back-ups to your primary roll.
• We can also offer things like video coaching assessment to help make your roll “bombproof.”

+ What about sit-on top kayaks? I’m not sure about those sit-insides.

• Our primary focus is touring sea kayaks or sit-insides and we do not have any sit-on-tops in our small fleet. For our goals, the sit-insides offer more reach due to speed, maneuverability, and capability. Generally, they are also a higher performance and higher quality design. We are not against sit-on-tops though.
• If you have a sit-on-top and want to learn to improve your paddling stroke, learn how to reenter your boat should you fall out or learn other technical skills, we are happy to help.
• Bringing your own: For our group experiences, unless stated otherwise, sit-on-tops and other lower quality sit-inside recreational kayaks are not allowed. They simply cannot keep up and pose other risk. If you bring your own kayak it must be a sit-inside model, must be a minimum of 14 feet long, and must have bow and stern bulkheads or flotation. We reserve the right of final approval on any kayak brought to one of our events by a participant.

+ Do you repair kayaks?

• Generally no, but there are exceptions.
• We are focused on touring, guiding and skills instruction. We occasionally or on request will do classes on things like kayak field repairs, building a kayak field repair kit, or basic kayak and equipment maintenance.
• We can also help with a basic repair, but will treat it like a private lesson where we are coaching you on how to maintain your kayak.
• If you have a boat repair need and don’t know how to approach it or need a referral, contact us and we’ll point you to a professional.

+ Do you sell retail equipment and merchandise?

• Yes! We are not a dedicated retail store and we don't have a storefront. How we sell:

• We have merchandise for sale including T-shirts, hats and stickers. We can make custom merchandise for group workshops and trips.

• We sell our used equipment, including kayaks, when we have more on hand than we need. All sales are "as is" and final.

• NEW UPDATE! Anthony is now a TRAK Pilot for the TRAK Kayak company and their flagship TRAK 2.0 Folding Performance Kayak, "the world's ultimate folding kayak for travel and adventure." Contact us to arrange an orientation and test paddle at no cost. Demos are available to groups, clubs and retailers as well.

+ What kind of trip leading and instructing experience do your guides have?

• Anthony has worked for outdoor experiential education schools like Outward Bound and NOLS since 2017, leading multi-day coastal kayak expeditions in places like Florida Everglades, North Carolina Outer Banks, the Maine Coast, Panama and Alaska, all in addition to his own personal trips. He regularly assists instructor trainers in their instructor certification workshops and coaches at kayak symposiums annually.
• We also bring on other instructors occasionally for larger groups. They are all screened for trip leading experience, ACA certification, and medical training.

+ What personal clothing, equipment and food should I bring on my trip?

• It really varies from one trip to the next. When you register for a trip, you will receive an information email that will include a minimum required gear list as well as optional or recommended ‘comfort items.’ We will also provide the kayak-specific and camping-specific items if you are not bringing your own boat or gear. We can tell you that the big essential items for personal items for short day trips are:
• sun protection layers and sunblock
• a full water bottle (32 oz recommended)
• paddling shoes that cover the whole foot and protect your from oysters or debris
• medications, if required

+ What equipment do you carry to keep the group safe?

• We carry equipment to keep you safe, and most importantly are trained to use it.
• We carry charts and compasses for navigation.
• We carry emergency signalling devices like VHF marine radio, signal flares/smoke, air horns, USCG-required lights and some additional items. We carry cell phones and if necessary for the expedition we will carry a satellite phone or message system.
• If we paddle in hours of darkness, all boats and people are lighted and our boats have reflective tape markings.
• Each participant will wear a PFD equipped with a signalling mirror and boat whistle.
• We carry first aid kits for medical emergencies. All instructors maintain wilderness first responder training certificates.

+ What happens if the weather is bad?

• We have a few options and we strive to always be ready for the weather. We watch and listen to NOAA weather broadcasts on VHF radio and keep our eyes on the sky during trips.
• Prior to the trip, if it looks unsafe we will offer alternatives. That could mean changing to an in-shore option, offering a shore-based skills instruction period until the storms pass, or rescheduling the event. In any of those situations, a full refund or raincheck will be offered to all participants.

+ What happens to photos your staff take during a trip or event?

• First off, we will gain your permission prior to the event before taking your picture or sharing it. With your permission, we occasionally use photos from our events on social media outlets and marketing, such as this website.
• We will create a group photo share after most events and send a link to all participants, so you can have some photos to go with the memories you made.