Treat your friends and family to a Mendocino Kayaking Adventure with Liquid Fusion Kayaking.
From dry and mild to wet and wild, Liquid Fusion Kayaking has a variety of kayaking gift options that are perfect for the holidays or anytime. Classes and private lessons are available year round and our dry and mild and wet and wild tours run May 15 through September 1. Check our 2016 calendar for our schedule and availability.
Family Kayaking Fun on Fort Bragg's Noyo River.
The fastest, easiest way is to get your friends kayaking with us is to purchase a gift voucher. You may select a specific dollar amount or select one of our tours or classes. Your family and friends can then book their adventure with us. CLICK HERE for LFK's Fast n Easy Gift Vouchers.
Sea Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast of California
We also create Custom Liquid Fusion Kayaking Gift Certificates. We will work with you to create a beautiful customized photo gift certificate. CLICK HERE to inquire about a custom gift certificate.
Whitewater Kayaking in Ocean Rock Gardens on the Mendocino Coast of Califonria
Kayak Surfaris are among our favorite events to host on the Mendocino Coast. Currently, we have 3 different surfaris. Each with a different theme for fun.
Kayak surfing on the Mendocino Coast
Last month, we hosted a Rock n Surf Safari - 2.5 days of whitewater kayak rock gardening and surfing utilizing maneuverable and playful whitewater kayaks.
Whitewater kayak rock gardening
Over New Years, we host our annual Holiday Whitewater n Surf Safari. Our goal for the Whitewater n Surf Safari is to hit the Mendo Whitewater Triffecta - whitewater river kayaking, rock gardening, and surf kayaking.
Whitewater Kayaking on Mendocino County's Eel River
New for 2016 is LFK's Sea Rock n Surf Safari. This Mendocino Trilogy involves a day of sea kayak rock gardening and touring the magical Mendocino Coast, a day focused on rock garden play - specifically pour-overs, and a day of surfing. We have our first one planned just before Paddle Golden Gate Symposium to give paddlers the opportunity to paddle two of California's premier coastal environments - the rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
Sea Kayaking through sea caves on the Mendocino Coast
Of course, we love to host custom safari events . . . contact us about bringing your kayak posse for a sea, whitewater, rock garden, and/or surf safari with us.
Riding a Pour-Over in a rock garden on the Mendocino Coast
While parts of the country are putting their kayaks away and getting out their snow toys, we are spiffing up our surf kayaks. This is the time of the year when you can expect our phone to go to voicemail because we have GONE SURFING. We are thankful that Mendocino has a variety of breaks, and we have a quiver of surf toys for maximum fun in the surf!
You will also notice that Whitewater River Kayaking is starting to appear on our calendar. Our fall rains have been priming the rivers. We are expecting our favorite whitewater runs to be flowing well all winter and into the spring.
The holiday season is approaching. Give the gift of adventure this holiday season with anLFKgift certificate (or put one on your wish list). For convenience, we have a fast and easy online system for gift options. Check outLFK's Gift Certificates.
11/21-22 BCU 3 Star Sea Training - Have fun and speed your learning in personal skills and group sea skills. (2 spaces available)
Rock Gardening in the Rock n Surf Safari
11/23 BCU 3 Star Sea Assessment - The paddler will demonstrate their ability to skilfully control their craft in the prescribed conditions through blending their body, boat and blade positions. (2 spaces available)
11/27-11/29 Rock n Surf Safari - Burn off some of those Thanksgiving calories surfing and rock gardening with LFK (2 spaces available)
1/1-1/3 Whitewater n Surf Safari - Go for the Mendo Whitewater Kayaking Triffecta!!! Whitewater River Kayaking + Ocean Rock Gardening + Surf Kayaking = FUN!!!
1/16-1/17 Performance Surf Kayaking Class - 2 day surf kayak class for those looking to have more fun and skill kayak surfing
1/18 Surf Kayak Safari - Full day kayak surf safari - exploring and surfing various Mendocino County surf breaks
February 2016
2/1-2/3 Sea Rock N Surf Safari - Special 3 day sea kayaking, rock gardening, and surfing adventure on the Mendocino Coast
2/29 Surf Kayak Safari - Full day kayak surf safari exploring and surfing various Mendocino Coast surf breaks
Performance Kayak Surfing on the Mendocino Coast. Photo by David Charles Smith
2016 is coming!!! - Next month, we plan to unveil our 2016 programs and classes but here's a preview of what's on the agenda of fun -
New for 2016 is LFK's Sea Rock n Surf Safari. This Mendocino Trilogy involves a day of sea kayak rock gardening and touring the magical Mendocino Coast, a day focused on rock garden play - specifically pour-overs, and a day of surfing. We have our first one planned just before Paddle Golden Gate Symposium to give paddlers the opportunity to paddle two of California's premier coastal environments - the rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
If you missedLumpy Waters 2015 - you missed a really fun symposium. The good news is that the gang and Alder Creek Canoe and Kayak is doing it again next year so mark your calendars and sign up soon for Lumpy Waters October 7-9, 2016.
Lumpy Waters is much more than a sea kayak symposium - it is a community of enthusiastic sea kayakers. There are opportunities for students of all skill levels to build skills for lumpy waters including surf zones and rock gardens with coaches who specialize in the lumpy realm of sea kayaking. It is a training ground for upcoming sea kayak coaches and safety boaters and a showcase for industry leaders in sea kayak products. Beyond the classroom, it is a fun event for like minded folk to gather. Off the water, we share tales of adventures, plan new ones, and engage in silly symposium activities like Saturday night's pub quiz.
This year's Lumpy had a bit of everything including weather, coaches, classes, and entertainment. The weather was spectacular. There were sessions where we had both sun and rain but no wind. The ocean was as cooperative as can be expected affording many good learning opportunities for our students.
Off the water, well let's just say sometimes what happens at Lumpy - stays a Lumpy. We will share that Jeff and I were honored Friday night in the big tent to share our video - Mendocino County - Waves, Wildlife, and Wonder. If you missed it or would like to see it again, we will share it with you here. Be sure to turn the volume on your computer and carve out 11 minutes to see the wow's and wonders of our backyard playground.
For those who have been to Lumpy before but missed this year, Jeff was one of the celebrity coaches during Saturday night's pub quiz. Like previous years, this year was full of antics. All will remember Jeff's handstand lap dance. Enough said about that. It was all in good fun.
A huge thanks to Jackson Kayak for helping sponsor our attendance at the event. Who knows what Lumpy Waters 2016 will bring, but one can count on it being FUN!!! We have marked our calendars for Lumpy October 7-9, 2016 and encourage you to do the same.
Our gears shifted this month from our summer routine of daily nature history and wildlife watching tours and whitewater of the sea adventures to sea kayak instruction.
Sea Kayak Instruction in the rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast of California.
We kicked the month off with our 5 day Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino Training. The students who completed this training raved about the instruction and experience. We were stoked to see their skills increase exponentially.
Liquid Fusion Kayaking's 5 day Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino gets 2 Thumbs UP!
After the 5 day training, we managed to get away for a couple of days. We were invited again to join the Tsunami Rangers for their annual retreat. This year was their 30th annual retreat. During this year's retreat, Jeff took his test to become a Tsunami Ranger. Jeff is now a lieutenant in the Tsunami Rangers. Here's a video of the Tsunami Ranger's 30th Annual Retreat.
We left the Tsunami Ranger retreat a day early so that we could teach and present at the Headwaters Albion Bash. Just before we departed, our Tsunami tribe gathered to wish us off. Captain Kakuk issued the official invite for me to take my Tsunami Ranger test at next year's retreat. I feel incredibly honored by their invitation and look forward to many more adventures with the Tsunami Rangers.
Colorful boats and colorful characters of the Tsunami Rangers kayaking in the rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast.
So we left a little later than planned from our hidden beach on the Mendocino Coast and paddled at a steady pace to get to Albion for a 1pm class. We paddled in at 12:20 and saw a couple of our students gathering for our class. One commented that he thought it would be really neat if the instructors paddled up rather than drove up to the launch location. Hmmmm - we may have to do this again.
The Headwaters Kayak Shop in Lodi is run by Dan Arbuckle and The Headwaters Adventure Company in Redding is run by his parents Joe and Terri Arbuckle. Each year they put together several kayaking retreats for their local kayak clubs and invite other kayakers to come as well. The weekend after Labor Day has become a traditional weekend for them to come to the Mendocino Coast. The Albion River Campground is a great venue as it provides camping and access to the beautiful Albion River Estuary and the Pacific Ocean. Sterling Donaldson of Sterling Kayaks often attends and brings demo kayaks with him. This year he brought the new Progression.
Sterling Kayaks Reflection and Progression.
We unloaded the camping gear out of our kayaks and rallied up our students for our Rock Garden Safety and Rescue Class. This was a fun class as we had folks who had never had rock garden training before and some who have had quite a bit. We had our experienced students building on their skills as we taught the basics. It was great to have a variety of kayaks in the class as well - sea kayaks, long whitewater kayaks, and a sit on top kayak. The principles of safety are the same regardless of the kayak and it was fun for everyone to learn the nuances of capsize recovery with the different kayaks.
Rock Garden Safety and Rescue Class on the Mendocino Coast.
Saturday evening, we did a presentation. We have gotten in the habit of showing rather than telling folks what we do. We didn't have a screen so a huge thanks to our friend Mark Boyd for keeping his van spotless for the LFK show.
Liquid Fusion Kayaking on the Big Van! Photo by Dan Arbuckle
Here's a video that we showed that we created to represent Liquid Fusion Kayaking.
We also did a video presentation of some of our adventures in the Lost Coast. Here's a the Lost Coast video - (Please note if you are attending Lumpy Waters you may see some of this footage again.)
On Sunday, we guided a sea kayak rock garden tour. We had great conditions. There was enough swell and bumpy waters to challenge everyone's comfort; however, the swell was mild enough for us to explore some beautiful sea caves. Jeff and I got to paddle the Sterling Kayaks Progression. We had fun testing the Progression as a platform for rough water paddling, rock gardening, and guiding.
Many special moments happened during Sunday's tour. As I assisted Jeff, I took time to watch our students faces as they went through challenging moments but also moments of pure bliss. Several members of our trip have physical challenges and this tour was a monumental experience for them.
Sea kayaking in dynamic waters along the Mendocino Coast.
After the tour, I was feeling quite complete. The past 10 days were packed with what Jeff and I enjoy about kayaking and why we run Liquid Fusion Kayaking. However, the weekend wasn't over yet. After lunch, we joined up with Dan Arbuckle and a couple of other paddling friends for some rock garden play. We took out the Progressions. They ROCK in the rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast!
Jeff and Cate Rock'n Sterling Kayaks Progression in the rock gardens of the Mendocino Coast. Photo by Dan Arbuckle
It was a magical afternoon full of smiles and fun rides and a great completion to our fall shifting of gears into performance sea kayaking instruction and play.
Marcella enjoying an afternoon on the water in her Sterling Illusion.
Isn't there a saying - a picture is worth a thousand words? Liquid Fusion Kayaking's trips on the Mendocino Coast are definitely emitting lots of smiles as we have a splashing good time. Here are some photos from our week on the water . . .
Huck Finn?
First timer rock gardening on the Mendocino Coast!
Lots of splashes on our whitewater of the sea ocean kayaking adventures.
Getting younglings out on the water.
Juvenile black crowned night heron smiling for the camera.
Father n Daughter learn to sea kayak lesson.
Glassy waters and reflective birds on our Sunset Bird Paddles
Double the FUN - rock gardening in a tandem kayak!
Kayaking into Sea Caves
And we are back on the water again today with more kayak adventures on Fort Bragg's Noyo River and sea kayaking along the Mendocino Coast!
Liquid Fusion Kayaking's Adventures on the Mendocino Coast this summer have been phenomenal!!! We are stoked to be sharing great wildlife sightings and a fun adventures with visitors (and locals) on our kayak tours of the the Mendocino Coast. We are getting lots of thumb's up from our customers. Check out some of the reviews they have written about us on Trip Advisor.
Thumbs up for Liquid Fusion Kayaking!
Some highlights of our summer have been the wildlife on the Noyo River. We are having a heronful summer with lots of green heron, great blue heron, black crowned night heron, and great egret activity. Recently a snowy egret has been around adding to the siege of herons. Did you know that a group of herons is called a siege - we definitely have had a siege of them.
Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron on the Noyo River
River otters have been very present and almost a daily sighting for us. There is definitely a family of 5 cruising the river these days as well as a young solo river otter who seems to have a ravenous appetite and is always feeding on something.
Of course the harbor seals continue to delight all.
Sometimes, we aren't the only ones watching - this little fawn was quite interested in us.
The osprey nests have been really active. Some of the chicks are starting to fledge from the nest. On Monday's Noyo Meander Tour, we had a new fledgling dive and catch a fish right in front of our kayaks. It is hard to tell who was more excited about it - the kayakers or the osprey.
Our students have really been enjoying our Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino series this summer. (If you missed it, we are offering a special 5 day Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino over Labor Day Weekend in September). Our class this month was the Art of Pour-Overs and it was a total blast. We figure that we ran at least 12 different pour-overs in one day (and traveled less than a mile).
Good stuff!!! We are working long days but are super excited and energized by the experiences that we are sharing with others.
Today Jeff and I are off the water and getting office work and errands done. The past 2 weeks have been quite busy with kayaking adventures on the Mendocino Coast (and beyond). It has been exhilarating to constantly be switching disciplines - sea kayaking, whitewater river kayaking, ocean rock gardening, surf kayaking, kayak fishing, and recreational touring.
Here are some highlights from our past couple of weeks on the water.
A harbor seal and pup have been stealing the show on our Noyo Meander and Sunset Bird Paddle tours. All ages are delighted by their nuzzling. We have even gotten to watch mamma seal nursing her pup.
Getting all ages out on the water continues to be fun as well as getting the reluctant paddler out and helping them to discover the joy of being on the water.
On the wilder side, we have been sharing ocean rock gardening adventures with people with a variety of skills. Getting first timer's riding waves and pour-overs is especially fun.
It is also fun when experienced kayakers come out with us to learn and play. Last weekend, we had 4 ladies with us for our Rock 'n Surf Safari. This was a 2 day rock gardening and kayak surfing adventure in whitewater kayaks. The ladies did it with style and finesse.
And scored with super fun and friendly surf session that was great for building confidence and skills.
A seasoned whitewater boater from San Diego joined us for a day of sea kayaking. We showed him the magical Mendocino Sea Caves.
We also nudged him to play on a few rock garden features (it didn't take too much nudging).
Again this year, we are closing Liquid Fusion Kayaking on Tuesdays. This is our time to rest and rejuvenate to give our customers our all. Last week we managed to carve out an extra day so that we could get up to the Trinity River for some whitewater kayaking. While not restful, it is definitely rejuvenating.
Both Jeff and I are having fun knocking the rust off of our river running skills and learning the nuances of our new Jackson Kayak Zens.
Of course we have to put dinner on the table to.
Definitely lots of happy paddlers (instructors included).
Cate is a high energy person who loves sharing her passion for learning and the outdoors with others. Cate has several K-12 teaching credentials and a masters degree in education. After 13 years working in public schools, Cate moved her teaching talents from the classroom to the water.
Kayaking is one of her many outdoor adventure pursuits on the Mendocino Coast. When not kayaking, Cate is likely to be mountain biking, hiking or running in the forest. Cate is an avid birder, connoisseur of wild mushrooms, and writer. She is an ACA certified whitewater and sea kayak instructor, wilderness first responder, and is a Lieutenant in the Tsunami Rangers.
