Thursday, January 15, 2015

The Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino

Liquid Fusion Kayaking Presents: 

The Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino


The Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino is an instructional adventure series that we created to give sea kayakers a unique Mendocino kayaking experience.  Each 2 day class/tour will enable paddlers to hone specific paddling skills while enjoying the best of the Mendocino Coast with Liquid Fusion Kayaking's Cate Hawthorne and Jeff Laxier.

This series offers paddlers that opportunity to target what they want to learn and experience in Mendocino by joining us for a specific weekend.  Or get an in depth Mendocino sea kayaking experience by doing several or all four of the adventures in the series.

Starting in May, the series will be held the second weekend of the month.  Saturday will be training and Sunday will be guided play and touring on a stretch of the coast that highlights the features that we are training on that weekend.

By doing the adventures with Liquid Fusion Kayaking, paddlers also get the most comprehensive view of the Mendocino Paddling Experience.  Local knowledge of coastal conditions and unique paddling spots, flora/fauna, wildlife, historical points of interest, and tales of local happenings are all part of the experience.

The Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino -

Touring Ocean Rock Gardens - Reading the water, traveling through rock gardens, scouting, paddling as a team, launching and landing among the rocks, planning, group management, and safety and rescue are essential skills for sea kayaking in ocean rock gardens.  This is the perfect class for increasing water reading skills and comfort paddling in near the rocks and learning how to paddle rock gardens as a team.

Surfzone FUNdamentals - Launch, land, and play in the surf zone with control, safety, finesse, and FUN!!!  Boat control skills in the surfzone directly transfer to boat control in rock gardens.  In this 2 day course, we will hone boat control skills as we paddle and play in different surf zones of the Mendocino Coast.

The Art of Pour-Overs - How many pour-overs can you run in one weekend?  We will see.  This weekend isn't just about quantity but also quality.  With our coaching, you will be running pour-overs with finesse and style.  This is the perfect adventure for those who want to play and work on skills like timing.

Magical Mendocino Sea Caves- Experience the magic of kayaking into sea caves.  We share the tips n tricks for exploring sea caves as well as spend 2 days journeying into our favorite caves.  We have a couple of tricks up our sleeve for this one - you might want to bring some lights.

For extra fun - make it a 3 day weekend by adding a Whitewater of the Sea Adventure with us.

We are super excited about this series.  It gives sea kayakers the opportunity for specific skill-oriented rock garden instruction and the opportunity to experience different stretches of the Mendocino Coast that others rarely paddle.

Come experience The Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino with us!  You might be surprised what we can show you.




Tuesday, January 6, 2015

New Years Whitewater n Surf Safari 2015

We kicked off 2015 with our annual Mendocino Whitewater n Surf Safari.

The goal of the Safari is Triffecta of funness - a whitewater river kayak run, surf kayaking, and ocean rock gardening all within Mendocino County.  Buya!  We did it!!!
Jeff gives praise to the river for blessing us with another great day.  Photo by Mark Boyd
The kayakers with us were stoked to get in a run on the Eel River.  It was a first for all of them.  The low flow was friendly and fun.
Greg boofs the bottom of Pinball Rapid on the Eel River. Photo by Mark Boyd
We didn't see the bear but definitely saw its tracks along the river.
Bear Tracks on the Eel River. Photo by Mark Boyd.
After a fun day on the river, we migrated to the coast for 2 days of surfing and rock gardening.  Ocean conditions were mellow giving us fun waves to surf and allowing us to explore sea caves.
Kayaking in Mendocino's Sea Caves
Kayak Surfing on the Mendocino Coast
On our second day on the ocean, the swell picked up a bit giving us some more excitement in the surf and rock gardens.
Willy gets vertical in the surf.  Photo by Mark Boyd
We managed to find a couple of really fun pour-overs to play on.  Everyone got great rides and enjoyed the sunshine.
John gets a nice pour-over ride!
Jeff and I have decided that this is our favorite event . . . it combines 3 of our favorite things - whitewater river kayaking, surf kayaking, and ocean rock gardening.  We had a waiting list for our January event so we have decided to do it again President's Day Weekend - February 14-16, 2015.
The Peanut Gallery enjoying the show! Photo by Mark Boyd
Here's a link to more information. It's going to be FUN!!! Call us early if you want to come play!!!

Cate with the clean line.  Photo by Mark Boyd
Jeff going in deep!