Hone your navigation skills during this half-day sea kayaking lesson in Portland, Maine!

Spend a day on the water with our guides practicing some of the essential skills involved in sea kayak navigation. This course will prepare you to read a nautical chart, follow the rules of the road when crossing boat channels, and use a compass to plot a course. You’ll spend most of the day on the water getting firsthand experience applying these skills. The group will move at a modest pace and take many breaks, but all students should be prepared for a full day of paddling. Please pack a lunch.

We developed this course as an on-water counterpart to our Ocean Skills navigation workshop, but no prior navigation experience is required. Anyone with prior sea kayaking experience is welcome. The cost of using a kayak is included in the price, though you are also welcome to use your own. Students are asked to bring a handheld compass and a nautical chart of Casco Bay. These items are also available for purchase at Portland Paddle. (Sharing with one other person is okay).

Please consider following up this course with Sea Kayak Navigation Fundamentals, Part II.

Skills Learned:
Reading a nautical chart
Plotting a course
Taking a bearing, both onshore and on-water
Following a bearing
Crossing boating channels and high-traffic areas
Dead reckoning