Limited visibility navigation (either fog or darkness) can be a fun and enjoyable challenge OR the harrowing, death-defying act of a sea kayaking group that has exhausted their time and resources! Perception is not reality when you find yourself on the water in these conditions. Both fog and darkness create depth perception issues and paddlers must trust their navigation skills as well as experience in those conditions! How do we get that experience? Training with great coaches and paddling with others well-adept at limited visibility navigation. Both available at….drum roll….you guessed it….THE GALES!
We learned a few lessons from last year’s Gales. A night navigation exercise was on the schedule but paddlers seemed quite content to kick back and relax after days of fun and productive courses. We had a hard time getting any “takers” for the night navigation during the Gathering so the exercise never went off. However, based on the feedback we received post event it seems like there is a demand for night navigation!
The night navigation exercise will be offered on Friday night – the first night of the Gathering! We made this decision to offer the exercise on the first night as we think everyone will be “fresh” and energy levels will be high. Check-in and the Shakedown will go on per usual and the exercise will start directly after those events.