Introduces Paddlesports North America

Last summer I was asked to participate in the formation of a new organization called, Paddlesports North America (PNA).

The PNA Board is excited to announce that Paddlesports North America (PNA) is newly incorporated in New York State as a not-for-profit organization, and on the cusp of finalizing its relationship with the British Canoe Union (BCU) as the delivery center for BCU programming in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

This website will be up shortly, and will contain all information needed by paddlers and coaches to progress through the BCU’s paddlesport system, which is recognized as the gold standard in paddlesport training and education. In the meantime, there will be no interruption in the processing of memberships, awards and certifications. 

Until our status with the BCU is finalized, Bill Lozano, the current BCUNA administrator, will continue handling all paperwork through the BCUNA office in New York. Contact the BCUNA office by visiting bcuna.com

To be kept up to date go to the PNA website and sign up for the newsletter. 

Special thanks to the founding sponsors:  Werner Paddles, P & H Kayaks, Atlantic Kayak Tours and Valley Sea Kayaks.

To Paddle Or Not To Paddle?

Welcome guest blogger, JF Marleau of SKILS, Kokatat Kayak Fishing Team and the Nikki Rekman Sales Team.

Whether to paddle or whether to not, often depends on the weather.

A decision to paddle or not to paddle is heavily influenced by the skills of the group you are paddling with, and the terrain you intend to paddle within. Furthermore, the weather you encounter has a huge influence on the terrain, constantly changing it, and potentially altering the suitability of the terrain for your group. It is important to make a decision to paddle, or not to paddle, based upon clear and thorough information about what the weather is going to do while you are on the water. But making that decision can be challenging when you have so many factors and information sources to consider. At SKILS, we have developed a conceptual model to help simplify this process. This model, illustrated in the image below, is based on the idea of traffic lights; assign a red, green or yellow light to the weather information you have gathered, red = don't go, green = good to go, and yellow = borderline.

Recreational paddlers are welcome to download and share this model from the SKILS website,  (click on Resources in the menu bar, select Download Resources, select Risk Management folder). We also encourage instructors to share this model with their students. We feel this is an excellent way to simplify a very complex decision making process. 

Happy safe paddling!