Notes From the TLDR Coach

A group of smiling sea kayakers in drysuits and PFDs on a beach
Everything in One Place: Your Level 2 Toolkit
Everything from the Level 2 series in one place, so you can find it again next spring. Read more...
Tents pitched on smooth rock above the water at sunset, eastern Georgian Bay
What a Day on Expedition Is Really Like
People ask what a day on one of our expeditions is really like. Here it is, start to finish. You travel as a pod: navigating, cooking and making decisions together.... Read more...
A sea kayaker practising rolling in calm harbour water
Five Steps to a Roll
A roll has nothing to do with strength. It's a hip flick, a head that stays down, and a lot of repetition. The key is technique, and patience. This is... Read more...
A coach and a student in a sea kayak on moving water
Paddling in Current: Time to Get Into the Good Stuff
Current is some of the most fun you can have in a sea kayak, once it stops being scary. Every move across an eddy line uses the same four things.... Read more...
A group sea kayaking along the Pembrokeshire coast
Tides for Great Lakes Paddlers
On the Great Lakes you plan around the wind. Paddle the coast of Nova Scotia, Wales or PEI, and there's a second clock running: the tide. At Level 2 you... Read more...
Two sea kayakers below tall dark cliffs off Ingonish Island, Cape Breton
Coastal Missions: Bigger Water, Same Coaches
Instructional Expeditions are about exploring beautiful places and journeying to remote backcountry while learning skills. The Missions are about the water: rock gardens, coast, tide races, river waves and more. Read more...
A sea kayaker sitting in a kayak in clear, shallow water
A 20-Minute Practice Circuit for After Level 2
Level 2 skills fade fast unless you use them. Twenty minutes at the start of every paddle keeps them: forward stroke, steering, draws, then finish with a rescue. Build your... Read more...
A sea kayaker below tall, tree-topped cliffs at Cap Chaillon, Lake Superior Provincial Park
How to Plan a Great Lakes Bucket-List Trip
Every Level 2 grad has a bucket-list trip. How to pick one you're ready for: distance between landings, daily distance at 3 knots, spare weather days and permits. With a... Read more...
A paddler mid-crossing pointing across the water
Aiming Off: Why You Miss the Island, and How to Correct a Bearing for Wind
You measured the bearing and still missed the island. Wind changes your heading and your track in two different ways. How to tell them apart, the skeg and aim-off fixes,... Read more...
Chart Datum: The Line Every Number on Your Chart Is Measured From
Chart Datum: The Line Every Number on Your Chart Is Measured From
Every depth, drying rock and bridge clearance on a nautical chart is measured from chart datum. On the Great Lakes and on the coast it is a different line, and... Read more...
Qajaq: A Journey Through History, Ethics, and the Debt of a Sport
Qajaq: A Journey Through History, Ethics, and the Debt of a Sport
The history of the Greenland qajaq, the colonial backdrop behind Inuit paddling techniques, and what to ask before signing up for a traditional kayaking event. Read more...
Rethinking Physical Contact in Adult Kayak Instruction
Rethinking Physical Contact in Adult Kayak Instruction
In sea kayaking, skill is only part of the equation. How we coach matters just as much as what we teach. This article looks at consent, boundaries, and the role... Read more...