Before casting off

Safety

Make safety your priority. Safety begins with three basic notions:

Know how to recover in all conditions.
Master the use of your kayak.
Have all necessary equipment aboard for safe navigation.

Know how to recover
Recovery is not as hard as you may think. All you have to do is learn the technique and then practice it. If you are a beginner, we recommend that you enroll in practice sessions with a professional. He or she will teach you how to get in and out of the kayak, how to recover and a host of other ingenious tricks. Practice is the secret to success. Believe us when we say that the day you are faced with an emergency, you won’t regret having learned the recovery technique and how to immediately put it into practice. A few seconds can sometimes make all the difference in the world.

Master the use of your kayak
Really get to know your kayak! When your adjustments are perfect and you have paddled a few strokes, take the time to test the performance and limits of your kayak. Experiment with the stability and practice bracing. Fine tune your turns and get to know how your kayak reacts to different types of wind and wave conditions. We recommend that you practice new moves in calm waters.

Don’t depart without all you gear
When navigating in Canadian waters, the Coast Guard requires that you have the following equipment aboard:

- A PFD (personal floatation device) - A 15-meter floating line (around 50’) - A whistle or other sound-signalling device - A bailer or pump - A spare paddle
For kayaks exceeding 6 m in length (about 19’ 6’’):
- The above items - A waterproof flashlight - Six distress flares

For more information on boating safety in Canada, we invite you to consult the “Sea Kayaking safety guide, 2003 Edition, Montreal”
Internet: www.boatingsafety.gc.ca

Check with the maritime authorities in your area for up to date sea kayaking regulations.

info@borealdesign.com

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