Brewster Academy 2-day Training
Brewster Academy is a private boarding school in the Wolfeboro, New Hampshire area and sits on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, the biggest freshwater body of water in the state. In the summer months Brewster Academy offers adventure programming to their visiting students. In addition to sailing and backpacking, they also do a great bit of canoeing and kayaking in their programs. Seven Rivers Paddling trains the summer program providers for skills & leadership on the water in canoes & kayaks. Peter asked me to help run the program with him and I could not resist. He has a true love for paddling and is easy to work with.
On Day One we worked out of touring canoes and ran some basic skill sessions to get everyone up to speed. Strangely, some of the teachers joined us on the water and in my mind, brought down the program some. It was a surprise to me, but I didn't question it since they often join and were taking pictures. However, it did become distracting to students and undermining to Peter and myself. I just reminded myself that it's their program and they're eager to see their new summer staff succeed.
I try to coach at a slow pace whenever I can. I think a solid foundation is really important for all paddle sports, but large groups like this sometimes means you need to go faster, because they need to follow a curriculum. It's tough to deliver, but I think Peter and I trimmed enough out of their list to leave a good focus on the most important stuff.
Day Two we worked in sea kayaks until lunch, just about the same time the rain started falling. Luckily, Brewster Academy has a world class boat house on the water's edge and we could seamlessly cap off our program with some serious on-land teaching sessions and trip planning problems. Interestingly, these forced indoor sessions turned out to be my two favorite sessions of the whole weekend.
I look forward to returning next year. Here are some pics.
