Safety Weekend - Pymatuning State Park

Safety Weekend is a weekend where we practice wet exits, self-rescues, assisted rescues, towing, and any other kayak safety skills, in the comfort of a warm-water lake with little to no current or waves.

Beginners are welcome. This event is for mainly for sea kayakers and recreational flatwater kayakers. This is NOT white water kayaking.

Kayakers should have their own boat and gear to actively participate, but coming up to observe and receive instruction is also an option. Some participants may also be willing to lend a sea kayak for a short time.

Expect to get wet. We do this trip in June so that the water and air temperature are suitable for wet exits. Wetsuits and hydroskins are ok, and recommended if you get cold quickly while swimming. It's also good to practice wet exits in a variety of your paddling clothing. A PFD is required to be worn at all times or you will not be paddling with us.

Please note that a kayak with either front and rear bulkheads, OR a rear bulkhead and proper front flotation is necessary - AS WELL AS a spray skirt that is fitted for your kayak. Without bulkheads/flotation and a spray skirt, your boat will not be able to be rescued. A lot of "recreational" kayaks do not have bulkheads or sprayskirts, so they fill up with water and can't be emptied without swimming it to shore.

We will be at the Group Tenting Area, in the PA State Park near the Jamestown campground. Pymatuning is a big place and both Ohio and PA have state parks there. So please know where you are going before you depart. We will be camping from Friday through Sunday, with most of the instruction happening from 9:00am-4:00pm on Saturday. We will also have a pot luck dinner on Saturday. We will likely do a night paddle (lights required) on Friday evening, and a morning paddle on Sunday.

There will be a nominal fee for participants to cover the cost of the campground and launching area. Likely not more than $10 for day-trippers, and not more than $20 for those camping. Actual fees will be based on the number of participants, so bring some cash. Bring all of your own camping gear. Flush toilets are on site. Showers are a short drive away.

This event is being hosted by a loose group of avid paddlers called the Outkast Paddlers of Pittsburgh. There are no by-laws, leaders, organization or insurance, so all liability remains with each paddler, for legal purposes. And if we don't know you, we'll probably ask you to sign a waiver. But we've been running this event for about 9 years now, and haven't lost anyone yet (that we know of...). Please contact Eric Rodger (erodger99 at gmail) for questions.

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