Canoe and Kayak Instructors
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Water Rat speaking to the Mole, Wind in the Willows
When messing about in boats, more skills = more fun!
CCA can help you develop your canoeing and kayaking skills whether you’re interested in watching birds while floating on calm water, or running whitewater rapids with style, control, and a big smile!
CCA supports:
- calm water and whitewater kayak and canoe skills instruction, and instructor training;
- trips for novice to experienced boaters;
- river safety and rescue training;
- first aid training;
- access to programs sanctioned by the American Canoe Association (ACA) and other paddling organizations;
and in other ways facilitates access to resources to help you have a safer, more enjoyable paddling experience as a member of our boating community.
SYOTR! (See you on the river : )
Resources
Free Instruction, Clinics & Trips Led by Volunteers. CCA volunteer instructors provide training and coaching during designated instruction clinics. Sometimes an instructor can be made available by appointment – ask one of our volunteer leaders (see below). Our instructors and trip coordinators can often also provide coaching and/or a paddling buddy to help you build skills and feel more confident while participating in a club trip – ask the trip coordinator in advance if a coach or buddy might be made available. Many of CCA’s volunteers are ACA certified instructors. (Please see below for a partial list of CCA volunteer instructors.)
Paid Clinics & Instruction. CCA also facilitates member participation in clinics led by professional paddling schools and certified instructors. CCA will sometimes help to design the program, and sometimes will simply refer members to programs of interest. (Please see below for a list of area schools and instructors.)
For a list of upcoming trip and instruction opportunities:
See Trip & Events Calendar for Class Dates and Registration
General inquiries about instruction can be sent to instruction@canoecruisers.org
General inquiries about safety can be sent to safety@canoecruisers.org
Volunteer leaders involved with instruction (partial listing). Feel free to contact us.
- Overall Instruction & Kayaking. The chair of the CCA Instruction Committee is Gary Steinberg. Gary is certified as an ACA Level 4 River Kayak Instructor. garymsteinberg@gmail.com
- Basic Canoeing. Mark Wray and Ross Dence focus on basic canoe instruction, and are both ACA certified instructors. Mark Wray redshoestwo@juno.com, ross.dence@gmail.com
- Safety. The chair of the CCA Safety Committee is Rolando “Rollo” Arieta. Rollo is certified as an ACA Level 4 River Kayak Instructor. rolovar@gmail.com
Paddling Schools and Paid Instruction. Listed in alphabetical order. All local except for Riversport. Some of them offer camps for kids. Schools that offer ACA L3 and/or L4 River Instructor Certification are marked with an *.
Coda, just for fun!
Rose Sayer (Katherine Hepburn) & Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) in “The African Queen”.
Africa Queen Whitewater Rapids "I never dreamed..."
Charlie: How'd you like it?
Rose: Like it?
Charlie: White water rapids!
Rose: I never dreamed...
Charlie: I don't blame you for being scared - not one bit. Nobody with good sense ain't scared of white water...
Rose: I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!
Note: this CCA website page “Canoe and Kayak Instructors” edited March 2025 by Gary Steinberg (Instruction Committee Chair) garymsteinberg@gmail.com , and Susan Sherrod (Webmaster).
Comments welcome : )