Kajakk Nord

Spent a great evening with Joensuun Melojat working through sea kayak leadership and personal skills.

We covered how to describe a trip so paddlers can decide for themselves if it suits them, the beach brief, underpinning checks, and CLAP and chainlinking as on-water leadership tools.

On the water we drilled edging, bow and cross-bow rudders, sculling draws and reverse paddling, then ran through the rescue toolkit — heel hook, towing a sea kayak, the no-tow tow, towing an injured paddler, scoop and hand of god.

Brilliant group — engaged, curious, and willing to fall in cold water repeatedly in the name of learning.

Kiitos paljon to everyone who came, and to the club for the warm welcome.

Great fun meeting sea kayakers from Marjaniemen Melojat kayaking club. We spent 4 days on the syllabus from the International Sea Kayak Guide Alliance Incident Management course. Camping on an island and exploring the area near Helsinki was great.

Eleven years ago I started guiding sea kayaks along the Norwegian coast. This week I’m publishing the book I wish I’d had when I started.

Sea Kayak Guiding — An expedition primer for the working guide.

Most paddling textbooks treat guiding as a technical activity — strokes, rescues, navigation.

This one starts from a different premise: that the technical skills are the substrate, and the difference between a trip participants remember as anxious and a trip they remember as transformative is made somewhere else. In the brief on the beach. In the morning re-launch of a tired group. In the quiet word with the participant who has gone silent on day three. In the email ten days after the trip is over.

Six chapters: the environment, coastal meteorology, living on the coast, cold water physiology, the professional guide, and the longest chapter — leadership through the expedition.

Written for working guides, guides-in-training, and anyone who finds themselves leading friends on a trip and wanting to do it well.

Buy the book here:

https://www.lulu.com/shop/kristoffer-vandbakk/sea-kayak-guiding/ebook/product-p6nmm2k.html?page=1&pageSize=4

God stemning på aktivitetslederkurs hav i Nevlunghavn. Vi holder dette kurset igjen neste helg 25.-26. april

An enthusiastic group of people from Poland, Netherlands, Iceland and Norway on the 4 day International Sea Kayak Guide Alliance Incident Management course. Looking forward to seeing you on the water again.

🚨 What happens when help is hours away?

You’re cold. The wind is rising. Someone in your group is injured.
No signal. No shortcuts. No second chances.

This is where Wilderness First Responder training begins.

Join Advanced Paramedic Paul Cahill and ISKGA coach Kristoffer Vandbakk for a 7-day immersive course designed for guides, coaches, and serious outdoor leaders operating far from civilisation.

✔ Realistic outdoor scenarios
✔ Remote responder skills
✔ Leadership development
✔ Water rescue & wave-pool lifesaving
✔ Improvised splinting, trauma care & decision making
✔ Overnight expedition phase

This isn’t classroom first aid.
This is leadership under pressure.

📍 Karlsvika Naturskole, Tønsberg, Norway
📅 7 to 13 September 2026
🎯 Built for remote environments where rescue may take hours

If you guide, paddle, climb, hunt, ski or lead groups in the wild, this is the standard you want when things go wrong.

Link in comments.

Strålende forhold og deltakere på helgens kurs i strømpadling på Hamarøy i Nordland. Vi gikk gjennom:
- Bryte inn og ut av strømmen
- Traversering
- Redninger
- Svømming
- Kasteliner
- Tidevannsteori
- Surfing og lek i strøm

Fra helgens aktivitetslederkurs i kajakk i Nevlunghavn.