Kayaking Techniques | First Coast Outfitters

Plan Before You Paddle: Picking a Multiday Route

Posted: Apr 05 in Kayaking Blog by

Whether you’re spending the afternoon kayaking in Jacksonville or planning an excursion somewhere far, far away, it helps to know where you’re going. Planning your route is especially important on lengthy kayak camping trips, as you’ll need to get a sense of the challenges you face before setting out. These tips can help you plan an enjoyable multiday route that doesn’t push you past your limits. [Read more]

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Paddling with Perfect Form

Posted: Feb 26 in Kayaking Blog by

If you hope to get the most out of your kayaking experiences, it will take much more than putting the paddle in the water and hoping for the best. To be as efficient as possible on the water, you should focus on maintaining proper form in every stroke, which involves not only your paddle, but your body and boat as well. [Read more]

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Fit to Paddle Further: Conditioning and Kayaking

Posted: Feb 13 in Kayaking Blog by

As any Florida kayaking veteran will tell you, paddling isn’t just an exciting pastime—it’s also a serious workout. An hour of vigorous paddling will help you burn about 600 calories, engaging muscles all over the body as you propel yourself through the water and work to keep your balance. [Read more]

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Riding the Edge

Posted: Nov 21 in Kayaking Blog by

Once you’ve mastered basic techniques like the forward stroke, sweep and brace, you may be ready to move on to something new. Edging is another great technique that, when mastered, can help you turn your sea kayak more precisely, keep on course and deal with challenging waves. [Read more]

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Rack Your Kayak

Posted: Nov 14 in Kayaking Blog by

All paddlers may dream of traveling everywhere by kayak, but this dream is, unfortunately, unrealistic—if you don’t live in Venice or directly on the water, you’re going to need a car to get your kayak from point A to point B. Of course, it simply won’t do to haphazardly tie your beautiful kayak to the roof of your car like a Christmas tree. Instead, it’s best to find a transportation solution that will keep your kayak—and everyone around you on the road—safe from harm. [Read more]

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Get Ready, Get Set, Surf!

Posted: Oct 24 in Kayaking Blog by

You may feel ready to handle surf kayaking, especially if you’ve taken a surf zone kayaking course or read one of our recent blogs on launching and landing in surf. If you’ve had enough experience with kayaking in Florida, you may have all the skills you need to give surf kayaking a try. But whether you’re preparing for your first time in the ocean or your 500th, surf kayaking is a strenuous activity—you’ll need to get your body ready to handle the exertion. [Read more]

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The Stern Rudder, Pry & Draw

Posted: Oct 03 in Kayaking Blog by

You may be anxious to hit the water—and you should be—but practicing basic strokes and techniques is the only way to get them to start feeling natural. By learning how each action affects the movement of your boat, you’ll start to learn the best ways to move in each situation, the best techniques to employ when something sends you off course. Devoting time to the fundamentals of kayaking will ensure that you never forget how to do it well. [Read more]

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Florida Kayaking Photography: Paddling with Point of View Cameras

Posted: Sep 26 in Kayaking Blog by

Paddling fast through the surfzone as you rise over waves and dart through ocean waters makes for excellent footage when kayaking in Florida. Even if you’re looking to shoot stills or capture your movements atop your kayak in less active waters, a GoPro camera is a useful piece of kayak equipment for the paddling photography enthusiast. GoPros are portable camera specifically designed for action-packed activities where every second is valuable recording footage. [Read more]

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Florida Kayaking Photography: Paddling with SLR Cameras

Posted: Sep 26 in Kayaking Blog by

One of the greatest attributes of your kayak is its ability to serve as the ultimate medium for wildlife photography. Kayaking in Florida over calm bodies of water gives you a vantage point otherwise inaccessible to photographers on land. [Read more]

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Roll Like an Eskimo

Posted: Sep 12 in Kayaking Blog by

The Eskimo roll is most important in whitewater and ocean kayaking, where you may frequently find yourself capsized by the challenging rapids and waves. If you only plan on doing casual touring, you can usually avoid capsizing by keeping an eye on the weather—but it’s always good to know proper safety techniques, just in case. [Read more]

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