Kayaking 101 for Beginners in 2022 and Beyond! Best Tips!

Video Version: https://youtu.be/P-zDtd7tV8A

Starting a new outdoor activity can be overwhelming. So in this week's episode, I take you on a kayaking trip and give you my best tips for beginners starting in 2022 and beyond! 

We'll discuss the best tips for starting and provide you with some helpful advice for staying safe while kayaking. So whether you're looking to kayak for fun or fitness, this episode is for you! We'll cover everything you need to know to get started and have a great time paddling around the river! Dont forget to review us and send us an email to let us know what you think about our episodes on the podcast!

#kayakingforbeginners #kayakingtrip #beginnertipsandtricks

Hello there! My name is Craig thenaturalmedic. On this podcast, I help you build the skills, understand gear choices and review trip destinations in a budget-friendly manner to help you enjoy the outdoors safely. I primarily focus on hiking and backpacking, but I am certainly not limited to those topics. Instead, I try to give you the best possible information based on my experiences and opinions from my decades of outdoor adventure travel. Thanks for being here!

I try to keep active on social media in addition to my podcast. Plus, you can find my support links here: https://campsite.to/thenaturalmedicadventures

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Kayak Ideas (Highest Rated Models per Site)

Lifetime Pacer 8 ft Sit-In Kayak (Paddle Included), Green
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lifetime-Pacer-8-ft-Sit-In-Kayak-Paddle-Included-Green/636556087?variantFieldId=actual_color

Hydros 85 Sit-On-Top Kayak, 40 Pounds, 90936
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/lifetime-hydros-85-sit-on-top-kayak-90936

Pelican Trailblazer 100 NXT Kayak
https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/pelican-trailblazer-100-nxt-kayak-17pelutrlblzr100npsk/17pelutrlblzr100npsk?color=Fade%20Turquoise%20White

Pelican Brume 100XP Kayak with Paddle
https://www.rei.com/product/206709/pelican-brume-100xp-kayak-with-paddle

Pelican Argo 100 10 ft Kayak
https://www.academy.com/p/pelican-argo-100-10-ft-kayak-110643082

Accessories to Consider

Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight Watertight .5 Medical First Aid Kit
https://amzn.to/3NU3gKC

Onyx Universal Paddle Kayak Life Vest
https://amzn.to/3MBW05y

Carlisle Magic Angler Kayak Paddle with Polypropylene Blades and Wrapped Fiberglass Shaft
https://amzn.to/3VtyzQ1

HEETA Waterproof Dry Bag for Women and Men 
https://amzn.to/3gefZLT 

L-RUN Unisex Water Shoes Barefoot Skin Shoes for Run Dive Surf Swim Beach Yoga
https://amzn.to/3S6GgbU

MISSION Cooling Booney Hat- UPF 50, 3” Wide Brim, Adjustable Fit, Mesh Design for Maximum Airflow and Cools When Wet
https://amzn.to/3L3f1M8

Copyright FourGreen LLC, 2019-2022.

Transcript

Craig thenaturalmedic: 0:01

Welcome to the Natural Medic Adventures. This is Craig. I am coming to you live today from Lake Caroline on the Red River National Wildlife Refuge in the outskirts of Bossier City of Louisiana, close to Shreveport and doing a little kayaking today if you couldn't tell. And Yeah. Beautiful little oxbow lake out here. Lots of birds. I've seen some fish jumping, but I haven't really seen too much other activity. So please join me for this adventure out here on the lake today. If you're looking way over there, like way over there, that is where the boat launch is. That's where we put our boats in and back in 1945, this little Oxbow was part of the Red River channel. The Red River change direction. During that time, leaving this little lake behind those big, gigantic trees you're seeing I guess they're not too gigantic. Our bald cypress trees, I believe the state tree of Louisiana, and there's several of them out here in the lake. Just doing a little nice paddling out here. Now if you look where my feet are, my kayak actually has pegs. I'm embarrassed to say I've had it for So it's like 2015, bought it my first year of becoming a paramedic. It was a celebration gift to myself. Just launched it for the first time last weekend out in Palestine at Wolf Creek Lake. Now I'm over here. Louisiana at Lake Caroline lots more cypress trees in front of us. This particular model is an angling kayak and if you're wanting to get into kayaking cuz you like to fish, there are several out there. That I have fishing, at attachments So you put your rod and your other gear pretty easily. The water is pretty calm. There's a nice breeze. This particular boat tracks really well, so I don't have to spend a lot of effort paddling it. My paddle is a Carlisle Angler paddle. It does have a little hook in the end of it over here. Not necessarily something you have to have, but if you're gonna be angling, it does have a nice little reach there to get the get that one piece out. So why would you want to go kayaking? The whole aspect of kayaking is so you can reach some cool places just under the, your own power, no motor, just using your paddle. As I said, the wilderness systems pungo, I believe it's a pungo one 20, which I think the one 20 stands for 12 foot long. Primarily a recreational boat, for angling does have angling attachments. I have not used that yet but it's pretty lightweight. It has a hatch on the back, which I'll try to show you when I get out at the end of this little trip and go up on the shore. What other features does it have? It's nice. Let's see. It's got some straps you can see. Right up here for stretching, strapping on equipment, maybe a small ice chest or cooler. Put your jacket up there. Pretty good sized lake though. I'm not sure how big it is exactly. According to the sign it has 80 different species of fish. So if it was gonna be fishing out here, I bet I could catch a lot of variety of different fish, I'd probably say, What the heck is this? I don't even know what it is. there's been lots of bird activity today. You can see some egrets. I believe those are. Snowy egrets. Just those, or was maybe a great blue heron actually is what I think it was. Back in the cove. I tried to get a picture of it, but as soon as I got where I could put my paddle down and cruise up where I could see it went away. It realized I was there, so no big deal. The water is pretty calm. This boat is not made for any sort of, rambunctious activity on white water. Probably some, maybe, class one, class two. It probably could handle just some very, small rapids, fast moving, little bit fast moving water. Compared to this flat water that I we're on today. But other than that, it's probably not ready for anything, like when you think of a kayak. But kayaks are really very popular and you can get them just about anywhere. Walmart's got'em, Tractor Supply, Dick Sporting Goods, REI of course, and just all kinds of places. I'll put some recommendations down in the description. If you want to check those out for their future and get yourself a kayak. Getting closer back to the boat, dock area. There's people up there. Look at the, some kind of knit, trying to catch something. There's a guy over here in a kayak. Looks like a kayak fishing. The lake continues to go on this way I'm not gonna get to explore at everything this time, but maybe another time. Something. It definitely helps though it's some water shoes like this where you're gonna get out it definitely helps make things easier on your feet and give you some traction and protection. This is called the sweet roll from Yakima. Makes it real easy though. I'll show you when I load it up, how easy it is to load. If you have a rack on top of your vehicle, you don't necessarily need anything this expensive or this fancy. But here's the kayak. This is the Wilderness Systems PGO one 20. It's a 12 foot kayak set up for angling. It's got a hatch on the back. They get a little bit of water in there. I'm gonna dump that out for, I go down the road. A wide brim hat is definitely nice. Pfd of some sort is good to have to wear it all times, but at least you need to have it in the boat. I would encourage you to wear it, but if you're not gonna wear it, just at least have it in the boat just in case you need it. So this one's got a nice cushy seat. Some of the other ones have a hard plastic seat, but. In essence, that's basically all you need to have a good kayaking trip. And once again, let's take a look out here at Lake Caroline. Beautiful day in September. It's actually nine 11 today, and I'm filming this Here is a close closeup of the lake. Now if you're in majority of the United States, you're probably gonna have small bodies of water like this, which are perfect for kayak. As you can see, this is an ox bow of the old Red River here. The nice thing about having this sweet roll set up though, is you can just load this and with one hand as I'm filming, which is a little bit difficult, you can push that sucker right on there. And once it gets to the point that you want it, where it's sitting flat, strap it down. A couple more things now that I'm home. Let's talk about care of your kayak. Now, depending on what kind of environment you're going in, I'm assuming most of us that are watching this are gonna be in fresh water. But if you're in salt water, you definitely need to clean off your boat, and I'll do that in just a second. All you need to do is rinse it with some good, fresh water straight out of the faucet. Now, before we get into that, let's talk about things that we should be doing. By the way, all this probably can be found in your owner's manual, so definitely wanna at least skim through it. At the very least. I talked about wearing a pfd, a life vest, a personal flotation device that has Coast Guard approved. Definitely want to have that. You want to wear a helmet when you're in the ocean or you're doing white water because there are hazards that could strike you in the head. Never know, and it's probably a good idea, especially you've never been on the water before, to get some type of paddle sport instruction just to make it. Official and to help you be a safer boater, kayaker, whatever. A lot of those are available all over the place. And for a pretty good, pretty inexpensive price. Definitely check your equipment all the time, which would've just talked about giving it clean before, after you after you use it. Be familiar with where you're going. That's one thing to think. what types of hazards will you encounter? What types of weather will you encounter and be prepared for that. Definitely follow your recommendation for using an outfitting your kayak, whatever manufacturer makes your kayak. Make sure to read your manual for special instructions on that, just like you would go out if you're hiking, let somebody know where you are going and when you expect to be back and how to or when to contact the authorities. And also I would think is a good idea to get some kind of first aid training and carry first aid equipment. So things you wanna carry with you. First of all, you want a dry bag to put all your stuff in, and it's called a dry bag because hey, guess what? It keeps your stuff dry Tennis, 10 essentials item, such as first aid kit, water filtration. A GPS satellite locator device can be handy. Not required, but definitely handy. All the places that you get out there on open water, you might not necessarily have a cell phone signal to someone help and call 9 1 1. So it's good to have that just in case. I just obtained this bag for my phone. Most phones nowadays are waterproof, but they don't float very well, tend to sink. So you can put it inside of that bag and it won't it won't get down into the, bottom of the lake or the river or whatever you're paddling in and you won't lose your. And owe your cell carrier a bunch of money for a device you just lost. Definitely don't go out exceed, exceeding your limitations. This boat, particular of mine is not made for white water, but. It can handle some light white water, but anything beyond that, I would be exceeding my equipment and myself's limitations and I wouldn't want, I don't wanna do that. Definitely Wanna make sure you have a 10 essentials if you don't know what those are. And of course, there's other accessories that are available probably from your kayaking outfitter or manufacturer that you can add to utilize your boat better or more effect. So let's go ahead and wash this bad boy off. Dump all that stuff out and make sure that your boat is nice and clean. Generally, you don't wanna drag your boat. From place to place. You want to try to take care of it. If you drag the boat, it could weaken the hull and could eventually lead to a compromised boat that could sink or just in general, not last as long as you want it to. Anyway, I hope that helps you understand a little bit about kayaking 1 0 1 if you're enjoying this. If you enjoyed my content, give me a thumb. Subscribe to the channel for more content like this, and I will see you on the trail or hey, out there on the water. Bye.