I sure would like to take some instruction from him.
It’s ferry ride from our house, he is in Vancouver I think.
He also has a lot of video instruction you can do.
Anyone have any comments?
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The best thing you can learn from him is how to become one with the boat. All else is just technique, which he has surely mastered.
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He has this 200 / yr service where he will review your videos and give advice. And some kind of forum of students.
I might get to go one or two more times before winter hits. I was talking to my driver today and he told me I need to settle down because we just got home, so that isn’t a good sign. I need to find a paddler in my area because he lacks sufficient enthusiasm.
Another idea I have is to float through our town
But I must figure out the spillway, that’s why I haven’t.
Are you a Greenland paddler? I would contact him and discuss your goals with him. Also, I purchased a used Akuilisaq that he used to make and sell, and it’s quite nice! Probably unhelpful advice….
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I’ve subscribed to his skills videos over the years, really like his relaxed approach and coaching tips. I definitely was able to improve my GP stroke by careful attention to his instructions.
He also designed and used to sew kayaking accessories to order. He made a really nice non-neoprene tuilik of Goretex-like fabric that I planned to order but he stopped making them before I pulled the trigger.
There are a lot of paddling related folk I would love to meet in person in the PNW and BC. Hoping to get back out there within the next couple of years.
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I do have one and I like it with the new kayak a lot more than with my solstice.
I did learn to roll with one on vacation in Loreto Mexico.
I’ve only used mine maybe five times.
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Wow! 
We leave here in one year I think, we should do that
It’s a long drive for you. I’d like to go back to Flathead lake when we drive back to Washington.
I’m glad to hear the feedback. I think it sounds
like a good value for the price.
He explains things very well and I’m interested in trying the drill where someone rocks your boat (as shown in video)
There should be a plethora of sea kayakers in the GH area.
You could join a club after reading their online activity lists and other publications to see if it’s a good fit. If their outings are mostly trips elsewhere, that is a red flag to me. A good club will also hold regular LOCAL paddle outings. That’s where skills work and gaining knowledge of the environment can occur.
Another red flag is overemphasis on Safety in Numbers. There must be Safety in Individuals before Safety in Numbers is robust.
Flathead Lake is great!
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We only met one club and they were not for us but I’m sure there are more. I’d like to paddle with a few people vs a big group where they have “leader.”
I need to find somebody here so I might ask the shop. One person or 2-3 seems better.
It would be easy for me to ferry up to BC for a few days.
The red flags appreciated.
What are the main reasons a club isn’t a good fit?
I’ll guess it’s risk level, personalities, etc
I’m figuring you’re in your Washington “home”?
Personalities are always going to be a crapshot, regardless what club (or none).
If you go on an overnight or longer “trip” with strangers, you’re stuck for that time. That’s only one reason why doing repeated day paddles first is useful.
The stories about group dynamic conflicts that I’ve heard and experienced run the gamut from outright weird but not too serious to downright dangerous. You might think, That person is a risk to himself. But on a group trip, he or she is a risk to all the people.
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I’m back in southern Germany but maybe in a year we go back. Right now there is a retired Delta pilot renting it while he renovates his house. We just came home from California, we did not make it up to Gig Harbor. But someday, we can walk to the harbor and I think you can rent a space to store the boat.
We used to see people take their kayaks in the ferry to Victoria.
Long drives don’t bother me, I’m a long time road warrior and am retired now. And I travel with my own “house”, a completely boondock-able RV built out of a retired Penske fleet box truck complete with kitchen and bath and room to stash a kayak or two inside. Got solar, propane heat and generator, hot and cold running water. I drive til I’m tired and then park and relax, eat, sleep, etc. Have various family and friends scattered across the country and can just park in their driveway and visit without having to intrude on their space.
Got the thing just as covid was shutting things down so I had to postpone much of the more ambitious travel I was looking forward to. Got all my ducks in a row now and hope to make some cross country expeditions next year. Driving my big yellow box to DelMarVa next week for Greenland skills camp on the Atlantic coast.
Definitely want to get back to Vancouver Island. My ex (the ER doc) and I headed out there 11 years ago this month with the intention of hiking, trail biking and kayaking. I slipped on the wet sliced log path “stones” going out to Cape Flattery on the Olympic peninsula and broke my left proximal humerus the second day of the trip. Kinda put a damper on most of the activities though we did do many miles of mountain hikes with my bum arm strapped across my chest. In retrospect it was kind of funny when I fell and other hikers on the trail rushed over where I was rolling on the ground in pain (I had tried to fall in a tuck and roll when my feet went out from under me – a reflex from martial arts training – but unfortunately the soft pine duff I fell onto had a rock underneath where my upper arm hit and cracked). The bystanders seemed to be upset that my partner was just standing there staring at me instead of coming to my aid but I knew he was trying to assess from my condition if I had dislocated my shoulder and he would need to perform a reduction. I did have a good experience 2 days later with the Canadian national health system – their walk in clinic two blocks from our hotel in Victoria saw me quickly, sent me up the street for xrays and even burned them onto a CD so my MD partner could plug it into his laptop and see what the break looked like. Whole process took less than an hour and cost me $212 for diagnosis and a nice sling (which my US insurance reimbursed me for). When we got back home I set up an appointment with my local bone doc – took 3 days to get an appointment, waited nearly 3 hours to be seen and get new films and a crappier sling and they billed insurance for $1700. So much for “how bad Canadian health care is.”
I had gone solo to the PNW 3 years earlier and kayaked around Vancouver city, the main harbor on my own, putting in at Grandville Island and up at Indian Arm with an outfitter group. Magical landscapes out there.
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I admit I sometimes just watch Paulo Ouellet’s videos because he paddles in such beautiful coastal locations and it’s very relaxing to watch him effortlessly glide through them.
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I started out paddling with a Euro paddle, but now I am sold on the Greenland paddle and Greenland technique. I think if you start taking lessons in Greenland style paddling you have to be prepared to be hooked. 
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I started learning form Paulo’s videos (and several phone calls) a few years ago. I have NOTHING but good to say about the man.
He’s so laid back and low key that sometimes I’d miss very important point in his videos. Now I tell people to REALLY LISTEN to every word he says. He’s masterful at handling kayaks and his knowledge is bone deep.
I have become a fanatic about kayaking since I started and I have signed up for a few on-line courses. It’s not possible for me to go to the coast or the Great Lakes to learn from a teacher face to face. Not yet anyway. Of all thee people that have blessed me with their knowledge, Paulo has given more, faster, than any of the others so far.
But that said, I will say in addition that if all I know and all I can do at this point was worth a dollar, 85 cents of it is from Paulo. I recommend his courses without hesitation to anyone that really wants to advance their skills fast.
He’s extremely skilled and able to teach, and yet humble almost to a fault. I hope to one day meet the man fact to face to thank him and shake his hand.
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Thanks for the feedback.
