MEDIA CLIPS

KAYAKING OFFERS ACCESS TO THE HIDDEN CAPE

By Elsa Allen - Banner Correspondent
Provincetown Banner
July 13, 2000

Going on a summer vacation doesn't have to mean lying on the beach, reading a trashy novel and cultivating a tan. One activity that has skyrocketed in popularity over recent years is kayaking, and on any given day one is likely to see the water scattered with brightly colored sea kayaks, battling to claim some personal water space amongst the hordes of speed boats, sailboats and cruise ships.

Kayaking offers sport enthusiasts an exciting way to travel across nearby bays, ponds and rivers. A passenger in a kayak feels a certain closeness with the water that is not generally felt from the higher ranges of a passenger boat.

Visitors to Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet are now faced with many opportunities to paddle their way around local waters, and several experienced guides to show them the ropes.

Now in its second season in Provincetown, Off the Coast Kayak offers an extensive selection of tours, including a two-hour tour of the harbor, a half day trip to Long Point or Pamet Harbor in Truro, trips to Herring Cove, sunset paddle tours and a kayak clambake tour, in which customers are treated to a traditional Cape Cod clambake at the end of the tour. Paddlers are not required to have any experience at all. Each group is led by certified guides who are willing to offer assistance and share interesting facts about the town and the harbor. They share an extensive knowledge of the history and biology of the harbor, and each guide takes a personal interest in the information that they share with their group.

Each Off the Coast guide must complete a comprehensive certification course that teaches not only kayaking techniques and safety measures, but also group management skills. Before setting foot in the water, participants in a tour meet at the company's Freeman Street office (behind Napi's restaurant) to sign a release and get fitted for gear. They then march as a group down Commercial Street, decked in bright yellow life jackets, wielding six foot long paddles, to the launch location oh the beach adjacent to Fisherman's Wharf. Once on the beach, the group formally introduces themselves and the guides do their best to break the ice and put everyone at ease. This is followed by some basic paddling instruction on the land and the assignment of boats.

Customers are given the option of traveling solo or with a friend in a two-person boat. Off the Coast uses closed cockpit kayaks for their tours. In these boats the passenger's legs are inside the boat and covered by a skirt that is worn around the waist and hooked onto the edges of the cockpit.

One by one, the guides launch the passengers into the harbor, providing them with a little bit of warm up time to acclimate them to the boats, before heading out onto their plotted course.

Although the guides are present in case of emergency, a paddler is ultimately on his/her own in the water, having complete control over the pace and movements of the kayak. Once on the water, it is not difficult to pick up the skills necessary to maneuver one's boat, and a paddler can concentrate on the surroundings more than anything else.

Off the Coast's longer tours include a picnic lunch on the secluded beaches at Long Point and Wood End, which are accessible only by foot or by boat.

While these trips are not extremely demanding physically, one should be in reasonably good physical condition. A few hours of paddling gives you a pretty good workout and paddlers should expect a few sore muscles the next day. Tour costs for Off the Coast vary from $40 to $60. with discounts for couples and groups. They also offer rentals for half and full days. For reservations and information regarding Off the Coast's weekly schedule and special events call 487-2692.

Also offering kayaking tours in Provincetown Harbor is Flyer's, located at 131A Commercial St. (behind Gallerani's Café). Flyer's has been offering kayak rentals and tours for five seasons, building its fleet each year to meet increasing demands. Flyer's offers two-hour tours of the harbor, Tuesday through Friday, beginning at 10 a.m. They also offer kayaking clinics to help people become master paddlers. The cost is $35 for a tour or clinic. Customers can rent one or two-person kayaks at Flyer's for a half or full day. For kayaking information at Flyer's, call 487-0898

Fun Seekers, based in Wellfleet, offers kayaking tours, in addition to windsurfing, surfing, kite surfing and mountain biking. Eric Gustafson started the company eight years ago. Since then he has watched the popularity of kayaking take off.

"Everybody can do it," he says. "It's very user-friendly."

Gustafson is a self-taught master of outdoor sports. He is certified in Outdoor Emergency Care and CPR. He has been in the outdoor sport business for 20 years. As a self-proclaimed naturalist, through-out his tours he will point out various species of wildlife and plant life, as well as sharing some of the fascinating history that is hidden in the tidal rivers that he travels. With FunSeekers, paddlers can experience the tranquillity offered on the Pamet River, Herring River, Great Island, Nauset Marsh and Monomoy Island. One of the goals of Fun Seekers is to show people the side of the Cape that is not visible from Route 6.

The pace with Fun Seekers is easy and relaxing. Gustafson uses sit-on-top kayaks that do not have a cockpit, giving the paddlers legs a bit more freedom to move than with the closed-cockpit boats. With Gustafson, paddlers are also given thorough pre-launching instruction before being taken onto the water.

Throughout the course of the tour, paddlers learn to navigate around the winding patches of marsh grass and can take a break to cool off in the refreshing water beneath if they so desire.

Two-and-a-half hour scenic eco-tours through the tidal rivers of Truro and Wellfleet with Fun Seekers are $30 per person, including all equipment. Four-hour tours are $50 per person; Six-hour tours are $80 per person. To book with Fun Seekers call 349-1429.

As with any outdoor sport, scheduling depends on weather conditions, and, with kayaking, tides are a crucial factor as well. Customers are advised to allow themselves some flexibility when booking, as tours may be postponed or rescheduled due to the ever-changing weather conditions on the Cape. Gustafson uses kayaks from Jack's Boat Rentals of Wellfleet, which has been offering its customers kayaking options for over 25 years. However, according to Skip Barys of Jack's, there has been a noticeable increase in the demand for kayaks over recent years.

"Every year it increases," he says. "More and more people are having more and more fun."

Jack's has three locations, one on Route 6 in Wellfleet where customers can pick up kayaks for a day or longer and take them wherever they want to paddle from. The other two locations are waterfront, at Gull Pond in Wellfleet and Flax Pond in Brewster. Customers can rent kayaks from the waterfront locations for as little as half-an-hour.

To rent kayaks at Jack's, reservations are not necessary. The waterfront locations are open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Route 6 location is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For in- formation call 349-9808.

Breezing Along

Surf's Up

Blissful Boarding

Go With The Flow!

Disabilities
At The Dock

Kayak!

Hidden Cape

WINTER MEDIA