PORT ANGELES — Kayaking enthusiasts will be able to try out the newest in kayaks and paddleboards at the 11th annual Port Angeles Kayak Symposium from April 15-17.
Registration is being accepted for classes.
More than 300 sea kayakers, standup paddleboarders and those who want to try out the sports are expected at the symposium on Hollywood Beach at the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St.
The symposium will be from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, April 15; from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 16; and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 17.
Browsing and talking to exhibitors will be free.
For $5 or a food bank donation, visitors can try out kayaks and paddleboards.
Classes ranging from beginning paddling clinics to advanced-level courses will cost between $5 and $35 per session.
The Red Lion Hotel’s Peninsula Room will host 17 sessions of classroom instruction and entertainment.
Deb Volturno will lead a clinic on “Debacle Deterrence,” a two-hour risk-management clinic, and host a show featuring the exploits of the Tsunami Rangers, of which she is a long-standing member.
She and Gary Korb will teach experienced paddlers how to build their skills in the surf.
Standup paddleboard instructor Rob Casey will lead three clinics for beginner paddlers and one for more experienced sport practitioners in the surf.
Also planned will be a rescue skills contest, a kayak polo tourney, clinics on racing skills for those who want to join the growing paddlesports competition circuit and, on both weekend mornings, an hour of movement with the Feldenkrais method titled “Whole Body Kayaking” and led by Peninsula local Jory Kahn.
Keynote speakers will talk from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. both April 15 and 16 in the Peninsula Room at the Red Lion Hotel. Admission will be $5.
On April 15, Shane Robinson of the Kamchatka Project will talk about an expedition to explore Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula last summer.
The next night, Don Keisling of the Tsunami Rangers will speak.
To register for classes, visit http://tinyurl.com/y3phqu9.
For more information, phone Bill Walker at 206-940-6269 or email rubycreekboathouse@gmail.com.
