Greetings Friends of Liquid Fusion Kayaking,

We challenge you to make 2016 your year. By taking time for ourselves, we become better able to care for others. We all need that special getaway - whether it is a weekend paddle or a paddling vacation. If paddling is your "thing" then we encourage you to get out and do it.

Sea kayaking and exploring Mendocino's rock gardens, arches, and sea caves.

Of course, we would encourage you to "getaway" to the Mendocino Coast and join Liquid Fusion Kayaking for kayaking classes and events. Here is why:

1. The Mendocino Coast is a spectacular place to paddle!. LFK's teaching environments on the Mendocino Coast include the community swimming pool, coastal estuaries, bays, rock gardens, and surf zones. Don't forget whitewater on the coast range. The options for instruction are endless. Most of our courses are 2 or more days because we find that you learn better when you can apply your learning immediately - especially under the trained eye and guidance of a coach.

2.. Multi-day Classes - Bottom line is that students learn more when they have consistent practice. We see progress during a class; however, the skill development and confidence that we see over multiple days of instruction is exponential. It gives students a chance not just to learn a skill but to own it. We pace our multi-day classes to be fun and instructional. With 2 or more days, we don't feel like we have to cram everything into one day. Nor do you feel like you have to work super hard to learn it all. Everything clicks nicely into place over a couple of days.

3. Professional instruction and coaching. All classes are taught by Jeff Laxier and/or Cate Hawthorne. We are dedicated instructors who are always working to raise the bar in our teaching skills. Yes, we do have a life but often a dinner conversation involves - "what if ," and the ideas explode and improved teaching tools are developed. Once you have taken classes from us, we have a relationship. Call or email us with questions . . . in the last week we have tele-coached students on boat outfitting, roll pointers, whitewater safety kit. We have not only the skills and experience but the teaching skills and experience to help.

Why we do it - Both of us feel a strong connection to nature and the outdoors. Our goal is to provide fun, personal, interactive, and educational adventures that garner appreciation for wildlife, nature, and kayaking. Why kayaking? In different ways, we both fell into it (stories for another time). However, we have found kayaking to be a great vehicle to explore and play in the outdoors and also a way to challenge ourselves and others. Know that feeling of accomplishment when you learned a new skill or overcome a challenge? Perhaps you succeeded on your own or perhaps you got that special help that helped you succeed We view ourselves as that special help and enjoy helping others to learn new skills, appreciate nature, and conquer challenges.

Liquid Fusion Kayaking's 2016 Classes

SEA Kayaking - Build a comprehensive sea kayak skill set with Liquid Fusion Kayaking's sea kayak programs.

Sea Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast of California

BCU 3 Star Sea Kayak Trainings are available for you to build your sea kayaking skills - strokes, team work, rescues, and navigation in moderate water. The 3 Star Assessment is a good way to gauge your skills and to guide further skill development.

LFK's Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino Series - Rock Gardening and Surf zone Instruction is LFK's specialty. We have developed a series of classes to teach specific rock garden and surf zone skills and to share our local knowledge of the Mendocino Coast. Join us for one or all of these specific instructional adventures. This is a great opportunity to see different stretches of the Mendocino Coast that are not typically paddled by clubs and other outfitters and learn from the local paddling experts. Saturday will be primarily instruction and Sunday will be skill application as we paddle, explore, and play on a stretch of the Mendocino Coast specific to the weekend's skill focus.

May 14-15 Touring Ocean Rock Gardens - Learn to read the water, choose routes, and paddle in rock gardens as a team.

June 11-12 Surf-zone FUN-damentals - Launch, land, and play in the surf with control and finesse.

July 9-10 The Art of the Pour-over - Perfect your timing and precision paddling to ride rock garden features like pour-overs.

August 13-14 Magical Mendocino Sea Caves - Tips, tricks, and sea cave exploration.

Want the whole series at once? Sign up for our 5 day Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino Adventure in September 2-6.

Private Lessons/Custom Tours - aka Mendo Your Way - Let us know what skills you want to work on or sights you want to experience, and we will design a custom adventure for you. We do this for individuals as well as groups.

WHITEWATER - Enjoy the Challenge and Thrill of Whitewater River Kayaking

Whitewater River Kayaking in Northern California

The regular pattern of precipitation that Northern California has been experiencing is exciting. 2016 is shaping up to be a great year for whitewater river kayaking. The Eel River is flowing, and we anticipate having whitewater on it well into the spring. The Eel is our backyard run, and we know it at its different flows like the back of our hand. Let us share the fun, beauty, and excitement of whitewater kayaking on the Eel River with you. Schedule a private lesson or custom run with us or join us on one of our scheduled whitewater classes or runs.

Are you a sea or surf kayaker interested in learning to run whitewater rivers? If so, join us for our Whitewater Kayaking Class April 2-4. This class is for intermediate kayakers who want to learn the skills for whitewater river kayaking. Skills will include strokes specific to whitewater kayaks, hydrology, river running skills, rolling in current, and whitewater safety.

Whitewater of the Sea - aka rock gardening in whitewater kayaks - private lessons are available through May. In May, we will have regular whitewater of the sea adventures available. From adventurous beginners through advanced whitewater kayakers, whitewater of the sea is a fun and challenging adventure.

Whitewater Kayaking in Ocean Rock Gardens on the Mendocino Coast

SURF - Planning across the green face of a wave is pure bliss!!! Learn the tricks of getting onto that wave and carving turns on the wave with an LFK Performance Surf Class. Many paddlers bumble about learning to surf by tagging along with others. Don't risk developing poor habits . . . get surfing better sooner with instruction.

Mendo Your Way - Let us know what skills you want to work on or sights you want to experience, and we will design a custom adventure for you, your paddling posse, or family. From dry and mild to wet and wild in sea, river, and surf . . . the potential for fun is very high. Contact us and let's do it! Remember our special fall/winter private lesson rates are available through March.

Custom Sea Kayak Tour on the Mendocino Coast

Get out your calendar out and start planning to kayak Mendocino in 2016!!!

WOW! The first week of summer on the Mendocino Coast has been amazing. Sunny, warm, and with relatively calm ocean conditions. Our summer kayak tours are in full swing and we are getting rave reviews from all ages and abilities about our Mendocino kayaking tours and classes.

Our kayak tours and classes get a thumbs up! — Our kayak tours and classes get a thumbs up!

Of course we can't take all the credit. Mother Nature has definitely been cooperative. In Fort Bragg, our dry and mild kayak tours on the Noyo River have been spectacular. Highlights have been all the babies. From river otters to newly fledged birds, the Noyo River is teeming with wildlife and their young, and we are enjoying the show from our kayaks.

Another gorgeous day for a family kayaking on the Noyo River. — Another gorgeous day for a family kayaking on the Noyo River.

One of our favorites of the summer is seeing the newly fledged Belted Kingfishers learning how to fish from their parents. The adult will catch a fish and stun or kill it then drop it into the water for the fledgling to retrieve.

Newly fledged Belted Kingfishers on Fort Bragg's Noyo River

For the most part, our ocean conditions have been unseasonably calm. In addition to playing in the whitewater and waves on our Whitewater of the Sea Adventures, we are getting to kayak into some of the sea caves.

Kayaking into a Sea Cave along the Mendocino Coast

We are definitely pegging the fun meter with these trips. It is really fun to introduce all skill levels including beginners to the fun of rock gardening.

A beginning kayaker rock gardening on the Mendocino Coast.

It has also been fun to see students excelling in our kayaking classes. Our Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino has been a success. It has been fun to have a specific focus each month on the specific paddling skills and features of the Mendocino Coast. Our next class is The Art of Pour-Overs (a pour-over is a popular rock gardening maneuver where a kayaker rides a swell or wave over a rock). We can't wait to get our students running pour-overs with finesse and style.

In August, The Art of Sea Kayaking takes us into the Magical Mendocino Sea Caves. If you want ooouuus and ahhhhhs this is a trip not to miss. In 2 days, we will be exploring and playing in some of our favorite sea caves of the Mendocino Coast.

Sea kayaking through Mendocino sea caves.

If you haven't made it out on the water with us this summer, there is still time. Check out our calendar or give us a call and let's get out there!

Art of Sea Kayaking Mendocino 5 Day

Kayaking in Mendocino in 2016

Of course, we would encourage you to "getaway" to the Mendocino Coast and join Liquid Fusion Kayaking for kayaking classes and events. Here is why:

Liquid Fusion Kayaking's 2016 Classes

SEA Kayaking - Build a comprehensive sea kayak skill set with Liquid Fusion Kayaking's sea kayak programs.

WHITEWATER - Enjoy the Challenge and Thrill of Whitewater River Kayaking

Get out your calendar out and start planning to kayak Mendocino in 2016!!!

Fall Kayaking on the Mendocino Coast

Summer Kayaking is in Full Swing on the Mendocino Coast