“I have hiked hundreds of miles and climbed dozens of mountains to enjoy some of the remotest places on earth. All of these avocations have brought me great joy and satisfaction, but none of them has left me feeling haunted by the experience the way this weekend has.”

- S Wiggins

Trips, Courses, Beginners to Novice, Novice to Intermediate, Advanced Professionals, BOOK YOUR COURSE

Come get a paddle wet

Maine Island Kayak Co’s traditional on water courses are designed to provide effective learning of boat handling skills, safety and seamanship with an awareness of the magic of our marine environment. Regardless of your level of commitment, safe sea paddling requires good seamanship and effective decision-making for your group.

Any MIKCo course is available for private booking with your group of 4 or more.

MIKCo continues to offer Private Courses, Trips and Trainings to your group of friends or business associates turn key or a la carte.

BCU & Nordkapptrust Courses Instructor & Guide Training:

MIKCO provides some of the finest, professional Outdoor Leadership Training available. Instructor & Expedition Guide programming contains carefully crafted progressions designed to cover the full range of skill sets, judgmental & leadership standards. These are intensive, in-depth trainings based on standards of the industry, BCU, Nordkapp Trust and ACA models, and our decades of real world experience. The British Canoe Union system has been developed over the last 40 years by some of the world’s leading paddlers.

BCU Paddling Skills Trainings & Certifications:

The following BCU courses are rigorous training’s followed by separate Assessments for paddlers engaged in the BCU, or for those wanting greater depth or measurement of their skills.

• BCU 2 & 3 Star Training & Assessment

  The 3 star award signals your arrival at the intermediate level of paddling skill, and is a prerequisite for Coach 2 Training. Most paddlers can become 2 STAR, while a 3 STAR paddler has a full range of well-developed, confident, committed strokes with solid high braces, sculling for support & bow rudders.

• BCU 4 Star Sea Leader

  The BCU 4 Star Leader Sea Kayak award aims to develop a trip leader skills and leadership abilities to lead, to guide a group of up to four paddlers on shorter day journeys in moderate tidal water with winds and sea states below Force 5. It is a leadership award, not a coach award. This is a welcome advancement to the older BCU 4 Star and moves this new award toward the existing 5 Star award. It extends the leadership requirement reach down toward those interested in leading others on the sea, but who are less experienced than the 5 Star paddler. This new 4 Star expects its candidates to have a working understanding of the variety of environments, conditions, hazards and overall responsibilities applied to leading other paddlers in moderate tidal conditions and sea states. Training is three days, assessment is two days. Pre-requisites.

• BCU Canoe Safety Test

  General paddlesport safety training and assessment designed to provide basic rescue skills. The course will cover simple lifesaving & First Aid, basic deep-water assisted and self rescue and simple towing techniques. First Aid and CPR recommended.

BCU Instructor & Coach Trainings & Certifications:

For those seeking Coach (Instructor) certifications. The required trainings inform you of the standards of the Assessment while providing training.

• Coach 2-Training & Assessment

  For those wishing to introduce and teach beginners and novices kayaking on simple waters or sheltered coastal waters to a Star 2 level. Training is 2 days.

• Coach 3-Training & Assessment

  For those in charge of kayaking activities for a school, club or outfitter, able to teach to an intermediate level including expeditioning on moderate sea conditions. Training is 3 days.

Guide & Leadership Trainings & Certifications:

The Nordkapp Trust (NT) and BCU offer increasingly demanding levels of training & certification for the committed Guide. The emphasis is on leadership instead of instructing.

• Anglesey, Wales BCU 5 Star Training Week

  Join us in Anglesey each September for a 5 day BCU 5 Star Training at Nigel Dennis’s Sea Kayaking UK Centre. Train and paddle along the cliffs and exposed coasts of Holy Island jutting out into the Irish Sea. Experience the beauty and power of North and South Stack races, and the infamous Penryn Mahw. As Nigel says ‘If you can paddle comfortably here, you can paddle most anywhere’.

• BCU 5 Star Training

  The BCU’s demanding leadership award for guides, trip leaders and advanced paddlers taking people offshore in exposed & open sea conditions. Training is 3 days.

• Maine Guide Training Workshop

  MIKCO’s intensive 5-7 day training for coastal guides, instructors and trip leaders will develop personal paddling and seamanship skills while emphasizing leadership and decision making in Maine’s Spring to Fall conditions. The format is designed to train you to operate in more exposed zones and open ocean conditions, while evaluating and training your group to perform at its best. The course is appropriate for those with a clear commitment to leading or guiding others on multi day trips in exposed conditions.

• Expedition Training...Mexico

  For the intermediate paddler, trip leader or guide, MIKCO provides this Expedition Training in the dry and deserted midriff islands of the Sea of Cortez where we’ll attempt to paddle the remote southern shore of this sea’s largest island, the ancestral home of the Seri Indians. We’ll reach their sacred island San Esteban if we decide to challenge the tidal crossing. Develop your expedition based, leadership thinking and risk assessment in a real world, remote venue where mistakes can be a serious emergency. High cliffs, sea caves, unbelievable beachcombing...cactus forests, Blue Footed Boobies, coyote bands, mysterious nights, a pod of Finback whales, unknown sea creatures, in a brutally dry desert wilderness. This is the real deal for the right paddlers looking to expand their expedition resumes. Prior experience required. February.