Center offers wilderness-career courses

Talk about a week when the world turned upside down. Last week’s tragic attack on our country was enough to shake anybody’s faith in humanity. The images burned into our heads through repeated television broadcasts and publications will not be forgotten, and our lifestyles will be altered.

I find it impossible to answer the question of why or to understand the hatred that provoked it.

As we try to patch our lives back together and resume a routine, let’s not forget those who will be suffering personal losses for months to come.

As you look forward, why not consider taking a course or two in the wilderness careers offerings at United Technologies Center on Hogan Road in Bangor? There’s still time, for example, to sign up for a course that will help you become a Registered Maine Guide to lead sea kayak tours. If you have paddled for a few years and want to step up to another level, this would be a great way to improve your skills and maybe earn some money on the side. Who knows, you may find yourself a different career.

There are several other outdoor-related courses and clinics that still have openings as well. Two courses involve navigation training, one for land navigation, the other for sea navigation. And there are two clinics for paddlers – one for sea kayak rescue skills, the other for kayak rolling skills.

For those of you who didn’t catch an earlier column on these courses, I’ll review briefly their content.

A friend, Karen Francoeur, is teaching the sea kayak courses and clinics. An American Canoe Association instructor and Registered Maine Guide, she has taught the sea kayak guide course now for three semesters (several of her graduates have gone on to take the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife exam and become registered guides). Others have taken the course just to improve their kayaking skills and learn more about this fast-growing sport.

By the way, the state charges $100 to administer the two-part written and oral exams.

In the sea kayak guide course, Francoeur will help you increase your knowledge about the advanced skills necessary to guide others on the waters of the ocean in Maine. Classes will focus on group management skills, rescue techniques and ocean navigation.

In addition, there will be a weekend camping trip on the water to allow participants to apply and test their newly acquired skills. Test dates for the Maine Sea Kayak Guide’s license will be coordinated through United Technologies Center. There also will be an opportunity to upgrade your first aid skills.

The fee for this course is $245. Call the school at 942-5296 for a schedule of classes that will begin Sept. 25.

If learning to navigate your kayak is important to you, and anyone who paddles on the ocean should know at least the basics, then sign up for Francoeur’s four-week sea kayak navigation class. In this course you will learn the tools of the trade and how to use them – set a course, follow a bearing and maintain a heading. Trip planning will allow you to explore new places with the comfort of knowing where you are, even in the fog. The course will include applied chart work, compass work and navigation on the water in kayaks. Class dates are Oct. 10, 17, 24, with a day trip on the water on Nov. 3. The class fee is $175.

Want to learn the best self-rescue skill there is? Take a rolling clinic on Friday nights, Oct. 19 and 26. The fee for this two-part clinic is $85.

If you’re new to kayaks, you should at least know some basic rescue skills. These will be taught in another clinic on Friday, Sept. 21. Learn how to be ready for the unexpected. Practice wet exits, partnership rescues and self-rescue in the comfort of a pool environment. The fee is $55.

And finally, UTC has room for more students in Master Guide Dick Parker’s land navigation course. In this seven-week introductory-level course, Parker will introduce you to the world of modern land navigation. Topics include map and compass, GPS and computer-aided navigation. Parker, by the way, is a bear on GPS. If you want to learn how to use this valuable instrument effectively with a map and compass, this is the course for you. Believe me, this guy knows which quadrant he’s standing in and you owe it to yourself to check out this course.

Jeff Strout’s column is published on Thursdays. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.