The American Canoe Association - ACA has standardized 7 general open canoe courses for tandem and solo paddlers ,and a system of Work Shops called IDW and ICE for Instructor Development and Certification in these same disciplines. CAPCO teaches or sponsors all of these  (there are other courses and canoe disciplines:  poling, C-1 or decked canoeing, rodeo, sailing, racing, slalom, wild water, marathon, etc.) CAPCO also teaches One day Safety classes and a Swift Water Rescue course which is appropriate to canoe and river kayak. [the coastal kayak safety course is separate and apart from SWR]

The seven Canoe courses and Work Shops break down as follows:

• Two Distinct Introductory Courses :  
  • Quick Start your Canoe/Kayak (3 hrs.)- a flat water course suitable, e.g., for a canoe livery to give beginner patrons prior to an outing on flat water, in controlled circumstances.  Instructors are required to have an Introduction to paddling certification to teach this course. There is no "Quick Start" Certification. Many of our tours begin with a form of this course at the start.
  • Introduction to paddling Canoe/Kayak(6-8 hrs.)- more comprehensive than Quick Start, a course suitable, e.g.,  for scouts at a one day flat water summer camp. [CAPCO also teaches an Introduction to River course which is currently not a part of the ACA stable of courses.] This is our most popular course at both the student and Instructor level. The instructor cert course is a 2 day affair.
  • Introduction to RIVER Paddling, canoe. This course is called ESSENTIALS of River Canoe and is the "Intro course" above,  with the river component added.  This course takes one from flat water to moving water up to easy class 1 [generally without rapids]
• Five Comprehensive Canoeing Courses : 
  • Basic Flat Water or  Basic Canoeing (2 day stand alone course) - This is about 90% of all canoeing. note if one takes the Introduction to paddling course then Basic Canoeing would take one additional day)
  • Freestyle - advanced flat water - a 5 level course with a min. of 6 hours per level The Zen of Canoeing. (CAPCO sponsors this course with Karen Knight once each summer).
  • Basic River  (2 day stand alone course) (this is the other 90% of all canoeing . With Intro to paddling skills and proficiency, Basic River would take one additional day. At CAPCO we pride ourselves on giving River track students a solid and complete foundation in flat water skills... it's where WW skills come from)
    • NOTE: The basic courses are designed to use  either standard recreational canoes without special outfitting or equipment or WW outfitted canoes.
  • White Water (2 day course,  one day with  Basic River Prerequisite and proficiency)
  • Advanced White Water ( 2 day course,  one day with WW prerequisite and proficiency)
    • NOTE: Whitewater and Advanced WW canoeing requires special equipment, saddles, thigh straps, flotation bags, helmets and safety gear. It is not suitable for standard recreational canoes.
      
      
• Instructor Development and Instructor Certification Work Shops.
  • The instructor development work shop [IDW] is generally a 2 - 3 day course to teach potential teachers what they need to teach, how to teach it and how to demonstrate professionally in any or all of the above 7 standard courses.
    
  • The Instructor Certification Exam [ICE] or Workshop is generally a 1 or 2 day course/exa, where the student performs, demonstrates, teaches and is evaluated by an Instructor Trainer and is certified (or not) as an ACA instructor at a given level at the end of the course. 
    • Note - Unsuccessful candidates are given their deficiencies in detail. They may certify at a later date by demonstrating, through various means [demo, video of demo etc.] the correction of those deficiencies to the/an Instructor Trainer.

All of these courses are flexible as to time. e.g. an excellent flat water paddler will not need the same amount of time to develop moving water skills as a novice paddler. It's in the doing. Discretion to the Instructor. Conversely, the student who just completes a White Water Course should stay away from Niagara Gorge for a couple of days. Discretion to the paddler.

There is an online application form for classes, workshops etc - if we're not giving the course you want within your desired time frame we can steer you to a scheduled course. Lastly if you'd like to contact the ACA to join, inquire, find a form etc. the link to their new site is Becoming an Instructor - American Canoe Association - canoeing, kayaking, rafting resources . To go straight to the course outlines for Canoe and Kayak link to ACA has standardized 7 general open canoe courses for tandem and solo paddlers

The American Canoe Association - ACA has standardized 7 general open canoe courses for tandem and solo paddlers ,and a system of Work Shops called IDW and ICE for Instructor Development and Certification in these same disciplines. CAPCO teaches or sponsors all of these  (there are other courses and canoe disciplines:  poling, C-1 or decked canoeing, rodeo, sailing, racing, slalom, wild water, marathon, etc.) CAPCO also teaches One day Safety classes and a Swift Water Rescue course which is appropriate to canoe and river kayak. [the coastal kayak safety course is separate and apart from SWR]

The seven Canoe courses and Work Shops break down as follows:

• Two Distinct Introductory Courses :  
  • Quick Start your Canoe/Kayak (3 hrs.)- a flat water course suitable, e.g., for a canoe livery to give beginner patrons prior to an outing on flat water, in controlled circumstances.  Instructors are required to have an Introduction to paddling certification to teach this course. There is no "Quick Start" Certification. Many of our tours begin with a form of this course at the start.
  • Introduction to paddling Canoe/Kayak(6-8 hrs.)- more comprehensive than Quick Start, a course suitable, e.g.,  for scouts at a one day flat water summer camp. [CAPCO also teaches an Introduction to River course which is currently not a part of the ACA stable of courses.] This is our most popular course at both the student and Instructor level. The instructor cert course is a 2 day affair.
  • Introduction to RIVER Paddling, canoe. This course is called ESSENTIALS of River Canoe and is the "Intro course" above,  with the river component added.  This course takes one from flat water to moving water up to easy class 1 [generally without rapids]
• Five Comprehensive Canoeing Courses : 
  • Basic Flat Water or  Basic Canoeing (2 day stand alone course) - This is about 90% of all canoeing. note if one takes the Introduction to paddling course then Basic Canoeing would take one additional day)
  • Freestyle - advanced flat water - a 5 level course with a min. of 6 hours per level The Zen of Canoeing. (CAPCO sponsors this course with Karen Knight once each summer).
  • Basic River  (2 day stand alone course) (this is the other 90% of all canoeing . With Intro to paddling skills and proficiency, Basic River would take one additional day. At CAPCO we pride ourselves on giving River track students a solid and complete foundation in flat water skills... it's where WW skills come from)
    • NOTE: The basic courses are designed to use  either standard recreational canoes without special outfitting or equipment or WW outfitted canoes.
  • White Water (2 day course,  one day with  Basic River Prerequisite and proficiency)
  • Advanced White Water ( 2 day course,  one day with WW prerequisite and proficiency)
    • NOTE: Whitewater and Advanced WW canoeing requires special equipment, saddles, thigh straps, flotation bags, helmets and safety gear. It is not suitable for standard recreational canoes.
      
      
• Instructor Development and Instructor Certification Work Shops.
  • The instructor development work shop [IDW] is generally a 2 - 3 day course to teach potential teachers what they need to teach, how to teach it and how to demonstrate professionally in any or all of the above 7 standard courses.
    
  • The Instructor Certification Exam [ICE] or Workshop is generally a 1 or 2 day course/exa, where the student performs, demonstrates, teaches and is evaluated by an Instructor Trainer and is certified (or not) as an ACA instructor at a given level at the end of the course. 
    • Note - Unsuccessful candidates are given their deficiencies in detail. They may certify at a later date by demonstrating, through various means [demo, video of demo etc.] the correction of those deficiencies to the/an Instructor Trainer.

All of these courses are flexible as to time. e.g. an excellent flat water paddler will not need the same amount of time to develop moving water skills as a novice paddler. It's in the doing. Discretion to the Instructor. Conversely, the student who just completes a White Water Course should stay away from Niagara Gorge for a couple of days. Discretion to the paddler.

There is an online application form for classes, workshops etc - if we're not giving the course you want within your desired time frame we can steer you to a scheduled course. Lastly if you'd like to contact the ACA to join, inquire, find a form etc. the link to their new site is Becoming an Instructor - American Canoe Association - canoeing, kayaking, rafting resources . To go straight to the course outlines for Canoe and Kayak link to ACA has standardized 7 general open canoe courses for tandem and solo paddlers

Please click here to Register. [or the upper right corner of each page where it says register Logon] In order to sign up for classes and trips you need to be registered with CKAPCO. Registration is free and a one time event. After you register you simply sign in each time you come to the web site. This gives you access to "Member" information, sign ups etc. Please be sure to input phone contact and physical info. We usually call before events.

This is a link to the CKAPCO Calendar / Schedule. Click here to see up-coming classes and Trips. Below each calendar is a Yellow price/discount schedule of Classes and trips, and a PayPal link. 

Click on the Calendar face [i.e.March 28] to see details of that day's events.  Sign up and payment information is included in that detail, as well as a PayPal link for payment.

If you have any questions, comments, or would like to sign up for an event using a check, money order or gold boullion please contact Mike. 

Mike Aronoff (mikearonoff@aol.com)
703-264-8911 (7 AM - 6 PM EST please)

Please click here to Register. [or the upper right corner of each page where it says register Logon] In order to sign up for classes and trips you need to be registered with CKAPCO. Registration is free and a one time event. After you register you simply sign in each time you come to the web site. This gives you access to "Member" information, sign ups etc. Please be sure to input phone contact and physical info. We usually call before events.

This is a link to the CKAPCO Calendar / Schedule. Click here to see up-coming classes and Trips. Below each calendar is a Yellow price/discount schedule of Classes and trips, and a PayPal link. 

Click on the Calendar face [i.e.March 28] to see details of that day's events.  Sign up and payment information is included in that detail, as well as a PayPal link for payment.

If you have any questions, comments, or would like to sign up for an event using a check, money order or gold boullion please contact Mike. 

Mike Aronoff (mikearonoff@aol.com)
703-264-8911 (7 AM - 6 PM EST please)