WAKE Trip Participation Requirements     

To help ensure WAKE-related kayaking trips are safe, all participants in a WAKE trip must meet basic skill and equipment requirements. That includes the following:

Skills:

Before taking part in a WAKE trip, any participant must have demonstrated they can:

1. Perform an unassisted wet exit from their kayak.
2. Successfully get back into their kayak after capsizing and performing a wet exit, while another paddler stabilizes the boat (assisted rescue). Includes pumping water from boat and reinstalling spray skirt.

NOTE: If you require any special equipment to get back into your boat, such as a stirrup, you must have it and show that you can use it as part of the rescue.

Equipment:

To take part in a WAKE trip, any participant must have the following equipment:

1. Seaworthy kayak: Kayak that will float when fully flooded (e.g. watertight bulkheads with hatch covers in good condition or working floatbags)
2. Spray skirt
3. Paddle
4. Personal flotation device (PFD)
5. Clothing appropriate for improving the chance of surviving immersion in the water in which the trip is happening (e.g. a wetsuit or drysuit for cold water).
6. Any accessory needed to get back into your boat during an assisted rescue (stirrup, paddle float, etc.)

Please note, these are the minimum requirements for any trip. Depending on the trip, the leader may adjust required skills or equipment.

These requirements apply to club guests joining a trip as well as club members.

How to get skills certification for participation in a WAKE trip

To be able to register for a WAKE trip through the club website, a club member will need to be certified as having met the basic participation requirements (wet exit and assisted rescue).

Certification can be earned by demonstrating the skills to a WAKE trip and/or club leader. That “badge” will then be added to your online WAKE member profile, unlocking the ability to register for a trip.

Certification can also come in the form of confirmation from a sea kayak instruction organization (e.g. Mountaineers; Body Boat Blade; Community Boat Center) that you have successfully demonstrated these skills.

Our goal is to make certification as simple and accessible as possible. That certification can happen in a number of settings:

1. An instructional event put on by WAKE, including a pool session or the annual Symposium.
2. Contacting a person in club leadership and asking to meet for certification.
3. Immediately prior to a trip.

NOTE: You will be unable to sign up online for the trip in advance if you don’t have certification. But you can contact the trip leader who may be willing to meet with you pre-trip so you can demonstrate required skills. A trip leader can permit you to join the trip if:

1. You demonstrate the required skills
2. There is room on the trip
3. You meet all other requirements established for the specific trip.

The rules as listed above were adopted by the WAKE Board on June 8, 2026, to take effect Nov. 1, 2026. See a PDF of the rules here: Trip Participation Requirements