Great Whites, 'That Other Kayak' Curriculum, and VHS Superstardom
Cathy Piffath, H2Outfitters
From Down East Magazine, courtesy of Jeff Cooper
Have you ever stopped to wonder when your favorite outdoor activity or hobby became mainstream? How lesson and training programs get started? Where the threshold is that gets crossed, making it apparent that training instructors or guides has to happen so that newbies stay safe and maximize their enjoyment?
My guest today, Cathy Piffath of H2Outfitters in Harpswell, Maine, is ready to fill you in.
Obviously people of the Wabanacki Nations had been paddling the coasts of New England for centuries before outdoor enthusiasts decided that sea kayaking was a hot new thing. But when those of us who didn’t have generations of experience to fall back on started tempting fate off-shore in tiny little plastic or fiberglass boats in the 80s, someone had to step in to protect us from ourselves.
Cathy Piffath and her partner, Jeff Cooper, were the people that The American Canoe Association turned to for intel specific to sea kayaking, since they had recently started taking groups out to paddle the waters around their home base on Orr’s Island. So if you’ve ever gone out sea kayaking, or taken a lesson from an ACA-certified sea kayaking instructor, you’ve got Cathy (and Jeff) to thank!
I so so SO love hearing and sharing stories from women who are just quietly living their best life, doing things they love, with people they love, in places they love! Totally got all the feels from this one.
I hope you’ll check out all of Cathy and Jeff’s cool offerings at H2Outfitters.com, or @H2Ooutfitters on Instagram and Facebook. But be forewarned, once you go out with H2Outfitters you’ll probably be hooked, and have to go scrounging around for your own gear.... And kayaks are kind of a b*tch to squeeze into the gear closet, just sayin’.
Some useful links from our conversation: