How to Go Squirt Boating

Squirt boating is a mix of kayaking and submarining. It's a sport that's capturing the attention of the white water world, and giving adventure to those for whom kayaking was not quite enough. You can do it to!

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Find a squirt boat that's right for you. The boat should be customized to fit the paddler, so excess volume is eliminated. Look for them at your local sports store, or places online such as the Family Boat Shop.
2. Get all the gear and safety gear you need: helmet, life preserver and paddle (looks like kayak paddle). These can also be found at a sports equipment store.
3. Start on pretty calm water first. If you have some experience kayaking, you have a leg up. The beauty of the squirt boat is that you can purposefully submerge it and do cool moves, like go vertical with the bow in the air, or even completely submerge and pop up some distance away like a loon.
4. Work your way up to more and more rapid water. You will need to build up your strength as you get more into the sport of squirt boating. As 23-year-old Brendan Mark, current world squirt champion and squirt instructor at Liquid Skills, an Ottawa River-based kayaking school told the Montreal Mirror, "Squirt boating tends to be male-dominated because a lot of power is required… Squirting is mostly about abs, balancing, upper body and obliques. You have to be strong because squirting is so responsive. You don't have that stabilizing effect you do in normal kayaking."
5. Find a place to squirt that's recommended by other squirters, and watch them tackle the tough stuff, then try it yourself. Get pointers, and have a heck of a time. Above all, be safe.