“My Instructors really helped me grow as a person. I looked to them in times of need and they always knew what to say. My Instructors gave me a new outlook on life and helped me change for the better. They inspired me to be better and stronger with everything that I do.” – Carl V., Alum
Paddle through the 200-mile stretch of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina where pirates once roamed.
From tales of the Lost Colony and the Wright Brothers, to Blackbeard and others, the Outer Banks are steeped in legends and history, setting the stage for an amazing experience. You and your crew will travel along the Cape Lookout National Seashore, learn to read tide charts, paddle past lighthouses and wild ponies and camp on sandy beaches each evening. Traveling by kayak means that your crew will be carrying all of the necessary gear, food, and water needed for the entire expedition. This kind of travel provides the ultimate freedom and ability to travel nimbly through this diverse ecosystem. Students should be ready to tackle the physical challenges of sea kayaking in varied weather, and the mental challenges of living and traveling in a group. Through these experiences crews will discover their true potential, build trust, physical fitness, confidence, leadership skills, initiative and compassion. No prior experience is necessary. You just have to be willing to dig deep, embrace the moment, and take on the challenge.
NOTE: For the health and safety of students and staff in the COVID-19 pandemic, students may be required to travel to course start by private transportation. Please work directly with your Course Advisor for your course for the most up-to-date and regionally-focused travel options. All students and staff must provide a current negative COVID-19 viral test result before arrival to course and/or consent to having a COVID-19 test administered at course start. Outward Bound requires students and staff to follow COVID-19 protocols for 14 days prior to course start and while traveling including physical distancing, wearing a mask in public, and frequent and thorough handwashing. For complete “Health and Safety Practices for Outward Bound Expeditions,” click here.
This course starts within the next week. Please call us at 866-467-7651 to assess the possibility of applying for this course!
Classic Courses
Are you ready to take a journey that will change your life? You won’t look at day-to-day drama the same way after you’ve conquered a high mountain ridge, made a boat obey your command in windswept waves or slept under the stars watching bats swoop overhead. Joining an Outward Bound expedition changes you. Your crew, your Instructors, your route and your adventures will have a profound and lasting impact on you as you rise to meet exhilarating natural challenges in some of the country’s wildest places.
Build skills, form connections: Learn and practice wilderness, teamwork and leadership skills. Find connections with your crewmates based on support and respect (and fun too!), and in the thick of challenges, discover there is more in you than you know.
Value strengths and strengthen values: Uncover your unique character strengths, develop your leadership abilities and learn how to let compassion in to everyday life by pushing your own limits and working alongside your peers.
Demonstrate mastery: As you gain confidence in new skills, take on more decision-making responsibilities. Work together to achieve team goals, solve problems and succeed both as individuals and as a group.
What you’ll learn: For High School students, the opportunities to carry more weight (literally and figuratively) and make impactful decisions with accompanying consequences fills the expedition as you go through numerous trials and triumphs. It’s all about independence.
After you come home, many of the character, leadership and service traits you uncovered on your expedition stay with you, helping you navigate your daily life with more resilience and success.
Sea Kayaking
On this course, students will be navigating the Outer Banks coastline, carrying everything they need in the hull of their sea kayak. Both single and tandem kayaks will be used and students will have the opportunity to spend time in both vessels. Depending on the wind and weather, the level of difficulty will vary from day to day. Crews will practice marine expedition risk assessment and management, route planning, navigation, paddle stroke techniques, kayak-based rescues and equipment use and its care. Once beached, the crew will practice cooking and Leave No Trace camping before tucking in for the night.
Service
Service to others and the environment is a core value of Outward Bound and is integrated into each course. Participants follow Leave No Trace ethics as service to the environment and do acts of service while leading and supporting fellow participants. Students develop a value of service, seeing the impact of their actions firsthand, and transfer this desire to serve their communities back home. On longer courses, students have the opportunity to do a formal service project with a local agency. Common projects include working with the Pacific Crest Trail Association doing trail work, the local food pantry and other local non-profit organizations. Service projects can be a few hours up to a full day.
Solo
A little more than halfway through course, students will participate in a reflection period called Solo. During this time, Instructors assign students their own individual spaces within a designated area. These sites are both secluded and within hearing distance of other group members and Instructors for safety. Students will be given all the necessary gear, food, water and skills to enjoy this time alone. Solo is a great opportunity for students to relax, recharge and reflect on their course after having long days of strenuous group activities. They also know the location of their Instructors should they need to contact them for any reason. Instructors will be monitoring students closely during this experience.
Outcomes
Acquire a taste for adventure on this eight-day Outward Bound experience, which reminds students of their connection to nature and leaves them feeling inspired to take on real challenge in their everyday life. Through these condensed experiences, students become comfortable living and working together in the wilderness while practicing the Four Pillars of Outward Bound; craftsmanship, self-reliance, physical fitness and compassion. Participants also create a solid foundation of skills that they can build upon once they return home.
Course Area
Outer Banks, North Carolina
Dotted with lighthouses, the Outer Banks are a 200-mile-long string of narrow barrier islands beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach and going down the North Carolina coastline. The Core and Pamlico Sounds, which are along the Cape Lookout National Seashore, remains minimally developed and offers the largest expanse of primal barrier island ecology available on the east coast. There are no residents on this 56-mile long section, which runs from Ocracoke Inlet in the northeast to Beaufort Inlet on the southeast. The three undeveloped barrier islands that make up the seashore - North Core Banks, South Core Banks and Shackleford Banks - offer many natural and historical features. These low profile, sandy, thinly vegetated islands are an International Biosphere Reserve for research and conservation purposes. . The unique ecosystem of the Outer Banks is made up of ocean waters, sandy beaches, vital wetlands, maritime forests, and a series of sounds, estuaries and salt marshes.
The diverse environment gives life to all kinds of creatures, from deer and wild horses, to sea turtles, ghost crabs and dolphins. Located on one of the great migratory flyways of America, birders come to the Outer Banks from all over the world to spot rare birds. The coastal winds of the Outer Banks still carry tales of The Lost Colony, Wilbur and Orville Wright and Blackbeard the Pirate. During the 19th century, the tricky shoals of the Outer Banks swallowed more than 650 ships, quickly earning the nickname "The Graveyard of the Atlantic." The result? An outcropping of lighthouses and shipwrecks, which continue to serve as famous landmarks for the Outer Banks today. These regions are the ancestral lands of the Hatteras, Roanoke and Croatan nations.
Begin kayak expedition, practice water rescue skills (T-rescue, wet exit, on-the-water re-entry)
DAY 3-4
Paddling: Learn navigation skills, reading tidal charts and flow, and using a weather radio
DAY 5
Paddling; Solo or Reflection Activity
DAY 6
Paddling; Lighthouse and Museum Visit
DAY 7
Paddle to Mainland; Town Day; Course-end Banquet and Ceremony
DAY 8
Course End; Transportation to Airport
Testimonial
“My Instructors really helped me grow as a person. I looked to them in times of need and they always knew what to say. My Instructors gave me a new outlook on life and helped me change for the better. They inspired me to be better and stronger with everything that I do.” – Carl V., Alum
If you are ready to enroll on a course click the enroll button next to the course you wish to select or you can enroll over the phone by speaking with one of our Admissions Advisors (toll-free) at 866-467-7651.
To secure your spot on a course you must submit an enrollment form and $500 deposit that is applied toward the total cost of the course and includes a $150 non-refundable enrollment processing fee.