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Eight young women from across Dominica have successfully completed the island’s first all-female youth-led sea kayak expedition, marking the second stage of the Rising Tides Environmental Youth Leadership Course. This transformative program is funded by the Government of Canada through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), delivered in partnership with the Dominica Olympic Committee, and facilitated with the Soufrière Outdoor Centre.
The Rising Tides Environmental Youth Leadership Course is designed to equip young leaders aged 15–18 with practical skills, environmental knowledge, and the confidence to shape Dominica’s future. The course began in Soufrière, where participants explored topics such as climate change and resilience, identity and belonging, and were certified in Red Cross Standard First Aid. They also gained foundational skills in kayaking and swimming under the guidance of Soufrière Outdoor Centre’s Weston Moses and his team, led by Rising Tides Co-Director Sky Fishleigh, with support from Sonja Weincke and Erica Armstrong.
The second phase of the program took the group north to Portsmouth to embark on a section of the Waitukubuli Sea Kayak Trail, the Caribbean’s first long-distance sea kayaking route. Starting at Coconut Beach, the participants paddled to Fort Shirley in Cabrits National Park, where they joined a workshop on young women’s empowerment in Dominica, unpacking gender stereotypes and creating personal empowerment plans.
On Day Two, the group completed a 10 km paddle from Fort Shirley to the Indian River and back, led by Cobra Tours, followed by an evening workshop with Jeanelle Brisbane, founder of Wild Dominique, on the island’s ecological resilience and biodiversity protection.
The final day saw the young leaders join Kerrin Massarueh, founder of the BMORE.AG Foundation, for a session on youth leadership in food systems and food security. The course concluded with a paddle from Fort Shirley to Toucari, guided by Weston Moses, with behind-the-scenes support from Kish Tours and Numero Uno Taxi Services.
Throughout the expedition, participants reflected on the intersections of history, environment, and identity, sitting within the colonial ruins of Fort Shirley while envisioning a sustainable, unified future for Dominica.
The Rising Tides team calls on the nation to continue supporting youth-driven environmental leadership. These participants leave the program equipped not only with sea kayaking and safety skills, but also with the determination to build a more resilient, climate-conscious Dominica.
About the Waitukubuli Sea Kayak Trail
The Waitukubuli Sea Kayak Trail is the first long-distance sea kayaking route in the Caribbean, connecting Dominica’s coastline through a series of paddling stages that highlight the island’s stunning natural landscapes and rich cultural heritage.
Eight young women from across Dominica have successfully completed the island’s first all-female youth-led sea kayak expedition, marking the second stage of the Rising Tides Environmental Youth Leadership Course. This transformative program is funded by the Government of Canada through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), delivered in partnership with the Dominica Olympic Committee, and facilitated with the Soufrière Outdoor Centre.
The Rising Tides Environmental Youth Leadership Course is designed to equip young leaders aged 15–18 with practical skills, environmental knowledge, and the confidence to shape Dominica’s future. The course began in Soufrière, where participants explored topics such as climate change and resilience, identity and belonging, and were certified in Red Cross Standard First Aid. They also gained foundational skills in kayaking and swimming under the guidance of Soufrière Outdoor Centre’s Weston Moses and his team, led by Rising Tides Co-Director Sky Fishleigh, with support from Sonja Weincke and Erica Armstrong.
The second phase of the program took the group north to Portsmouth to embark on a section of the Waitukubuli Sea Kayak Trail, the Caribbean’s first long-distance sea kayaking route. Starting at Coconut Beach, the participants paddled to Fort Shirley in Cabrits National Park, where they joined a workshop on young women’s empowerment in Dominica, unpacking gender stereotypes and creating personal empowerment plans.
On Day Two, the group completed a 10 km paddle from Fort Shirley to the Indian River and back, led by Cobra Tours, followed by an evening workshop with Jeanelle Brisbane, founder of Wild Dominique, on the island’s ecological resilience and biodiversity protection.
The final day saw the young leaders join Kerrin Massarueh, founder of the BMORE.AG Foundation, for a session on youth leadership in food systems and food security. The course concluded with a paddle from Fort Shirley to Toucari, guided by Weston Moses, with behind-the-scenes support from Kish Tours and Numero Uno Taxi Services.
Throughout the expedition, participants reflected on the intersections of history, environment, and identity, sitting within the colonial ruins of Fort Shirley while envisioning a sustainable, unified future for Dominica.
The Rising Tides team calls on the nation to continue supporting youth-driven environmental leadership. These participants leave the program equipped not only with sea kayaking and safety skills, but also with the determination to build a more resilient, climate-conscious Dominica.
About the Waitukubuli Sea Kayak Trail
The Waitukubuli Sea Kayak Trail is the first long-distance sea kayaking route in the Caribbean, connecting Dominica’s coastline through a series of paddling stages that highlight the island’s stunning natural landscapes and rich cultural heritage.
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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
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