It all started in 1965, when a friend introduced Stuart Farina to the sport. He then brought his love from Nebraska to Vermont in 1988, and has been sharing his knowledge of the sport with people every since. While living in Nebraska Farina began building classic wooden kayaks, after a friend introduced him to the water vehicle. After his move to the Green Mountain State, he began teaching college students the proper way to kayak. In 1999 the Dean of Lyndon State asked Farina to start a class that would be offered twice a year.

The lessons happen in the school's pool, where Farina can teach the fundamentals of kayaking as well as several emergency procedures to follow when in a predicament. So far this course has taught nearly 250 students how to kayak. These students may or may not have ever been in a kayak before.

The hopeful result of the course is that the students could handle the water as a kayaker in real life.