BCU Assessment Weekend

Whilst I've been active over the winter months with various personal paddling adventures, running bespoke coaching sessions for a number of established clients and providing BCU Level 5 mentoring time for Phil Clegg, who I am proud to say was successful in gaining the award a few weeks ago, things have somewhat quiet on the assessment front so far in 2011 after what was a busy autumn delivering a several BCU 4* and Level 3 Coach courses. However, momentum has picked up once more starting with a trip out to Denmark last weekend and with several more assessments set in the calendar for the remainder of the year.

So at the request of Nick Cunliffe of Kayak Essentials with whom I have work alongside on several BCU courses in the past, and organised by Michael Schuh of Kayak Gaarden, I travelled out to Rømø in the central Jutland region to staff a BCU 4* Sea assessment. As a consequence, I had the pleasure of being out in a new paddling area in the company of Michael, Rene, Michael, Jens-Pavia, Morten and Ingolf along with Nick as course provider.

Day one had us launching from the beach at Sønderby, which involved what has to be the longest carry to the shoreline I have had to do for some time! Once on the water, the team were put through their paces taking on several leadership and navigation legs followed by a number of incident management scenarios. An novel element to the day was the 3 km crossing between Rømø and the island of Syllt, which lies in German jurisdiction. The waters between the two islands offered up some interesting tidal flow for us to play around in as well.

Havenby harbour was the setting for the second day of the assessment and the weather provided us with  suitable wind conditions to further test the paddling performance of candidates. It was clear that each  one of the team was competent and capable, regardless of whether they used a Greenland 'stick' or Euro 'blade'. Nick and I decided to conclude the course with a group incident to deal with, which they completed well with a coordinated effort and good humour. 

Its always a good moment at the end of an assessment to announce to everyone that they have been successful bar none. Then, after big handshakes all round and individual feedback dispensed, Michael kindly took Nick and myself back to Billund airport, a journey filled with stories, sight seeing and plan making. I would like to thank Michael also for ensuring I got to paddle an Tiderace Xcite for the two days as well as use of his Mitchell Atlantis paddles and Greenland stick.

Get in touch if you are interested in completing a BCU assessment course or just wish to look at your skills development in a boat.

More pictures of this course available here

Incident Report

A man and a woman are recovering this evening after they were found with their sailing dinghy on Loch Bracadale. 

Stornoway Coastguard were contacted by Falmouth Coastguard at 9.20 pm this evening to report that a personal locator beacon (PLB) was transmitting from a position in the Isle of Skye area. Stornoway Coastguard made some enquiries and discovered that the PLB belonged to a 49-year old local man. They spoke to his father who told them that his son was an experienced kayaker. A short while later the husband of a woman made a 999 call to the Coastguard reporting that his wife, who had gone out dinghy sailing with a friend in the same area had not returned and he was concerned for her safety. 

Whilst the Coastguard pieced all of this information together, they also scrambled the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter and requested the launch of the Mallaig RNLI lifeboat. They also discussed the incident with the Dunvegan Coastguard Rescue Team, who reported that one of their members had seen the dinghy in question earlier in the evening. The team were therefore sent to spot the vessel from the shore. A police officer from Portree Police also attended the scene. 

Due to the locator beacon, the helicopter and lifeboat were able to find the pair with ease. They had been sailing a wayfarer sailing dinghy which had capsized and had problems with its sails. When the helicopter arrived they were attempting to row the dinghy to shore. The helicopter airlifted the pair to Broadford Hospital landing site. They were then taken on to hospital where they were treated for mild hypothermia. 

Carol Collins, Stornoway Coastguard Watch Manager says..."It is unusual for us to receive personal locator beacon hits, but in this case, this was the ideal piece of communications equipment for these people to be carrying. It meant that we were able to locate them swiftly and ensure that we got the right help to them quickly".

Support the RNLI by becoming a member or making a donation.

Anglesey Symposium 2011

Spring has sprung and with it comes the annual event of the Anglesey Sea Kayak Symposium, organised by Nigel Dennis and based out of Anglesey Outdoors near Holyhead. This year saw the gathering endure unrelenting Easterly winds which made for interesting paddling conditions and the need for flexible venue choices. Nonetheless, despite the weather, everyone was in high spirits and keen to experience all that Anglesey and the numerous guest coaches had to offer. Some participants even speculated over whether we might stumble across William and Kate walking on a beach after their big day.

After the morning meeting on Saturday, I was teamed up with Jen Kleck, Phil Hadley and Sonja Ewen to run a day long 'moving water' workshop. With the conditions as they were, the decision was made to head over to the Menai Straits and take advantage of the tidal flow there. Once at the Porth Daniel slipway we split into small teams so that we could each make best use of the Straits and enhance the experience for those paddlers who had signed up. And so it was that Rosie, Andreas, Tony, Jens and Anna got to work on wind wave turns, break ins, break outs, ferry glides and even some trick manoeuvres before I allowed them to break for lunch. After which, the team was encouraged to practice an number of 'get wet' routines before finishing with some surfing.

In contrast, on Sunday I joined up with my good friend Aled Williams of Tiderace Sea Kayaks notoriety, along with Nico Middlekoop, to run another day long clinic this time going by the title of "Intermediate Tideraces and Overfalls". Aled's unique style of 'on the water' group management came into play as the three of us lead / guided / cajoled nineteen paddlers around the Stacks and onto Porth Dafarch, having launched from Soldiers Point. In essence, we each managed a handful of paddlers which gave time for small pods to play in the races but when journeying between locations it may have looked like a ungainly flotilla of sea kayaks at times. 

As with all such events, the enjoyment not only comes from being on the water but also the time spent socialising with fellow paddlers from all over the globe. Most notably this year with folk from Spain, Germany and Denmark. Saturday night had Eila Wilkinson, possibly the most effervescent sea kayaker I know, present to a full house about her exploits with Sonja Ewen when they set off to circumnavigate Ireland last year. And such things need to be followed by a sound evening in the newly refurbished Paddler's Return with the like of Jim Krawiecki, that great pompitous of wit, for company over a beer.

Monday was an entirely different proposition for me. Whilst some folk were going on trips and others were experiencing Greenland games with Marc Alcober from Cataluna down at Porth Dafarch, I got to work with Greg, Rene, Mattias, Eila and Tom who have all started upon the pathway that will lead them to becoming BCU 4* Sea Assessors. The first part of their apprenticeship involves attending a BCU Generic Assessor Training day that is concerned with exploring issues that arise within the syllabus and assessment processes. After which they can go on to completing a discipline specific training day. With the breadth of experience in the room and worldy insights from active coaches operating in Connecticut, Switzerland, Sweden and Tyneside as well as Anglesey, the discussions were healthy, activities lively and no-one appeared to mind being indoors for most of it.

With this event now over I begin to turn my attention to future symposiums that I will be contributing to this year - Paddle Orkney '11, as well as organising - 6th UK Storm Gathering Symposium. In the meantime, I would like to thank Kokatat, Tiderace and Mitchell Blades for whom I am an ambassador for and am appreciative of their support of me with the equipment they provide that enables me to do a good job on the water as a leader and coach.

More pictures of the Anglesey Symposium 2011 can be found here