Gwilym's Adventure Blog

    Today I had another group of Students for Bridgwater College up at Wimbleball Lake. There was absolutely no wind so the students floated around at about 0.0005mph whilst Mark and I breifed them on the "5 essentials of sailing" and the "rules of the road". I am pleased to report that I have a lot more use of my right arm and was able to tie knots today. Looking forward to a full recovery in the next few days. Mountain Biking coming up over the weekend.

  Today I was again teaching Sailing at Wimbleball Lake for Bridgwater College, the added difficulty this week was that following the Adder incident, I still do not have the full use of my right arm. However, I was still able to do 99% of things, it was just tying some knots that defeated me. Wind was perfect today and both groups of students did well

 Lovely views The lovely docile Adder A swollen hand after the bite Friday started off well with a walk along the coastal path assessing a group of Bronze D of E students. They were doing well (and continue to do so in my absence) when one of my colleagues spotted an Adder. Having not seen one for a few years I wanted a couple of photographs and shortly after I took this one, I upset it and it rounded on me and bit my thumb. I in no way blame the adder as it was my fault but I ended up with a Air Ambulance and I am still in Barnstaple Hospital now. For those that think Adders aren't that poisonous I can vouch for the fact that they are very very very poisonous and it hurts alot.

Mark explaining how to fit a Jib Demonstrating how taking pictures whilst moving doesn't work Light wind sailing just before we towed them in Another day working for Bridgwater College at Wimbleball Lake. Today the wind was in short supply so sppeds were slow and we covered a very short distance in a long time. The session ended with the safety boats having to tow the dinghys in as the wind just disappeared completely. A few practice capsizes were undertaken before giving in to the lack of wind. This evening I had a quick blast down to Saltash to collect my new Kayak, a yellow Pyranha Ammo.

Preparing the boats  Enjoying the breeze Me working hard!!! Heading back in Today I was working for Bridgwater College at Wimbleball Lake with the Public Emergency Services Students. 8 students this morning and then 7 this afternoon ment that with an instructor ratio of 1:4 we were able to cover a lot of skills and they were sailing well by the end of their session. It was another good day for sailing with some wind and the odd strong gust just to keep them on their toes, lets hope for similar tomorrow.

Arriving in the Scilly Isles (these boats were our neighbours) A Busy Harbour My Taxi back to the boat The famous Minack Theatre (Near Land's End) Although not Outdoor Pursuits work, as I was on the Scilly Isles for my brother's wedding I took the opportunity to snap a few shots of the great coastline. The weather was fantastic for the weekend and on the way back we saw Dolphins and Gannets feeding of a shoal of fish. As we passed the Minnack Theatre we could see the audience clearly and although I have visited it a number of times it was great to see it full and from a completely different perspective

      Letting the Sail out to try and stay upright      Ah, The joys of Exmoor Again I was working for Bridgwater College at Wimbleball Lake where Mark and I had a group of 8 students to introduce to sailing. It was windy when we started and it continued to build up to a point where it was too windy and we resorted to towing the dinghys back by powerboat. Another group were out rafting at the same time and they too had some bother with the wind. All students did really well considering the conditions they had to cope with. The journey home was somewhat hampered by the locals on the road

  Preparing to Launch   Still afloat   On a collison course I am now back working part time for Bridgwater College so today was the start of the watersports season. In the morning, I took a group of 8 students up to Wimbleball Lake where Mark, Pete and I took them out sailing in Picos. Wind Speeds were up and it gave them a great challenge for their first days sailing and I even got wet in the power boat. In the afternoon I had 10 students and as one was somewhat fearful of water, I jumped at the chance to get out of the safty boat and sail with her. It has been a while since I have helmed a dinghy (nearly 10 months actually) but it soon came back to me and we had a great afternoon.

  Paddling down The Dee Wading Practice   On standby to make a rescue   Me enjoying the sun On Day 2 we jumped into the water (well got in safely) and looked at methods of wading through fast flowing water. Then against all expectations we actually got our boats out and paddled a section of the River Dee at Llangollen whilst looking a postioning for safety and communication. The afternoon was spent constructing pulley systems and pulling/pushing boats around. It was good to do this training again as the last time I did it was in 1998.

  Preparing for the swim Me surfing the stopper Teamwork in the eddy Today I and 10 other slightly mad people headed off to The Tryweryn for a day of white water safty training. This is basically going kayaking without a boat and swimming down the river whilst people throw things at you (ropes normally). We were working in Grade 3 water and I must admit to being a coward and wearing a drysuit though some of the team braved it in wetsuits. The sun was shining but standing and swimming in the water soon made you feel the cold. There is s rumour that tomorrow we might have to paddle a boat!!!

  Walking into Cwm Idwall A busy day on the slabs   Navy Helicopter Training   View from the top Today Tim, Pete and I walked into Cwm Idwall for some mountaineering. We started by heading up Faith VD on the slabs and then headed off into broken ground above where we went through a number of different short roping methods to continue heading up and eventually switched to coming down. We were buzzed by a Navy Helicopter a few times but other than that, it was very quiet once we were away from the crowds on Idwall Slabs.

  Taken from the 1st belay      Looking down the route       Siw approaching the belay Today Tabitha, Siw and I went climbing on Hope VD on Idwal Slabs in the Ogwen Valley. We climbed the route in 5 pitches with me leading and then Tabitha and Siw alternating between 2nd and 3rd place. We looked at gear placement and building belays. Although slighly damp in places, the route was great and the views were stunning

A very wet Vector Butress Today 3 off us went to Tremadog to demonstrate our rescue skills. As it was really wet it was decided not to climb at VS 4c standard so we climbed the first 2 pitches of Vector at E2 5c (some flawed decision making here I think). Anyway Tim kindly led all the pitches whilst I used a combination of climbing, slipping, aiding and prusicking to get up it. During the day I was able to show how to deal with a number on incidents including fallen climber with broken arm, hoisting a climber, lowering past a knot and escaping the system. Photos are some what lacking as I was giving most my attention to not falling off. Whilst not the best day in the world it was still pleasent enough and humour got us through

Kat leading Rap   Me just relaxing in the sun    Me leading Lighthouse Arete   My best side  Just after the crux on Lighthouse Arete Today in glorious sunshie, Kat, Phil and I headed to Castell Helen at Gogarth to get some climbing in. We abbed down and the first route of the day was Rap VS 4c which was led by Kat and gave some steep yet positive climbing on good holds. Unbelievably I actually started getting too hot which really was a surprise given the rest of the summer we have had. The second route of the day was Lighthouse Arete VS 4c which I led in 3 pitches and it was a lovely route with some excellent views. What are the odds of the weather holding tomorrow??

Today Mark and I ran a Charity Abseil at Uphill Quarry in Somerset, or at least Mark did as I left him to it very early on as I needed to get on up to North Wales by late afternoon. 11 candidates turned up for the challenge of a 20m abseil followed by a climb later in the day. All managed to abseil down and although there were a few butterflies present, no one backed out. Over £1000 was raised for Weston Hospicecare. Well done to all.

  Today I finally admitted defeat by the weather and popped down to the local climbing wall where I spent an hour or so practising hoists and problem solving techniqus. In the abscene of a willing partner, the "person" on the other end of the rope was actually a chair but it seemed to work.