Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Is that a Golf Course?   Weather closing in   Misty views The final day saw us in torrential rain navigating around the South East corner of the Moor trying (in vain) to stay dry. We also saw one of the oddest sights, a golf course on a very steep hill on the edge of the moor. I had a different 3 candidates to the last 2 days and they were able to find all the points I asken them to go to.

    Crazywell Pool   Looking for our next point   More amazing fungus as promised Day Two of the Walking Group Leader Assessment saw us on Dartmoor just south of Princetown looking for various contour features. The weather was poor to say the least and I particularly enjoyed the horizontal rain during the afternoon. We stayed out into darkness to continued with poor visibility navigation

On the first leg of the journey   Crossing the stream   Amazing Fungus Today I was working on Day 1 of a Walking Group Leader Assessment on Dartmoor for Andy Holborn. We have 6 candidates and split into 2 groups on the North side of the moor for some fine navigation work. We stayed out in the rain and continued into darkness before returning to the cars somewhat damp. Weather conditions are poor with heavy rain at times. The ground is very soggy undefoot and will flood easily if the rain continues throughout the weekend. Streams are getting wider and becoming more difficult to cross safely. There are a huge number of interesting fungi around and no doubt I will post a few more photos of it over the next 2 days.

At the start Stripped down Complete with winch and rollers Today I was due to take a group out Mountain Biking but the weather (particularly the wind) was too bad, so I spent the day renovating the trailer to go with my RIB. I converted it from a winchless bunktrailer for inflatable boats into a winched roller trailer for the RIB. Alhtough not the hardest job in the world, undoing some of the rusty bolts took a lot longer than expected.

Students battling against the wind   The Locals   Serious wind under the M5   My Dad and I This morningI was working for Bridgwater College taking Public Service students on a trip along the canal from Bridgwater YMCA to The Boat and Anchor Pub (no we didn't go in) as part of their course working towards the BCU 2 Star Award. The afternoon was more peaceful as my Dad asked me to take him on the same trip. The weather held out apart from a quick shower in the morning but there was some pretty stromng wind about which made paddling difficult.

Journey along the Canal   Under the M5   Fighting the wind Trying to ignore my leaking trousers Today I was working for Bridgwater College and took a number of students on a trip along the Bridgwater to Taunton Canal as part of their 2 star training. We paddled from the YMCA to the Boat and Anchor Pub at Huntworth and back.  They were allowed to pick either a Kayak or Canoe and paddled for 2 hours demonstartinmg their paddle skills and ability to stick together as a group. I had two groups during the day and both completed the same trip in a similar time. Unfortunately I have deiscovered my dry tousers are no longer correctly named and they leaked casuing me to spend most of the day with a wet backside. Nice!

      Today I was working for Bridgwater College and took 12 Public Services students rock climbing and abseiling at Goblin Combe. I set up a number of top ropes and an abseil and the students were able to work together at both belaying and climbing. The weather held out for us though I am not so hopefull for the coming weekend.

      Again I was working for Bridgwater College today and had two groups of students out on the Bridgwater Canal. The morning group were up for an introduction to Open Boating and had a similar session to yesterday. The afternoon session was 1 and 2 star Paddlesport Assessment for Foundation Degree student and I am please to say they all passed one of the awards.

Bridgwater to Taunton Canal   Entering the Docks   In The Docks   The way back Today I was teaching Open Boating for Bridgwater College. I had two groups of students and both were new to Open Boating, They paired up and we went on a journey down the canal looking at forward paddling, stopping, turning and moving sideways. Once in The Docks we had a look round to test their steering in tight spaces and then they swapped places to come back so that they could experience paddling at the front and back in equal measure. The weather was great all day and even the short and light shower at around 3pm didn't get us down. Again plenty of swans and ducks around to make the journey more interesting.

Our group's boats   Ready to start Today on Day Two of the 4 star course we were paddling the Lower Walkham which then joined into the Lower Tavy . Both Grade 2 to 3 Rivers. The idea was to continue working on Leadership Styles as well as improve our own skill base. Today I was out with Martyn and Stuart and as per yesterday Ed was our instructor. We got to run a few rapids and used various inspection techniques from slow back paddling to get a view to getting out of the boat for a proper look. I finally got to grips with the way my boat handles and am more confident in it's backend which seemed to lack control yesterday.

Water Levels Up (but not a much as expected) Today I was out on " The Loop " section of the River Dart as part of my 4 Star White Water Leader Training run by Gene17 . This section of the river is continuos Grade 2 with a few rapids at Grade 3 . In todays conditions, Triple Falls was running at about 3 + . I was out with Martin and Ben with Ed as our Instructor. The idea was to check out personal paddling skills but also to look at different leadership styles whilst running the river. My style is to "run the river" as quickly and fluently as possible whilst the other two candidates favoured a more "stay and play" approach. Both are valid techniques buit it was good to see other options to what I am normally used to. I aim to use more "stay and play" tomorrow. I am still getting used to the handling of my new boat and it nearly threw me over a few times but I managed to make the trip without needing to roll or taking a swim. For curren...

One of the new Fleet Nicky and Anneka at the start Me at the end Yesterday I collected my new fleet of white water kayaks. I decided on purchasing Pyranha G3's and my chosen supplier was AS Watersports in Exeter who provided me with Kayaks, Paddles, Spraydecks and Airbags. AS Watersports have given me great service both personally and as a business and I recommend them as a great source of equipment and advice. In order to fully test the new boats I asked Nicky and Anneka who are both Level 1 Coaches and competent paddlers to accompamy me out on the River Barle and give me their opinions on the boats. Both said they were great and handled well offering both predictability and fun. This was also the first trip for my new personal boat the Pyranha Karnali and I am please to report I am more than happy with how it performed. I will be paddling the River Dart over the weekend so check back on Sunday for some more photos and video.

Morning Kayak Session   Jason looking as lovely as ever   Afternoon Bellboating   Escorted by some Swans   Surely that boat should be the other way up? Another day of paddling on the Bridgwater Canal for Bridgwater College. The morning was spent delivering an introduction to Kayaking session to a new group. We covered forward and reverse paddling, stopping, turning and going sideways. Then we covered all the capsize drills so everyone will be safe for the rest of the course. Jason one of the instructors from the YMCA came out to help us (or laugh at me demonstrating capsize drills) so the students were able to benefit from 2 instructors. The in the afternoon I took another group of students out (week 4 of their paddling course) in the Bell Boat and set a new speed record for a set course of 2mins and 5 sec beating the previous of 2mins 15 seconds set by one of my groups last year. We then switched into Canoes to look at tandem and solo paddling. Of...

First few strokes   Some local residents   Capsize Drills   Today I was working for Bridgwater College and took two sepereate groups of students out onto the Bridgwater Canal for an introduction to Kayaking. Over the next five weeks they will be working towards gaining the 1 and 2 Star Paddlesport Awards. Today we looked at forward and reverse paddling, turning, stopping and going sideways as well as getting all the capsize drills done so that they can avoid doing them in the future. It was great to see so much wildlife around and we saw at least 5 swans and scores of ducks.

Port and Starboard Tubes checked, treated and inflated Interior cleaned and ready to fit the centre console  Repair patch on the front tube   Finally all tubes inflated Today I had nothing planned so spent the afternoon working on the RIB. I managed to complete the Port and Starboard (left and right) tubes as well as repair the hole in the front section. The interior has been cleaned out and prepared for the centre console to be fitted (when it arrives). The steering has been removed from the previous fitting on the old dashboard and it ready to re fit to the console. The front tubes have now been inflated (7.30pm) and so far the patch seems to have worked. Lets see what happens over the next couple of days I hope you agree it is looking better than it did last week . It is my intention to fit the centre console and steering over the next week and then start looking for a trailer to go with it.