Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Getting to the river was hard   Me       The exit bridge On Day 2 of the 4 Star Assessment we were unable to go to our planned river due to snow and difficult driving conditions so we got on where we got off yesterday and paddle upstream. Yes, that's right, against the current!! That warmed us up nicely and we then walked round a rapid or two so we could paddle back down them. Unfortunately the assessment required us to demonstrate a Eskimo Roll and a Rescue. When about to die, the Inuits paddle out in their kayaks and capsize so they freeze to death! This is exactly how I felt today.However I survived both dunkings and passed the assessment, as did the other 3 people on the course.

-5 in Kendal     The Big Drop Today I was paddling in Cumbria on The River Kent starting in tempertaures of -5 in Kendal but it did warm up to around zero by the end of the day. The river consists of a number of rapids and weirs starting as a wide meander shortly after the town and changing to a deeper gorge section towards the end. This was the first day of my 4 Star Whitewater Kayak Assessment run by Steve Banks Outdoors .

Me   Hannah   On Day 2 Rob and I led the group down the lower section of the Barle which joins the Exe. We started at Dulverton and paddled to Exebridge. We looked at protecting and paddling a large weir and spent the afternoon practcing throwline and boat based rescues. The day ended in The Anchor Inn at Exebridge enjoying their carvery. The whole group did well and hopefully will be coming back for more in the near future Thanks to AS Watersports who allowed me to have a demo boat for the weekend. This was a Pyranha Z. One and I think I may well be buying one in the near future

  Throw Line Practice Ready to Roll   The Final Weir Today Rob and I were running another 3 Star Training Course on The River Barle. We had 5 clients and headed off in two groups. It was great to see a group of Open Canoes from Exmoor Canoe Club running the river near us. Today we covered Throwlines, Reading the River, Signals, Ferry Gliding, Breaking In and Out, Surfing Small Waves and for a number of the clients how to capsize and swim.

  Today was the last day teaching Paddlesport for Bridgwater College on the Canal based at the YMCA. Of todays students, 3 acheived and their 2 Star whilst others gained the 1 Star Award. I will next be running outdoor activites for the college at the end of March 2010 after my Scottish Winter Season Over the last 5 weeks I have watched the 3 swans pictured above grow up and they are now so used to us they have no issues being a couple of feet away. This afternoon I went down to AS Watersports in Exeter to pick up a Demo boat which I will be trying out over the weekend. AS Watersports provides me with the majority of my paddlesport gear and boats.

     Dad in a Canoe Today was a day of more assessments. The day started by assessing a group of Bridgwater College Students for their 1 and 2 Star Paddlesport assessments. They were assessed in both Canoes and Kayaks and a number of them gained their 1 Star awards and 1 will receive a 2 Star. Over my lunch break I took my Dad out for a spin in an Open Canoe as he has paddled Closed Cockpit Canoes in the past and fancied trying something different. This afternoon was spent assessing Pool Lifeguards at Kings Fitness and Leisure in Cheddar and I am please to report they all passed.

      Taking a break Today I was conducting Paddlesport Assessments for Bridgwater College. During the assessment the students had to demonstrate Forward and Reverse Paddling, Moving Sideways, Getting in and out of a Kayak, Turning, Manoeuvring in a tight space, Preventing a Capsize, Capsize Drills and General Paddle Skills. I had a total of 14 students throughout the day paddling a mixture of Canoes and Kayaks All that is left is some theory questions and once the students answer these (on Thursday) I expect to award nine 1 Star and one 2 Star Awards. Well done! More practical assessments tomorrow morning

Rob   Luc   Me Very large towbacks On day two of the WW Course, only Luc was able to make it so we challenged him on the Dulverton to Exebridge part of The Barle which was in spate (fast flowing in flood). Due to this one rapid was unrunable as it had very large towbacks but we had a great time on the others until I realised as I was in a large rapid that I had forgotten to zip up my drysuit and I was filling up with water. This made it very hard to roll back up and was not the most pleasant experience I have had. However I managed to roll and then needed to sort myself out on the bank. Note to self for next week: DO UP DRYSUIT Luc passed his 3 Star WW Kayak Award so well done to him.

Luc, Rob and Rhiannon Trees making an arch over the river Luc surfing Today Rob and I were running a 3 Star Kayak Course on the River Barle but due to sickness and last minute cancellations we only had 2 clients. The morning was spent looking at "Reading the River" and Throwlines before getting on at Tarr Steps and heading off down river to Dulverton. We looked at ferry gliding, breaking in and out of eddies, surfing waves and escaping stoppers and general river running skills. The weather was ok for us and only started to drizzle towards the end.

Trees caught on Tarr Steps Shooting Pheasants Rob leaving an eddy Me descending the Salmon Steps Today Rob and I ran the River Barle from Tarr Steps to Exbridge as we are teaching on it for the next two days and we wanted to see if it was free from fallen down trees. There are a number of trees in the river but they are all negotiable. As we launched a Pheasant shoot was on but we manged to avoid getting shot and moved off down the river before we were hit by dead birds falling out of the sky. On one of the stoppers I decided to see what happened if I took it very slowly at an odd angle, well, I had to roll twice so probably not my best decision today. The day ended with an excellent meal in The Anchor Inn at Exbridge

Today was an easy day with only 3 students on the indoor wall at Bridgwater YMCA. They learnt how to belay and also about balance and body position when climbing. If only all days were this relaxed. Oh Yeah, forgot to mention the assignments I had to mark this afternoon

Me helming the BellBoat at The Docks       Getting out safely!! Today I was working with Bridgwater College students again preparing them for their BCU 1 and 2 Star Paddlesport assessments next week. We spent an hour in the BellBoat and set a time of 2 mins 16 for a set course which was 5 secs slower than yesterday. After that we split up into Canoes and Kayaks to get practice time of turning, steering, going sideways and paddling in a straight line.

    Bit cold for a swim!    The Bell Boat Today I was back working for Bridgwater College and had two groups of students to take out paddling on the canal. They have already done some Canoeing and Kayaking over the last few weeks so were given the choice of what boats they wanted to paddle. This mornings group all opted to paddle Open Canoes which seemed a sensibkle decision but still 2 of them took a swim. The afternoon group went out in a Bell Boat for and hour and set a time of 2 mins 11secs (which doesn't quite beat my record or 2mins 5 secs) over a set course. After the Bell Boat they went out in both Canoes and Kayaks to practice for next weeks assessment.. The weather conditions were somewhat cold and there was ice in the boats but the canal wasn't frozen.