Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Today I was out with a family group on The Lower Dart. This was a Christmas present for the boys with Dad and Auntie coming along as well. We looked at the usual eddies, reading the river, ferry gliding and running the rapids. Although it was forecast to be a miserable day we had a great time on the water and the rain only started once we had made it to the cafe. :-)

Andy supervising on foot Back out on the Mendips today looking after students on a Navigation Exercise. They were on foot but I was shooting round on my bike keeping an eye on them.

Today Dan and I were back out on the River Tone for a second day of paddlesport. Unfortunately we lost a couple of clients over night so only 6 turned up today to complete the course. It was rather windy for the solo Open Boating work but that just made it more challenging. The morning was spent refining the paddling (or just falling in - you know this means you Scaff) and the afternoon was spent doing wet drills and rescues.

Today Dan and I were running a 2 Star Paddlesport course for a group from Somerset Divers . We looked at the basic paddlesport skills with the intention of staying dry though a couple of swims did take place. It was fairly windy today so all did well to control their boats in these conditions.

Today I headed to Torbay with my sister for our first Scuba Dive of 2012. This is also the first time we have dived together. We had two dives, one off Meafoot Beach and the second of Brixham. It was cold (around 9 degrees and I had forgotten my thermals!!!) and visibility was not the best. We did however see a large number of very small starfish. Due to a camera malfunction (possibly a camera fatality) there are no photos of today.

Today I was out on the Coast Path near to Mothercoombe in Devon with 3 staff from Plymouth College undertaking in house coastal walking assessments. The weather started off as somewhat inclement but cleared to a beautiful day with some fantastic views.

Today I was working for Bridgwater College with a group on the Mendip Hills. I rode round on my bike to set up a 14km orienteering course with about a 30min head start on the students who were completing it on foot. Well done to the team who got all points in just over 3 hours.

Today Dan and I were out with our students from Plymouth College for some more White Water Kayaking. All these students have done and intro course with us and showed some ability so we pushed their limits on some Grade 2(3) water today.

Today Dan , Doug, Deb, Dave and I headed onto the River Walham with bow saws and the intention to clear the tree that has been blocking the slot rapid for the last few weeks. 5 of us were not enough and 4 other paddlers stopped to help. This enable us to pull the tree clear of the water and make it safe for others to come thorugh (like the group I am taking out tomorrow)

Today I was out with a group from Somerset Divers in Brixham for some Sit on Top Kayak fun. Peter had brought his own Sea Kayak along and paddled it well during the day. We paddled from Brixham harbour round to Elberry Cove where we had a spot of lunch before returning with the wind behind us pushing us along at a nice speed. Of course we did the obilgatory coffee in the cafe afterwards