Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Supervising a mini canal trip today for L3 Outdoor Education students. Thought I would paddle one of my fleet sea boats for a change, needs some padding on the seat though (job for next week).  The afternoon was a bank based coaching session and I forgot to take any pics. The waterbased module is drawing to a close for the L3 students with next week being the last week so hopefully a few 2 Stars will be given out then.

I had to pop into AS Watersports and The Quay  in Exeter today so as I was down that way and had a boat in the van it would be rude not to try and float somewhere. A quick blast on The Loop with Olly and Hannah before lunch at Salmons Leap Cafe (becoming a regular here) finished the trip. Some impressive moves from Olly in his Pyranha Shiva which is not sold as a PlayBoat but maybe it should be from now on.

Mega windy today for the Level 4 students. We are preparing for an overnight paddling expedition so it was all about getting the distance in and dealing with the wind.

Today I was on the Exe at Tiverton working for Wet and High Adventures with one client, Jamie. This was an introduction to White Water Kayaking looking at using his previous flat water techniques and applying them in the moving water environment. The river was up a little from my last trip but still nice and clear. Please Rain!!

Today I went to the Salmon Leap Cafe at Buckfastleigh for lunch. Just to earn that, we had a quick blast down the Lower Dart first. Levels were low but we still managed to have a good time messing about in boats on the river. " Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."  Ratty, Wind in The Willows

A warm and dry (for me) day on the canal today with my Level 3 Outdoor Ed students. Normally we have to negotiate the swans on the slipway but there was a new wildlife hazard today. A couple of rats! A trip down to the docks and back with the return journey virtually blinded in the low sun. Is it really mid December?

Today I drove to Dartmoor with the intention of paddling something with water in. Originally we were hoping for the Tavy but that was very low so we headed for The Dart Loop instead. This was also low and getting lower so Hannah, Hannah, Mike, Olly and I had a quick blast before lunch at The Salmon Leap cafe

Another day afloat with my Level 3 Outdoor students today. Some skills coaching in a range of kayaks preparing for some future star tests. They decided they wanted to test their skills in "rough water" and as this is in short supply we made our own as seen in the video.

Another day of capsizes and rescues but this time for my Level 4 students from Bridgwater College. They are all relieved that there are no more wet sessions (unless they fall in accidentally) as the water and air temperature is getting colder now.

Out with my Level 3 Outdoor students on the canal again this week looking at kayak based skills plus a session on rescues. Hopefully this is the last wet session as the winter is coming and it is getting a little colder.

Today the lack of water in Devon rivers forced Ben (Orange boat), Todd (Green Boat) and I (Blue Boat) to drive to CIWW for some boating action. It was better than expected (cos I had very low expectations, I thought it would be very crowded and we would be fighting to get on a wave) and none of us got run over by a raft or had a swim. Had 2 rolls though when I got caught out. We joined it a 4 cumecs and stayed through 6 and onto 8 which was good fun.

Today I was out on the canal with my Bridgwater College Level 4 students and as yesterday had a range of boats so they could compare boat handling from one to another. We had some really good experiments going on. Not scientific by any means but it seems to take 5 times as many strokes to cover the same distance in a Pyranha Stretch vs P&H Capella (not a big surprise but nice to quantify it).

Today I was out with my Level 3 Outdoor students on the canal looking at the difference between different types of kayaks. Up until now, they have paddled Sit on Tops and Canoes. It was time to work out how each different kayak design behaves whilst trying the basic skills of forward, backwards, sideways and turning