White Water Paddle-boarding on the River Barle.

To start the post Christmas fat burn I decided to take Dave Jackson up on his offer to lend me a board and have a go at white water paddle-boarding.

I have been coaching paddle-boarding on flat water for just over a year now but haven't had the opportunity to see if my kayak/canoe skills on the river were transferable to paddle-boarding.

Dave runs a successful outdoor activity delivery company called Active Adventure South West and has been running paddle boarding sessions to his clients for the last few years. Recently he has been getting more involved with the white water aspect of the sport.

We headed over to Dulverton to paddle a section of the River Barle down to Exebridge. A section I have paddled many time in both canoe and kayak. Attacking this section on a paddle-board adds a new dimension to white water paddle sports. Good water levels are required but more importantly you have to read the river a lot more. Due to the boards having fins, you can get them caught in the shallows on rocks, weed and other strainers. If you are not careful this will pitch you head first over the front of the board. A low stance is also required which tires your legs, using them as shock absorbers from the turbulent water. 

I borrowed a classic 10'6" Red Paddle inflatable from Dave. This board is really a recreational board used on flat water and small surf. It was fast in a straight line but hard to turn quickly. On reflection it could also have been inflated a little more to give the board more stiffness. 

Dave was paddling a board from Red Paddle called the 'Flow'. This board has been designed for flowing water. At 9'6" it is a foot shorter meaning in turns quicker, has a quad fin set up to minimise fin snags and is quite a lot wider. These differences meant the board turned quicker and was more stable.

As you can see by the images, it is a lot of fun running grade 2 white water. Getting wet is definitely part of the daily programme for this sport. I lost count how many times I ended up in the water and Dave had his fair share too!

A great day out trying a new sport. The only issue being i'm now hooked which means more kit to buy!!

Orienteering in Taunton

 



 

Today Gail and I took the Level 3 Public Services year 2 students (C group) to Taunton to complete the two Orienteering courses in Vivary Park and Longrun Meadow.

 

The morning session consisted of completing the Vivary Park course in pairs working on their map to ground navigation using orienteering maps of the venue.

 

The afternoon session saw the students complete the Longrun Meadow course independently in a competition framework. Sometimes this particular group can be a challenge to motivate but it was inspiring to see them fully engaged due to the competitive element.

 

Longrun Meadow and Vivary Park are public orienteering courses and maps are available at a small fee from the Tourist Information Office or from Quantock Orienteers. 

Mountain Biking on the Quantocks

 

It was great to get back out on my mountain bike again with some friends on the Quantock Hills. Recently I have been very busy and days off have been non-exsistent.

 

we met at Crowmcombe park gate at 08.30, a gentle frosting on the ground and an amazing sunrise (forgot to take a picture).

 

Simon, Simon, Steve, Josh, John, Kev and I just went for a gentle trundle around for a couple of hours. Simon Fallows riding his new Orange Gyro 29er for the first time!

 

We took in a couple of trails that I intend to use for the 2015 Quantock Quake before returning to the vans at 11.30. Only a short ride as everyone had other jobs to do but great to get out.

 

Simon Hogg brought along a demo Scott Spark, Kev wanted to have a quick blast on it to try it out hence the picture of Simon pushing up hill. Not a usual image, he simply couldn't ride Kev's bike with its bent crank arm!!!!!

 

We must make this a more regular occurrence boys??

Solo Open Canoe skills

 

Today I have been working with Level 3 Public Services students from Bridgwater College as part of their skills for water-based outdoor education module. I have a group of 6 that attend from 09.00-12.00 and another group of 6 who attend from 12.15-15.15. The venue is the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal based from the YMCA in Bridgwater.

 

Having already completed four sessions of kayaking, a tandem Open Canoe session and a session spent looking at rescue techniques for Canoe and Kayak we have now moved on to Solo Open Canoe skills.

 

We mainly focused on Solo forwards paddling using the 'J' Stroke and all of the transferrable skills from kayaking such as: Sweep Strokes, Draw strokes and the Stern Rudder.

 

A really good day with very little wind, this is a big help when first teaching the solo strokes.

More navigation training with Bridgwater College PES students

 

Back out again today with Level 3 Public and Emergency Services students from Bridgwater College teaching navigation. The session was pretty much a replica of Mondays session but with a different tutor group.

 

It was a very fresh day with many of the students reviewing their clothing choices. Each student independently led a leg to show their basic navigation skills and the last 4km was set as a group challenge to get us back to college.

 

Not as much wildlife today, just a few swans and a couple of buzzards. Another productive day preparing the students for their assessed expedition next May.

Open Canoeing with Bridgwater College Outdoor Education Students

Back out on the Bridgwater and Taunton canal today with the Btec Level 3 Outdoor Education students. Today was their last practical session for their 'skills for water-based outdoor and adventurous activities' module.

The 16 students were split into two groups of 8, each group attending a 3 hour session. One AM and one PM.

We spent the first half of the each session looking at bank based rescue techniques and on the water towing/pushing strategies. The second half was spent assessing their personal skills on flat water. A 10-15mph wind made the students have to think as their previous sessions have luckily been in very clam conditions.

All of the students have made good progress through the module which is great to see. 

Navigation Training with Bridgwater College PES

Today I was back at Bridgwater college after 3 days CPD. I was working with the Level 3 Public and Emergency Services students doing some navigation training as part of their ongoing training for their Expeditions module.

Our route took us out onto the edge of the Somerset Levels around Chedzoy and Stawell. We chose this area as it is possible to walk directly from the college without the need of a minibus. 

The main focus of the day was to continue with some basic navigation using map to ground and feature identification. As the day panned out we saw a variety of wildlife (Swans, Buzzards, Herons, Roe Deer, and the Alpacas pictured) and came across an interesting stile at the back of Chedzoy church.

The route covered around 14KM and allowed each student to leads legs on their own and track the route of their fellow students. 

4* Leader Sea Kayak Training - Day 2

Due to the late return from Cornwall I didn't get to post this last night.

Yesterday was day two of my 4* Leader Sea Kayak training with Richard Uren from Paddlecrest Coaching. The aim of the day was to cover the rest of the syllabus that we didn't cover on saturday. This mainly consisted of covering a descent distance to check our fitness, observing leadership styles and strategies, moving in and around confined spaces and rescue techniques.

We joined the Penzance Canoe Club monthly paddle heading out of Porthleven which meant there were 11 of us in the group, this gave plenty of opportunity to look at group management. It was also nice to move between the group and chat to other paddlers about their experiences. The trip took us west along some stunning coastline to our lunch spot at Prussia Cove, some 7.5 miles. After lunch we made the return journey to Porthleven where we performed all of the rescues before surfing a few waves in the harbour mouth.

A really good day with some nice people resulting in a productive action plan to complete before assessment.