Sea Kayak Award training and trips

Booking on Webcollect remains open for more participants.

Other paddlers who would like to achieve the sea kayak award may reply to this thread as well. As usual more experienced paddlers may come to help.

19 May: Tash, Josie, Andy, Evelyn, Kathy, Catharine
Gentle turns using sweep stroke to get started and edge towards the outside of the turn.
Tight turns using bow rudder with sweep stroke to get started, knuckles rolled back and paddle planted towards the front of the kayak. Then knuckles rolled forward and continuation of the stroke to straighten up.
Hanging draw, finding the sweet spot for the kayak to move sideways on the move.
Practising turns and seeing if the kayak will turn with either edge.

26 May. Catharine and Josie
Demo of how to use a strap or loop of towline to enable a person to climb on the boat as an alternative rescue method: the loop acts like a stirrup on a riding saddle. Use figure of 8 knot so it can be undone easily.
recap of 19 May. Add cross deck bow rudder, draw on the move, sculling draw, T drawstroke,
Game with synchronised paddling, in pairs, paddling as reflection of the paired paddler.
Paddling on one side of the boat: J stroke.
Types of forward paddling: high and low paddle style, use shoulder rotation.
Contact towing, ensuring the casualty keeps the bow of the boat close under the armpit of the paddler, but holding the stern of the boat away from their body, using edge.
Dry skills for assisting in rescues:

• how to get hold of the casualty's boat: aim for c 1/3 of the way along the boat, when close reach across assertively and draw the boat towards you.
• how to stash the paddle easily. How to retrieve the paddle quickly eg if a large wave arrives.
• how to turn the casualty's boat 90 degrees to empty it, or around fully: don't try to move the casualty's boat: pivot your own boat around the end of the casualty's boat, using some edge.
• play pivoting game: doh si doh / pirouette.
  Explanation of ways to attach a long tow.

Recent paddles on the sea: Josie, Andy, Evelyn, Kathy, Catharine
Completed capsize with spraydeck, be rescued, rescue someone else, and many have done a self rescue. All in flat water.

2 June Josie, Andy, Evelyn, Kathy, Catharine
Quite a windy evening, mostly spent around yellow buoys above Trews weir.
How to attach a long tow to a raft; towline through the helper's single deckline and onto the casualty's deckline.
Alt attach solely to casualty's boat, with the helper using a contact tow to create the raft.
Repeat of gentle turns, bow rudders and cross deck bow rudders using edge, and hanging draw, around the yellow buoys.
Towing rafts around the buoys.
Set up fan tows and try it out in the wind. Try to tow at higher speed to get the towlines out of the water to reduce drag.
Assess how many people a single paddler can tow: Kathy towed all our group plus the Improvers SK group without difficulty, around 12 paddlers.
Contact tows, with the casualty responsible for making it work well.
How to engage the casualty's boat efficiently, approach c 1/3 from the end, and assertively grab the boat with the paddle.
Pirouette in pairs around each other's boat: useful for efficient rescues.
On return to the canal basin try to edge turn into the basin with a single stroke.

Trips

Sun 7 June: see existing forum trip
Sun 21 June Evelyn, Kathy
Sat 27 June Tash, Josie, Catharine, Andy
4/5 July Evelyn, Kathy
Sat 11 July Tash, Josie (possibly) Boats would be loaded the night before as Exeter Regatta on this day.

Midweek paddling: Fridays looks like the best day: Andy, Tash, Josie, Kathy

Information on club sea kayaking
https://www.exetercanoeclub.org.uk/sea-kayaking-club-activity/
https://www.exetercanoeclub.org.uk/sea-kayaking-independent-paddling/
https://www.exetercanoeclub.org.uk/sea-kayaking-information/