Yesterday we went training with our fantastic coach Roger and got our kayaks from P&H! Liz Forshaw was kind enough to drop our Cetus’s off for us bright an early this morning before training. I was pleased to discover that my kayak is very sparkly:
Here is a photo of us all in our new boats courtesy of Roger:
We then went through some tidal planning and set off to paddle Puffin Island in Anglesey, bumping into lots of Rogers’s friends and pupils along the way. One of them was paddling with a Greenland stick* and he was kind enough to let me have a go paddling with it!
When we approached the island we spotted some seals on the shore and Roger warned us not to go close in case we disturbed them. This was disappointing, as I was keen to see them up close. However, I need not have worried since we soon had about 4 seals following behind us, which was amazing. Erin described them as being like ‘dogs of the sea,’ which I think is about spot on. They kept appearing up close, sniffing at our kayaks, and then diving back underwater playfully. Here is a photo of some of our new friends following Roger:
Roger took a fantastic close up of one of them, so check out his blog
We finished the day with some rather chilly, yet fairly successful rescue practice:
Looking forward to trying some of them out in choppier water!
Unfortunately due to various University club tours we won’t be able to see Roger for a few weeks, but have been advised to keep working on good forward paddling technique and exercise to strengthen core muscles, which we will be doing!
Hi Alice, very happy to let you have ago with the Greenland “stick” and good luck with your proposed trip, Roger was telling me all about it during my 3* assessment yesterday! like you, I am in preperation for a trip, but mine is only 1000km around Wales in July (well it is little compared to yours!). So good luck to you all, and I hope you reach your goal of £10,000.
Roger Pyves