Despite it being another evening of strong winds with Force 6 plus gusts, last night saw thirteen paddlers on the water at Bridge End. Heading into wind, they set off to Banamin and, to quote one of the coaches, took the opportunity to “focus on their forward paddling technique” before turning for the ride home.
Tag: Beginners Page 3 of 4
Thursday saw a large turnout of paddlers again, and the evening was shaping up to be a stunning one with winds due to fall away as the evening went on. With one thing and another, it was decided to split into two groups. One group of seven did some canoe sailing down from Bridge End, the other 20+ paddlers went to Hamnavoe and a trip round the isles.
Turned out a lovely night!
Ever wonder what 28 paddlers setting off from Bridge End would look like? This week we found out!
With a good number of coaches and assistants, the beginners group did its first real trip this week. Conditions were ‘Shetland Breezy’ as we set out under from Bridge End and snuck south, hugging the east side of Lang Sound, did a quick regroup before entering Stream Sound and into what we knew was going to be the windy section of the trip. Trying to paddle NE while the wind came from S/SSE was guaranteed to be ‘interesting’ and the section between Kalee Ness and Hjogaland definitely tested comfort levels!
Despite getting a bit unnerved, and some a bit wetter than others, we all ended up sitting in the middle of Clift Sound and managed to stay more-or-less together as a group as we came under the bridge into East Voe and the get-out point at the Marina.
Prior planing and preparation meant a number of cars and the trailer were waiting there for us as we queued up to get off of the water, and the ensuing chaos of trying to get all 28 off of the water and back to Bridge End was well managed by all.
Everyone played their part and provided help carrying kayaks around, giving lifts back to BE and so on, which is all about being a group member on a trip. I would just like to thank Chris, Craig, Debs, Angus, Jim, Iain D and Iwan, without whom it really couldn’t have happened.
In discussion with Angus, possibly looking at paddling from Bridge End to Scalloway Marina as this Thursday’s session. As we’re going to have to arrange shuttle for drivers to get back from Scalloway to Bridge End meet at Scalloway Marina between 6.30pm and 6.45pm to sort lifts out.
You will also now need to be considering the cost of transporting the kayaks on the trailers. This will be the third season that the Club fees have been set at £2 for local trips/ £4 for further afield for using the trailer.
Yet another evening of blustery winds and scattered showers came over Bridge End as the fifth session of the season got underway. Most paddlers were out in kayaks, four in canoes. Heading South into a brisk headwind, everyone had the opportunity to experience the benefits of whatever shelter could be found and why low-angle paddling style is a good thing in breezy conditions. Some hard paddling saw everyone up to the pier at Papil and ready for the downwind run.
The canoeists took some time out to sort their new sail (also known as a survival blanket) while the kayakers prepared for the swell. It’s probably fair to say there were a few nervous faces as we snuck round the corner into the main sound, out of the lee and able to experience just how much of swell there was. The next kilometer went past rather fast for some, and it was an experience which will stay with a lot of people as everyone coped well with the tricky conditions.
Arriving back at Bridge End everyone sorted themselves out to get off of the water, the buddy system very evident. Another evening of damp and blustery fun paddling!
There was an excellent turnout of beginners this week, who with the three coaches and two assistants meant a group of 21 on the water in kayaks and two in a canoe! As we headed South you could see the ability to paddle in a straight line getting less of an effort, and those early wobbles we all go through were getting fewer and fewer. As we were out on a short trip, Craig introduced group awareness and got everyone to ‘buddy up ‘ and watch each other as we worked our way up to Papil where we had a go at coming in to a beach and hopped out for a quick breather. After a quick review of landing on beaches, chatting about skeg boxes and pebbles, and giving an idea of some of the possibilities for trips around Burra, it was time to help each other off of the beach and head back down to Bridge End at a reasonably brisk pace with no stops! A couple of brave folk who’d missed last week’s wet session took the plunge when we got back, and everyone headed off looking happy.
Sorry there’s no photo, didn’t have my camera this week!
This will be one of the last few formal coaching session for 2013 as we’re going to be coaching ‘on-the-go’ during trips. Tonight we’ll be working on finishing off 1* and prep for trips. If you haven’t got 1* and aren’t able to get tonight, you will need to speak to the coaches about your skill level and whether they believe you are going to be safe to take on a trip. Some trips over this next few weeks will lend themselves to more coaching and, depending on the number of coaches available on the day, catch-up sessions are a possibility.
Don’t forget dry clothes, snack and a drink.
A much calmer day than last week, and yet another good turn out and it was for our planned ‘wet’ session!Split into three groups, each doing something slightly different and all ended up getting wet. The two main groups can be seen in the photo (thanks Arthur!): one using the small boats for the straight line tests; the other in the sea boats playing with other aspects of kayaking.
The third group, supposedly the ‘dry’ one, was made up of folks that just didn’t want to get wet, who’d missed last week’s longer paddle, or hadn’t been out on the water at all, so headed South down the voe to get the distance in for 1* and a chance to practice limbo paddling.
Needless to say, there were a lot of wet and happy paddlers at the end of the night. That’s us one big step closer to getting out on trips.
(For more photos of this and our other nights, check out our facebook page)
This will be our third session for beginners, and it’s going to be covering the essentials of rescues. We will be getting wet and hopefully having fun while covering one of the key skills you need for going on trips and completing the 1*. We have the Bridge End Center booked for the evening so there will be access to showers and places to get changed into warm and dry clothes once we’re off of the water. Don’t forget a change of clothes.
This is the one not to miss if at all possible!
Club training night
With force 6 winds falling away, a downwind run was decided on and a mad time was spent frantically sorting things out to get everyone up to the far end of the isle for what proved to be an excellent time out on the water. Encountering wind-blown swell was a new experience for the beginners group which all coped well with, plenty of opportunities for working on back-paddling as we stayed together as a group, and we even had a small number of intrepid kayakers checking out just how stable a raft is as they took it in turns to try the human sail technique!
Back at Bridge End a couple of rugged individuals took the plunge and did their wet exits rescues and swims to shore before everyone headed off home.
So, despite the strong winds and the headaches of getting 17 beginners and 6 coaches/ assistants to Burra Bridge, a good evening’s paddling.