September Syllabus

As the nights begin to draw, in a quick dash out after work becomes more and more unfeasible. With coaching on our minds and an a growing sense of urgency about what we should be doing, I had to choose carefully what to spend time on. So, for the last month or so before the break there was a mixture of open boat practice at Walliwall, coaching my family, and working through 'scenarios'.

One particularly productive evening was spent practising what we should be doing. Four of us at Scapa spent an couple of hours continuously feeling sea sick, collapsing unconscious, dislocating shoulders, holing our boats (under the cockpit of course) and needing a repair, and practising different kinds of tows; supported tows and push tows. We were convincing!

The Foundation safety test approached and we became less like open boat averse sea kayakers and more like paddlers practiced in the skill of righting a capsized canoe, a feat which at one time appeared to involve more muscle than I could muster, but which in the event we accomplished without a fuss but with acrobatic flair.

Cooperation and communication, the key to crewing an open boat successfully, takes a bit of practice when you are used to paddling your own canoe.


And that brings me up to my present predicament, firmly bank based, leg still elevated,
for the time being... but I am planning...