Big blades and skinny sticks

At The Gloup, Deerness. Photo J.Johnston

In preparation for the Scottish Women's Paddle Symposium at the end of the month I have picked my big blades off the back deck again and paddled a few trips with them lately.  Using  both Greenland and Euro on different trips, or swapping over on the same trip depending on conditions (and how I am feeling/ which kayak I am paddling) builds up a good understanding of their different qualities and the action needed to paddle and deal with different sea conditions.

This will be my first visit to the SWPS which is a multi-discipline symposium. It allows women to try new disciplines and get some top level instruction from our female coaches. Like other all women events I have been to I expect that the coaches will again be fantastic role models for us all and inspire us on to new challenges whatever our experience (or age!).

This is a great context to introduce folk to the joys of using a traditional paddle, particularly for rolling. Looking forward to it!