Day two dawned very hot and with another group choosing kayaks for 15 inexperienced paddlers with a higher average age than our group. I hung fiercely onto my Dagger Stratos 14.5 but the others were given to the recreational paddlers but the others all went for P&Hs today – the high volume Scorpio for the … More Paddlesport Leader training day 2
I don’t usually write about things as they’re happening but boat club two weeks ago got cancelled and that threw my blog schedule out, so I’m writing about my Paddlesport Leader training course halfway through it, on Wednesday evening. I emailed Paul, the instructor, several months back to ask if this was suitable for my … More Paddlesport Leader training day 1
Winter is a really bad time for a summer paddler to try to maintain a paddling blog. I swore back in January that after missing all of December and most of November, I’d get back into it and keep it up until I got back out on the water and had new stuff to blog … More My journey into sea kayaking
And at last we come to the end of my paddling story! I don’t know what date this will end up being published because I’m writing it before we reopen the boat club for the season, so there might be stuff about boat club and my 2024 paddling and this might not end up where … More I did my Paddlesport Safety & Rescue training
With the knowledge that I’m now on my way towards some kind of leadership or coaching qualification, I became acutely aware that I can’t roll a kayak. Wouldn’t know where to start. But actually, this came about because I was looking at doing my PRS training, which was still called FSRT when I started looking … More A roll-practice pool session
I spent nine or so days driving around Iceland’s Ring Road last summer. I’ve spent a lot of time in Iceland and covered most of it but I’ve never done a circuit of the Ring Road before. I didn’t plan to do it that time either. I planned to drive up to Akureyri and the … More Kayaking on Jökulsárlón
Last summer I had a paddling overnight adventure. I’d not forgotten the beautiful night nav by sea kayak in October 2021 but the company hadn’t run that again. They did, however, have a slightly bigger adventure available and I thought I might do that. We’d have a night paddle by kayak, bivvy in the woods … More An overnight paddle adventure
It only seemed five minutes since I was looking at the three levels of Sea Kayak Awards and deciding that was way beyond me when I found myself down at Studland on a miserable grey April day. Apparently I was going to spend two days doing my Sea Kayak Award. Why did I do this? … More Sea Kayak Award training
I know wild swimming/cold water swimming/sea swimming/whatever your preferred term might be has become the outdoor activity du jour. Women up and down the country, and indeed all over the world, are taking off their dryrobes and taking to the sea, or the river or the lake or whatever bit of untamed water they have … More Learning to like the sea
I didn’t plan to buy a paddleboard. I’m a kayaker, not a SUPper, although I have been known to go out on a SUP or canoe for a bit of variety. I like a Sunday morning canoe paddle followed by an ice cream and there’s something about the simplicity of SUP that I find pleasing … More I bought a paddleboard
Bumblebee Paddles 