Monday 5 May 2014

Kayaking Symposium (after)

On the 28th, 29th and 30th of March, the Islay canoe club went to the West Coast Paddlers kayaking symposium at Loch Winnoch to take part in activities. I did two activities, forward paddling strokes for sea kayakers and balance games leading to self-rescue. In the morning with I did forward strokes. I learnt techniques that I had not tried before. I learnt to relax my knees into the middle section of the cockpit, taking the paddle out of the water at my waist and to use a rudder to steer where possible. In the afternoon I braved the balance games and self-rescue and learned a very important lesson the hard way. At the beginning of an activity I lost balance, fell out of my boat and began drifting away from my boat. The lesson was no matter what, keep hold of the kayak. I also learnt that to help achieve a self-rescue you need to build balance. One way was to paddle around with a rubber duck on your head or you could try crawling up to the front of your boat and rubbing noses with your boat. During the symposium I tried out one of the clubs new Delphin kayaks. I like this boat because it test me, making me a better paddler. The kayak is easy to handle and steer and can catch up quickly to some faster boats. It is just wide enough to be able to feel stable whilst narrow enough to look and feel sleek. We were very lucky to get such useful boats to fit young paddlers. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog! Asher

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