Blog by Teresa Nash (who went on this weekend)
Date: 14 - 16th July 2023 (Friday - Sunday)
Venue: Llandysul Paddlers Canoe Centre and Club, Llandysul
Number of ladies: 41 (for a variety of lessons…white water rafting, white water kayaking, rolling, sea-swimming, rescues, hotdogging, arcing, sea-kayaking).
When enrolling for this weekend, ladies chose morning and afternoon lessons, and then an all-day lesson for Sunday. We had choices of camping or staying in the bunkhouse. Payment included free breakfasts Saturday and Sunday, free pig roast Saturday night, free gin - rum - cheese tasting Saturday night, tea - coffee - soft drinks all weekend. Canoe Wales members had some discount on the price.
Friday
The weather was atrocious. It poured with rain all day, but we had the most amazing and friendly welcome you could ever ask for. We were allowed to arrive anytime after 4pm, which was when registration began. I arrived 4.10pm :-). I was greeted initially by Kay (very funny and bubbly) and Lydia Wilford (very organised and friendly). We were given our free meal, gin/cheese tasting tokens and shown to our bunkhouse rooms, if we chose that. I did and I had a room to myself, with the most amazing view of some Teifi grade 2 rapids out of my window. I had a brand newly fitted bathroom/toilet right next to me and it wasn’t noisy at all. The beds were made and all bedding and towels were provided. There were plenty of toilet rolls, spare towels etc in the cupboard too (in the bathroom). Downstairs was the communal kitchen, a comfy loungey area, an eating area, wet rooms and a drying room. Pics attached will show some of these areas. In the eating area is a beautiful stained glass window, which I also took a photo of (and this is attached).
I brought my own food and put some in the communal fridge which was in the same area as the drying rooms. Everything was so close together. Across the road were the store sheds for boats and kit, toilets, a huge marquee for entertainment, a small slalom lake, a whitewater section of the Teifi (grade 2) and room for tents/campervans, plus 2 small car parks.
I went out for a little warm-up paddle on the slalom lake, where there were very tame geese and a ball-mad terrier (forgot his name). Only own-kitters were aIlowed out on the lake on Friday. Iwas the only one there, so Frances Bateman joined me and we had a good chat about something which interests me…Surf-Kayaking. Turns out she represents Wales at this, so she is an excellent contact. I pootled on that lake for about 1 and 1/4 hours and had a lovely warm shower. Ahhhh. (I was drenched by the way, as still hammering with rain). Fran encouraged me to do the Surf Kayak Course on 12th August. I am going to do it! This is a good starting point for me personally, so already this weekend has given me pointers in the direction I would like to go. On that lake, by the way, was a perfectly sized buoy for fitting a neck-seal onto a wetsuit or cag.
Belinda helped me put my boat back on my car. I put all my wet kit in the drying room. I had a quick shower, had some food and then did yoga for 3/4 hour with Alexa. I just about made it to the welcome chat at 8pm. Here, some people had the chance of changing some of their lesson options around. My options were: Saturday am - white water kayaking; Saturday pm - rescues; Sunday - rolling. Sea Kayaking was moved to Cilgerran site, as the swell was forecast to be dangerously high on Sunday. There was a fun quiz at 8pm and I joined up with Karen and Serra. This was a good ice-breaking idea. There was a small, basic bar and pints were £5. Early night tonight though. Nothing really happening entertainment-wise. Alarm was set for 7.30am.
Saturday
Got up 7.30am, freshened up and went to yoga 8 - 8.30am. This was in a small room at the top of the bunkhouse, with a lush view of the Teifi to the left. This was great and very relaxing. 8.30 - 9.30am was breakfast time. There were staff providing cooked breakfasts/breakfast baps and there was cereal, milk, breads, jams & spreads on the table, which we could help ourselves too. Tea, coffee, water and soft drinks were constantly available. I had breakfast-bap and cereal. I ate as much as I possibly could. One of the instructors helped me get my boat off the car and carried it to the area for white-water kayaking, where we had a pep talk - getting to know names and abilities etc. We met at 10am for this. We had 3 coaches - Joey, Martin and a lady (whose name I have forgotten, doh). The actual kayaking started at 10.30am and we worked our way down 4 areas of white water (stopping in little eddys on the way down each one). They were grade 2. The rain had helped get the water level up, but they said it was still very low compared to normal. At the end of it all (12 noon) a vehicle and trailer brought all the kayaks back up to where we started.
There was lots of rain again today. We all had our own lunch and a cuppa and then prepared for the pm session….for me - Rescues. This was just to top up knowledge acquired at my PSRC (Paddlesport Safety and Rescue Course) back in June 2023.
Rescues started 2pm and immediately we were capsized by the gent who took the course. I rolled out of it and others did self-rescues to the water’s edge, emptied their boats and went back on the water again. I did actually learn an easier method of emptying kayaks (which is slightly kinder on the back). All emptying is easier with boats with buoyancy bags and I have been advised to have some buoyancy bags put into my kayak. Method (if right handed): pull boat sideways, with cockpit sideways against your cockpit. Push the back end with right hand, at the same time pulling the front end over the front end of your boat. When you do this, you lean your left elbow on the cockpit area of your boat, so you are using elbow and boat as a lever, whilst swivelling front towards you on your boat. Empty boat as normal and push over to correct upright position. This method prevents excessive twisting of your back. There is still the original T-version, where boat is again upside-down (90 degree angle to your boat) and pull across your boat and empty. This is more difficult if your back isn’t very flexible. There was a refresher on the use of a strap to help a person get back into their boat (especially if they are very tired). Tie a knot in a doubled-up bit of webbing. Throw over the other boat so the person can get their foot on it. Wrap one of the free ends around your cockpit, hold on to it and the person can then step on the looped end.
At any time during a rescue, if the casualty is able to, ask them to help you in the rescue.
I learned an extra SUP method of rescue. Get the casualty to hold onto and rest on the end of their SUP. Put your SUP on the casualty’s SUP by crossing it over the middle (like the shape of a cross). Get onto your SUP and ask the casualty to move to the crossover corner. Grab their personal flotation device and pull them on to their SUP. You might have to kneel/stand up to do this. Get your SUP off and carry on paddling.
We finished rescues at 4.15pm - many of the ladies were very wet and very cold. Again it rained constantly. Wet kit was put in the drying room again and I had a quick shower. Started writing this blog before I forgot everything (and already I have forgotten some names).
6.30pm: teatime (lovely pig roast - pulled port, with vegan burgers, mixture of salads, coleslaw, potatoes and other sides). Must admit I was ready to stuff my face….which I did and I was ready for a good stomp!
There were gin/rum and cheese tasting sessions at 7 and 8pm. We had to choose a time. I chose 8pm. They were all made locally at Glynhynod Farm. They were very generous with their portions of 4 different types of gin and one type of rum and there was a nice selection of mixers: elderflower tonic, coke, tonic and ginger ale. I managed to blag another rum sample (because I love rum).
After being a bit nervous about going alone to this event, turns out that making new friends was actually easier than I thought it would be.
The band, BackTrax, were on at 9pm, by which time everybody (including myself) was well-oiled…hic! They played a variety of songs, old and new, and it didn’t take long before we were are having a good dance and jump around. The band played until 12 midnight and everyone went to bed. I met a guy who recognised me from school (that was many years ago I hasten to add) and we had a fab chat and turns out he is the partner of Fran, who surf-kayaks for Wales (and who I had a good chat with earlier re: surf-kayaking progression). How cool is that :-).
Alarm set for 7.30am, ready for breakfast 8 - 9am and then my ‘Rolling’ session 9 - 11am at the local swimming pool.
Sunday
Up at 7.30am. Again, I ate as much as possible for brekky. I had already put my kayak in the trailer box (yesterday evening) ready for the guy to drive them all down (with us in the minibus) to Llandysul Swimming Pool. The rolling session went well and I had about 90% success rate. I wore a nose-clip for the first time ever and found it great in the swimming pool, but I would not wear it on the sea or on the river. I was paired with lovely Emma, who was very knowledgeable re: kayaking. The guy taking the session was teaching us to roll with the head and body curled over forward, rather than with the head and body back. This threw me, but as it happens, I do this already apparently. I did not know - I cannot see myself. It was great because I was complimented about my rolls, whoop :-).
I couldn’t stay for the afternoon session, but I did a lot in the morning, so very happy indeed. I washed, got changed, had food and a cuppa, said a few goodbyes and then pootled on home (only an hour away).
The weekend was brilliant and definitely great for encouraging the females to take up and carry on with kayaking. It was very well organised and the people were very welcoming and friendly. I would highly recommend it.
Pictures and videos are attached, but not in any particular order.
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