A weeks IntroMediate sea kayaking - Anglesey, North wales

What an amazing week of weather .. hot, mainly and with very gentle winds.  Mainly form the East, which is more unusual, so we've focused on the West and South coastal areas.  IntroMediate is about gently being exposed to wind, swell, current and small surf and we've had all of that, with silky seas, sunshine and even ice creams!!

After coffee and chats with Celia and Linda, we headed off for Treaddour  Bay, to work with outside edged turns and stern rudders

The day worked around putting outside edged turns and stern rudders into different contexts, from calm ares, to some swell, rocky channels and narrow channels ...

Day 2 was from Rhoscolyn to experience some flow, more caves and arches .... and inside leaned/low braced turns.  Throughout emphasis was on use of the body to achieve greater effect and influence the boat ...

Day 3 four options were discussed and both decided on the more technical option of working in the Swellie's, to really grasp leaned turns ...

Day 4 was from Soldiers Point to Abraham's Bosom and back, so the Northern element of 'The Stacks'. We caught North Stack on the last of the ebb, and worked our way through the caves that allowed us in due to the low tide and just bathed in the sunshine .. yet again .. ;)

We had lunch on the South side of Abraham's Bosom and then headed back to South Stack as it was now into the 2nd hour and it was such a lovely rolling ride back towards North Stack, with a few whoops along the way ....

The final day we focused on rescues, self and assisted and did a brief paddle through Penrhyn Mawr in its first hour of flood. There was good chunky and explosive swell running, so we explored form a distance and headed back for some lunch.

It had been a magic week, with lovely people, progress and super silky conditions ....

Roger

Sea kayaking courses anglesey
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IntroMediate sea kayaking

IntroMediate sea kayaking course .. an intro to flow, swell and surf

Spring is here and Summer is on the way!  This IntroMediate sea kayaking course in North Wales, Anglesey, takes the core ideas of emphasis on the BODY, Boat and blade and moves them on, into a more dynamic environment.   Improve your sea kayaking skills in flow, swell and surf and get a better grasp of tidal planning, at the same time.

Focus on the course is on coaching sea kayak handling skills at 2 and 3 star level.  Although Roger will also be keen to hear what you want and will do his best to ensure there is an element of  bespoke coaching.  You will have the opportunity to put the new or refreshed skills into various context's, along the Anglesey coastline, whether this is tidal paddling, close quartering (moving in and out of rocky channels) and or managing your kayak in swell and or small surf.

This course takes you to a couple of North Wales sea kayaking classic locations, where you're likely to see wildlife close up. A truly stunning and memorable two days.  For those who are water confident and with previous sea kayaking experience of at least 3 days and keen to move into a more dynamic environment, and learn to work with swell, current, small surf and wind.

2 days cost £140; 3 cost £230; 4 cost £290 and 5 days cost £330

Sea kayaking course dates for 2014.

Course

Days

Jan 2014

Feb 2014

Mar 2014

Apr 2014

May 2014

Jun 2014

Jul 2014

Aug 2014

Sep 2014

Oct 2014

Nov 2014

Dec 2014

Intro-Mediate Sea Kayaking -on a weekend

2

N/A

N/A

24/25 - 3 places left

26/27

2/3 23/24

N/A

N/A

IntroMediate Sea Kayaking - during the week

1-5

N/A

N/A

28/29

9-12

28-31

Now is the time to plan and brush up on those paddling skills and abilities. Plus learn some new skills along the way.  Contact Roger on info@coastalspirit.com or call 07873132999.

Thanks, Roger

north wales sea kayaking+sea kayaking anglesey

Sea Kayaking Courses North Wales - IntroMediate + Bespoke

The last few weeks have been pretty busy and I'm just about up to date with admin and Blog.  Glynis was up for a Bespoke 1 to 1 day and with a windy forecast we set out from Moel y don, on the Menai Straits after coffees and a chat.  It was straight into a head wind, the bonus was it would help us back.  It had the feeling of winter as the day was bitter, but the light was great.  Just before slack water we paddled up into the Swellies, and worked on eddy turns.  Efficiency was the aim of the day, and we set off reducing the amount of reverse strokes to correct the kayak.  Hot chocolates to finish over a reflection on the day and looking back at the video clips ...   Great progress

The weekend saw John, Keith and Jeremy on the IntroMediate sea kayaking course and again it was windy, but we found appropriate conditions on the Straits, and we spent the day refreshing skills, with the main focus on managing a following sea, through the use of forward power, stern rudder, sweep strokes and edging (skeg was introduced right at the end)  Sunday was from Trearddur Bay to Rhoscolyn and back and we made the most of the rocky channels and gullies, working hard with various turns.  These turns we then moved into the flow and made our way out to the Beacon and its small islands, soon discovering a seal or two.

Paul had A Bespoke sea kayaking day and put a lot of preparation in prior to the day.  Considering he has just been paddling for a year Paul has progressed very well.  He wanted a challenge and with us being on a Spring tide and The Swellies so close to us, we were soon paddling our way to Menai Bridge, after a warm up.  Throughout the day Paul hit the turns well, maintaining a good constant lean. As the current slowed we gently made our way back up the eddies, to Menai Bridge.  Paul clearly chuffed by his achievements, and rightly so.

Tavi was up for a Bespoke sea kayaking day and it was a mixture of some rough water handling and trying new kit.  A ferry glide out to Harry Furlongs buoy, using transits and then back into the race.  A couple of points to locate on her new map and then back up to the race for a roll.  Great day and super to see Tavi's progress.

Roger

roger chandler
www.coastalspirit.com
info@coastalspirit.com

North Wales Sea Kayaking

Introductory to IntroMediate Sea kayaking - Halifax Club

Looking out from Moelfre, on the E coast of Anglesey towards Puffin Island and the Great Orme, in the distance.   A group from Halifax canoe club were back and with the winds blowing a f4 SW/W some shelter was ideal, and we found it.  Most had not been in a sea kayak before, so despite a mix of white water kayaking experience, these long pointy crafts were new ...

After a few circuits in the bay, working on turns we paddled towards the small island of the point and was greeted by a seal ... moments latter a porpoise popped its head up.  What a super start to the weekend ... I was keen to put the skills into context and emphasise what we needed to learn, so as to gain more control ...

We then headed South back along the coastline working on other strokes as we went ... Then a porpoise jumped out of the water, maybe 80-100 mts away from us.  Wow ...that was a surprise and my first, as they normally are quite and easy going.  We sat and watched it for a while ...

The following day the winds were stronger and more Westerly, so we headed for the Menai Straits.  The tide was a neap tide, smaller range and a slower current speed than a spring.  Plus we had two hours before slack water so we paddled into the area called the Swellies ... working on eddy turns and then for some lunch.

 

On the way back each person then had to led there team of 3 and collect an eddy ...

Thanks to Christine for organising the weekend, to Sonja for working with me on Saturday and Barry on the Sunday ...

Roger

north wales sea kayaking
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sea kayaking anglesey

Summer Sunshine - Bespoke Sea Kayaking

It was good to see Paul after a month or so and see the changes he had made, through putting time into going paddling.  As he had never been out to Puffin Island we did a tidal plan first, taking into account the winds and then set off.  A broad aim of the day was around 3 star performance skills and abilities ...

We worked with eddy turns and a couple of ferry glides, before heading round the island.  The seals were pretty mellow and also enjoying the sunshine ...

There was a small swell so we took advantage and did a couple of rocky landings, just before lunch, which would also allow the tide to turn and generate some speed ...

There was the occasional bit f chop which provided good conditions and Paul, looked comfortable in the Cetus HV, its first outing since Ireland!

As we headed back to the start we had some wind against tide, which provided good conditions for a self rescue.  Paul went for a paddle float self rescue and managed this fine.

We headed back to Menai Bridge and sat looking back over a couple of video clips, working through an action plan for Paul to focus on over the next few months, before our next day out in October.

Roger

bespoke sea kayak course
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intromediate sea kayaking