Indoor Pool Training

Youth Scholarship - TR. 22

Tuesday was a 'stunner' on the Isle of Man, t-shirt weather continued!

The Youth Scholarship team completed an Evening Paddle south of Peel as this week's training session.

I believe we are confirming flights for next summer's expedition to Canada, next week : )

Sam's FMP class 

began at 6:30pm at Patrick Hall, so me and John missed that, and just had time to return to base, wash the kit, and collect the kit for the pool session... Contact us if you wish to join the weekly class.

Discover Sea Kayaking - B (training course)

The October 'Discover Sea Kayaking - B' course was fully subscribed as usual. 

Using the Western Swimming Pool (Peel), an excellent modern facility (where Keirron also trains with the lifeguard team), and coach to student ratios, the results are always outstanding.

The next Discover course (with places) which includes 4 sessions in the indoor pool, begins November 26th.

See Website Calendar for details and to book online.

 Blackberry Picking

As it's the season for blackberry picking, and the girls really enjoy the eating part, it's been a regular activity over the past couple of weeks : )

Catch you on or off the water soon!

K

the Weekend

Gorge Scrambling adventure

 Saturday morning was a scheduled open Gorge Scrambling session.

As it was mostly Adventure Club members, we increased the challenge level a bit : )

 Really fun journey up through the stunning Ballaglas Glen, with autumn colours all around!

To book your group Gorge Scrambling adventure, contact us

Coasteering session

 Sam led the afternoon Coasteering session with a group visiting the Isle of Man for the weekend.

Before and after snaps...

"Thanks for the wonderful experience.

We really had a great time doing Coasteering.

In spite of us not getting the car and our phone’s not working, we still managed to get what was promised.

It was indeed a wonderful time…

Really Thanks…

Say hi to your staff and specially Sam…for being a great instructor."

BCU 2 Star course

John & George began the latest BCU 2 Star course on Saturday at Mooragh lake.

Utilising a range of craft, the award focuses on a variety of paddlesport. The team had a lot of fun working in different boats from open canoes, sit on top kayaks to stand up paddle boards and using different types of paddles. 

  Next week the team will move on to improving their open boating skills, both solo and tandem!

Adventure Club - Senior Members

The senior club members were out on Saturday, thinking about Navigation skills. They plotted a direct course from Niarbyl to Bradda Head, and used  bearings and transits to maintain their course. We'll be seeing them regularly again now that conditions are suitable : )

Adventure Club - Sea Kayak Training

 Sunday morning Sea Kayak Training session ran from Port Erin Beach.

 At present, the morning training session is just for Adventure Club members. Having worked primarily on fundamentals for the past 8 weeks, it was refreshing to journey out to one of our favourite locations on the Calf of Man!

 A lot of Atlantic Grey Seals giving birth right now, so we had to be careful about landings... and also note seal pup locations for wildlife officer : )

 Focussing on locating tidal awareness, wildlife and planning technical information into tactical (practical) application, it was also a great social with friends : )

Discover Sea Kayaking - session 2

 The students learning to kayak on the October Discover course also had a cracking session, blue skies and sunny... bliss!!

 Continuing from session one last week at Peel, revisiting basic manoeuvres, preventing a capsize and exploration : ) Caves and coastline working to our advantage beautifully!

 Looking forward to continuing the journey of discovery next Sunday afternoon.

Keirron & the Team

ps. We begin the Indoor Pool Training - Discover Sea Kayaking 'B' this Tuesday 8-9pm at Western Swimming Pool, Peel.  I believe there are 2 places available...

EuroMeet 2013

Leaving the Isle of Man Sea Kayak Symposium in the hands of John, George and Sam, I flew out to Slovakia, via the University College of Birmingham on Tuesday.
It was great to spend a few hours with the students on the Adventure Tourism Management course, (I graduated with an honours Degree in 2002) and I hope some of it was useful : )

Then I continued out to Bratislava airport, met by the mayor's driver and transported rapidly to the  European conference held in Loptovsky Mikulas. The Nature and Sports Euromeet is a get together of many of European leaders in outdoor sports, sharing information and working together on sustainable delivery and development in the outdoors.

As part of the EuroMeet 2013, the host city of Liptovsky Mikulas put on a fantastic array of speakers, case studies, and site visits into 'nature'. (Above - Demanovska Cave of Liberty) Many thanks to Mayor Alexander Slafkovsky, and the entire organisational team at the EuroMeet for such an educational experience. It was quite daunting to be a speaker alongside the other vastly experienced and down to earth professionals.

Really inspiring and great to make new friends from many different countries, who are equally passionate about the outdoors. Facebook Page
Following on from the International Sea Kayak Symposium, it made me really think about the importance of communication, especially across different languages...
I got back from Slovakia on Saturday evening, in time to grab some sleep, and get back on the water for the Sunday training sessions off Peel : )

Adventure Club skills training session in the morning, with some dry land practice during the beach break, and the afternoon was the Discover Sea Kayaking course new students : )

Look forward to seeing you all next week for more fun!

Keirron

Sea Kayak Symposium

Sea Kayaking UK International Dealers Meet

Its been exceptionally busy with the September series of events, leaving John wrapping up the Adventure Race on the Isle of Man, I delivered the Sunday morning Adventure Club training session, then headed over to Anglesey with George to Dealers Meet...

 The days are divided into trade updates and decisions on kayaks, paddles and promotion, with a delightful mix of paddling the tide races and evening chat as well : )

Whilst there we managed to recruit even more attendees to the IoM International Sea Kayak Symposium.

Isle of Man International Sea Kayak Symposium 

Then it was hit the floor running back home, with the students on the 5 day training course already in residence and looked after by John, we picked up the course on Thursday and got on the water!

 Interspersing some Coasteering training with predominantly rough water handling skills in the sea kayaks, and plenty of opportunity for developing tidal awareness and incident management.

 International Training Weekend

 The International Training Weekend is part of the Isle of Man Symposium, and this year had 70 sea kayakers from all corners of the globe, US, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, UK, Spain, Greece, Denmark....

 Based from the Isle of Man Yacht Club, we utilised the South of the Island to get maximum exposure to the stunning coastline and rough water opportunities :)

 The Grey seal population looked ready to pup, so we avoided many of usual landing spots, and chose some more challenging ones instead....

 Time enough to explore a few caves, enjoy the warm sunshine and the joyous blessings of wearing Kokatat Drysuits!

 
With different training courses running from various locations, it was impossible to pull everyone together for the group picture, but we got quite a few of them : )

 The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company is the main sponsor for the International Sea Kayak Symposium, and we are very appreciate of their sponsorship, and the support of Sea Kayaking UK and the network of leaders, coaches and expertise which made the event run so well! 

A special thanks to John Keggin for his continued perseverance on the admin and logistics side.

Congratulations to those who passed BCU 3, 4 and 5 star qualifications over the weekend! 

It's the People

It's the people that make International events like this so special, and we are extremely lucky to have met an extraordinary variety of folk. 

The Saturday evening Guest Speaker was Nigel Dennis, the talk was held at the Claremont Hotel in Douglas. Free entry with all donations to the RNLI, a charity which Nigel is also involved in, both on the Lifeboat and developing rescue techniques and drift patterns for search and rescue.

Nigel, a world renowned sea kayak explorer and expedition leader delivered the history of modern sea kayaking and how his career has evolved through various expeditions after his first trip in 1980 when he circumnavigated Great Britain with Paul Caffyn. This expedition was the first successful circumnavigation of Scotland, Wales & England taking 65 kayaking days. Since then Nigel has carried out expeditions in Antarctica, Easter Island and a televised expedition around Cape Horn in 1992.

There were also 12 other guest coaches at this year's symposium each bringing their characters, knowledge and expertise to the event.
Captured a few of them on the camera :)

                                    Johan Wagner - Sweden                     Dale Williams - USA

                                     Fiona Whitehead - UK                 Jukka Linnonmaa - Finland

Great to receive some feedback from members of the local Adventure Club who also attended the weekend:

"Brilliant weekend at the symposium, fantastic to be in the position to be able to learn from the masses of knowledge and skill available. Mike"

"Hi John & Keirron,Thank you so so much for an amazing symposium! I had so much fun, and hopefully learnt a lot (though I can't promise it will show!) I know we only saw a fraction of the hard work that went into it, but it was one of the best things I've done on the island and really appreciate how much effort you put into it. Martha"

"Hi John/Keirron, It was a fantastic weekend. Well done to everyone involved in organising and delivering the symposium. Gerry"

Looking forward to welcoming more sea kayakers to the island next year!

Symposium & International Training Weekend: 27th & 28th September 2014

5 Day training course: 29th September - 3rd October 2014

BCU Courses weekend: 4th & 5th October 2014

Keirron & the team