Outdoor pursuits training diary, Dartmoor, Devon, UK and Spain

Weekly Diary <2008 - 2009>
Online diary recording the trainees' progress through the course.

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15

Week 3 - Back to the UK As every year, the adjustment from the Spanish climate to the cool autumn of England is a tricky one. However a couple of great clear days gave us ideal conditions for introducing the group to canoeing and kayaking this week. The students were itching to get onto the water after 2 days of first aid training at Moorland Hall. The new BCU 2 star award requires paddlers to be competent in at least 2 kinds of craft; we use river kayaks and canoes throughout the course. Because there are so many cross over skills between the two boats, the groups skills progress at a good rate - learning a sweep stroke in a kayak for example and then transferring it to the canoe.

The Calstock viaduct is a fantastic backdrop to the days coaching on the river Tamar.	Canoeing tandem is a good way to start, it allows students to focus either on forward strokes or steering strokes rather than both at the same time - it also requires them to communicate with each other and work as a tight team.

		Most people were tentative on their first day in kayaks, worried of course about the inevitable capsize. Very quickly students are shown how to capsize safely and then how to develop good balance to avoid capsize!

Canoes are very sensitive to where in the boat ballast is placed - too much weight in the bow makes it very difficult to steer.