A trip away and an advert for Nissan

Recently I took time away from Orkney to spend two weeks on the mainland visiting my parents and continuing my exploration of all things paddlesport.

First of all, I spent three days in and around Aberfeldy doing some three star open canoe training with Biscuit from Beyond Adventure. It was an excellent course and really improved my canoeing. I used to hate open boats but on a flat calm loch on a sunny winter's day, it all began to make sense. Paddling upstream against the current was also a lot of fun!



After that it was off to Glenmore Lodge for my Level 2 coach training course. This was absolutely fantastic with great coaching from Giles Trussel and Dave Rossetter. We had a good mix of theory and practice, getting out paddling on Loch Insh and Loch Morlich. Arrving in a blizzard wasn't so much fun... The weather was really cold and I've never worn so much under my drysuit, but it was definitely worth the discomfort. The GL food (Lodge Stodge) was superb- we weren't going to get cold due to lack of food! We also got to make use of the facilities and being the geeky kayakers we were, spent our evenings practicing in the rolling pool. My mojo hasn't returned and my shoulder hurts even more. An action plan needs to be formulated!

Back home in Orkney, there was more call to eat far too much food with the work's Xmas do on Saturday night and a christmas dinner for a friend who'll be away at sea for the festive period. Great food but I am STUFFED! The timing of the GL course meant I couldn't get back in time for the kayak club dinner - this was probably good as some of them didn't stop drinking until 5am!

Tonight was the final pool session for our beginner's group. Unfortunately for them, I wanted to put into practice all that I learnt last week.... We had a bit of a review of the previous 5 sessions and got them to work on strokes they liked and those they didn't like. It was great to see how confident they have all become and I hope we can help them get the most from their paddling over the next year. Katy and I did the boat trasport tonight- all peedie silver Nissan micras should come with a red and blue kayak!



Soon I have to go off to Iona for work and then it is back to Inverness for xmas.

Roll on 2010 I say.......