Star Gazing and Kayaking

Last night Nikki, Charlie, Megan, George, Josh and I walked to the Roman Camp to watch the Lyrids meteor shower. As we were walking there I looked up to see a meteor fly right over my head! I couldn't wait to get to the Roman Camp to enjoy more star gazing. After getting there and finding a comfortable spot to lie down we waited...and waited...and then waited some more and never saw any meteors except for a couple stray ones off to the side. Although we didn't see many meteors, I did enjoy star gazing and pointing out the constellations we knew and spending time with my flat mates and Megan=)

This morning we knew we only had 3 more Outdoor Pursuits classes left, leaving kayaking, sailing, and surfing left on our to do list. We all had different ideas of what activity we would be doing, but found out soon enough after getting into the van with Sally that we were kayaking. Sally was telling us that Prince Williams had came to the Conway Center to kayak yesterday and that one of us might even be lucky enough to wear his same wetsuit or even use the same kayak! Most of us thought is would be pretty similar to canoeing but we found out that it was very different as the day went on. It would be interesting trying a sport non of the group members had ever tried before. This meant that we would really need to pay attention to Sally's advice and be supportive teammates. We collected our gear and kayak, each of us adjusting the leg length at the bow of the kayak. Laura came along with us to assist our large group. We drove about 30 minutes to Rhoscolyn Bay in Anglesey and carried our kayaks to the shore. Before getting into the water we did some exercises with our paddles to warm up and ran around getting loose. Sally taught us how to hold the kayak paddle, different from a canoe paddle because it has a paddle on each end, and turn it keeping our right hand tight and leaving our left hand loose to rotate the paddle. After we were all warmed up we got into our kayaks and set off into the bay. The kayak was different than the canoe because we each had our own kayak rather than working as a team when we canoed and we had to sit with our legs straight in front of us, under the sides of the kayak. As soon as we were floating in the water I could feel the wobbliness of the kayak and it made me very tense not to make any sudden movements, afraid to tip over. Before getting too far into the water Sally taught us that if we were to capsize we needed to remove our knees from inside the kayak and push off from the sides. The thought that the kayak kept you in place even if you were upside down underwater made me nervous, but I felt better knowing how to get out of that situation if the time came to that. We paddles around, learning how to paddle forward, backward, make circles, and stop. After everyone was comfortable we played a couple games like sardines, freeze tag and follow the leader giving everyone a chance to lead the pack in single file. It was great practice before stopping to eat lunch on the beach. As we were eating lunch the tide continually rose, reaching our beached kayaks. Throughout the day the tide continued to get higher.

After lunch Laura joined us to rock hop, meaning we would be kayaking along the rocks into the Irish Sea. We kayaked through small rock passages, having to paddle quickly when the tide was highest. Some of the girls got stuck on the rocks when the tide went out, so it was important to time it perfectly. We reached some areas where we had to pull up our skag, the rudder in the bottom of the kayak to help steering, to avoid it catching the rocks below. We then began to make our way to the Beacon island where we had to ferry over a couple strong currents, just like we did when we canoed. Sally told us the best way to stay balanced was to paddle hard and consistently over the rougher areas. As soon as we reached the island we made our way around the outside. We even saw a seal along the side of the rock shore! The tide was still rising, making it more difficult to find safe areas to kayak through. We had to make sure to stay in single file to avoid accidents or overcrowding that could result in capsizing. As we made our way back to shore we had to cross over a very strong current. We had to paddle as hard as we could at an angle to avoid being pushed down stream. At one point Elliot got stuck on a rock and capsized! Sally helped him empty his kayak with water and get him back into the kayak as quickly and safely as possible. It was scary knowing that we were in a strong current and Elliot could have gotten pulled down the current, but Sally was quick to act and saved the situation. Laura instructed us to raft up, connecting our kayaks side by side, to keep us from drifting off until Elliot joined our group again. Once we were all in a group we paddled non stop to get back to the shore, using our stomach muscles to maximize the power of our paddling. My arms and back began to ache but it was my responsibility to keep paddling and stay with the group to make it safely back. Before ending the day we played one last game, rafting up and trying to walk across the kayak fronts to switch places with another group member. The game ended in many flooded kayaks and wet people but we still had lots of fun! We paddled back to the beach sore from working hard paddling and our legs being crammed into a tiny space. Everyone did very well today for never kayaking before and were supportive and helpful when there were tricky situations. I enjoyed the challenge of starting from scratch with an activity I had no experience with or knowledge of. I felt that I was able to improve my water confidence through the success of this activity.