On Tuesday 2^nd of May we had an introduction in sea kayaking wherefore we met at the rowing clubhouse in Kristiansand. First of all Len briefed us on land basic things like which is the right paddle position, how the paddle movement looks like and some safety instruction. Most important was how to get out of the kayak after you capsized which is easy. You just have to open the spray deck and push yourself in a sitting manner backwards. Following, we headed towards the water and Len showed us how to enter the kayak. Put your paddle on the jetty with one end and the other end behind the seat of your kayak. Now, fix both ends with your hands which in consequence means that your boat is very stable and will not turn upside down. Therefore, it is very easy to enter the kayak. Next, we did several exercises to get a feeling for the kayak’ behaviour and how to steer. We did for example hip shaking to experience how difficult it actually is to capsize and because the hips are important in kayaking e.g. for steering. Moreover, we learned how to turn 360° by paddling forward on the one site of the kayak and backwards on the other site or to avoid a capsize by slapping the paddle in the falling direction on top of the water and do on the same time a hip movement to the other.  After practicing we tried to do it while paddling and we paddled from the clubhouse to an island. There, we learned how to stop rapidly and to build a raft with all kayaks next to each other and that this is very stable. So, the two persons on the outside where able to get out of their kayak and get on the raft to the other one.

On the way back we crossed the Øtra to paddle upwards on the other side of the river. Me and Julian did a race to the new bridge which was great fun but also very exhausting. At the bridge we were given the task to go in a slalom around the polls which was a good practice due to all the things we learned in the past hours. Back at the clubhouse there was only one thing that was waiting for us – the capsize drill. We had do demonstrate that we are able to get out of the kayak after we capsized and this in 5 degrees water temperature. I do not lie when I am saying that it was freaking cold but we did it in front of the jetty so we were able to get out of the water quickly and change our clothes. All in all this was a great day with a lot new things to learn and moreover it was an experience to capsize in such a cold water because now I can understand why it is so important to get the capsized person quickly out of the water.

On 18^th of May we had our next kayak session and we met at Paradise bay which is about 15km out of Kristiansand. First we had again a briefing at the parking lot where we worked out the most important features of a sea map. Things like main shipping routes, sea colour (light is deep), lighthouse colours and their frequency which means in detail red light is danger, white light (yellow on the map) is a guiding light which you should use until you see a green light. Furthermore, in sea maps there are squares in the sea which symbolize rocks.

Following, we started our tour in the area and every one of us had to lead the group at least once so we were able to train the veileder role again. It was interesting to observe how different the roles are understand. Some of us paddled on front of the group to tell show the rest where to go, some of us were paddling in the middle to be in touch of the end and the front of the groups and we even had the way that the leader was in the back to see all group members. Of course, there was a guy in the front which was briefed where to go. I liked the way of being in the middle most wherefore I chose this leading style on my second leg. On my first one I was paddling in front which has the big disadvantage of not seeing the group and turning around is difficult.

It was a really nice daytrip in a beautiful coastline and for me it was a new experience because I have never been kayaking at sea. First the up and down of the waves was a little bit strange but I got used to it really quick. Luckily, the sea was very calm most of the time, so it was not very difficult and dangerous to capsize but during the capsize training I did which was not on purpose but let’s take one thing at its time. A couple of hundred meter away of paradise pay on our way back Len suggested to do a capsize training because it is a good experience to safe a person on open sea. First, we were briefed theoretically in how to safe someone and following Joey was okay with that and paddled in front of us and decided suddenly to capsize. We got him out of the water in an okay time but it took a lot of time until he was sitting in the boat again. Like it is mostly at the first time doing something it was uncoordinated and slow. To our surprise Joey decided to capsize again and I was very near to his kayak wherefore I paddled there fast. Suddenly Jill appeared on the other side of the kayak which meant that I was not able to dock at the kayak in a T. So I decided to use the paddle sideward to get to his kayak but I lead to far over and turned around before I could react. So the rest of our group had suddenly to deal with two capsized person. This safe was more coordinated compared to the first one and I did not get cold which was surprising to me because the water was only maybe 3 to 5 degrees warmer. It was really good to experience the benefit of a merino wool base layer and to be honest I did not expect that it is warming so much when it is wet. Back at the parking lot I changed clothes and we had a short debriefing at which Len pointed out how important it is not to lose the contact to the kayak after capsizing. Moreover he explained us again the so called TX rescue which means that one party of the group is building a raft to get the person out of the water and at least one is as a “T bar” in front of the capsized kayak to pull it over his kayak (“X”). The reason for this is that you get the water out of the kayak very easily and you can turn it around afterwards.