From Tuesday the 5th of June to Friday the 9th half of our International Outdoor Education class took part in a sea Kayaking week. The week was split into two sections the first Tuesday and Wednesday where spent learning basic kayaking techniques and Thursday and Friday where spent on an expedition.
On Tuesday we met our instructor for the week Evan at the Kristiansand rowing club for our first session. Before getting started we briefly discussed different types of Kayaks focusing mainly on the sea kayaks as that what we where using. We also discussed paddling techniques and paddles and how the 45-degree angle is beneficial for longer journeys as they are more aero dynamic in this position. Finally, before getting on the water Evan discussed some safety aspects of Kayaking such as how to escape in the event of a capsize. After we had gone through the basics we got the boats on the water and started off heading upstream working on various forwards paddling techniques. Firstly, Evan had us working on basic forwards paddling focusing on trunk rotation and use of the core rather that arms to ensure strokes where more efficient. As we continued up stream we continued to add more strokes to allow us to manoeuvre the kayaks such as sweep strokes edging and the stern rudder. Once we had sometime practicing these various techniques we headed back to the start point where we spent the last half hour of the day practicing X rescues in groups of three.
Day two we met again at the Kristiansand Rowing club. This session had a much shorter brief to begin and we where able to get on the water almost immediately. We paddled down stream this time towards the open ocean surrounding Odderoya. On the way down Evan refreshed us on the various techniques we had learned the previous day. When we reached the open water, we practiced a new technique the low brace for some time some people getting a little too committed and capsizing. When then moved into one of the shallow bays near Odderoya to practice using the combination of edging and sweep strokes to make sharp turns. This was a good area to practice as there was do problem with capsizing as it was shallow enough that we could push ourselves back off the bottom if something was too go wrong. Once we had practiced this we continued to one of the small islands opposite Odderoya where we pulled to boats up onto the beach for lunch. Once we where finished with lunch we continued back around Oderoya through the small channel that passes the fish markets and back towards the rowing club. Some of us stayed around to practice rolling the kayaks with little success. After several failed attempts got out and Evan briefed us on what would be required for the following day on our overnight trip.
The following day we met at Paradis bukta for our overnight trip. I had intended to ride the 16km’s however, on the way I had some trouble with my bike breaking. Lucky this was able to be resolved and I was able to get another bike, however this is a good lesson for the future to check equipment as part of planning and preparation. Once this problem was sorted and we eventually did arrive at Paradis Bukta we where met by Evan and Swine with the Kayaks. Evan then gave us a quick brief on how to distribute weight when packing kayaks for expedition then we headed out onto the water. Once we where out on the water Evan told us about some useful acronyms for briefing groups and ensuring safety when on expeditions. They where ABCDE’s and CLAP which stood for various checks which should be made for a group
After we were done briefing we set off towards the Island each taking turns in pairs to navigate short legs of around 2kms. I found It was interesting to follow along with navigation even when it wasn’t my turn as I had never had to navigate in such open water, so it was a new experience and good opportunity to practice a new style of nav. After around 2 hours of paddling we stopped in a small bay where we had lunch, some of us took the opportunity to cliff jump which was nice to refresh after spending hours sitting in a kayak. After lunch we continued towards the island, Robbie and I took the last leg of navigation before the island. We where fortunate that we had some smaller channels with obvious features making our leg quite easy to navigate. Eventually we reached the island and set up got all our gear out. We where surprised by a note left by Maike, Jo, Sam and Jed who had taken the tourist ferry to the island with the intention of surprising us all, but we found them before they found us. Once we had all settles in Sam, Jed, Aaron, Marijn and I decide to go and jump off a 20m cliff we had heard about. When we reached the top of the cliff it was more intimidating than we had expected but we decided it was easier that climbing down so we sent it anyway. I landed badly and bruised a rib which was quite painful for the rest of the trip worth it though. We all spent the remainder of the night together as a group on the Island as it was our last trip talking about the semester and Sam sung a song about what had happened during the day.
The next morning woke up being attacked by midges, everyone then took quite some time to get ready as it was we only had a short distance to travel that day and it was our last trip. We eventually set off around 10am with the remaining people taking turns to navigate us back. We reached Paradis Bukta around lunch time.
Overall the Kayak week was a good way to finish the semester. It was nice change to the other activities we had been doing throughout the semester and it was nice and relaxed and laid back whilst still giving us the opportunity to develop our skills in the field.