4 Star Training...

On Wednesday the 27th of April I headed back up to Anglesey for two days of 4 star sea leader training with Adventure Elements .

The first day we started working on leadership, rescues & towing as well as being shown how & why the sea flows & creates eddy currents in the way it does & how these affect the water around headlands.

The Other Students, Simone, Graham & Kayak Steve were great company & made both days enjoyable & a good laugh.

On the first day our instructor was James who thankfully explained things really well & gave me plenty of things to think about & work on not to mention a great explanation of why the tides run for longer than the standard 6 hours.

I did take my camera but forgot to pop the freshly charged batteries in it (LOL).

We paddled from Bull Bay on the North of the Island & followed the coast east on the ebbing tide to Porth Wen, returning on the flood. 

It was I fab day but I was bloody freezing after the rescues we did in a tidal race...

Day 2 & we were in Cemaes Bay, again in the North, under the watchful gaze of Wylfa nuclear power station...

 A quick debrief with Dave leading today & we were off...

It was lovely & calm to start with but as soon as we pushed around the headland the sea really picked up as the powerful back eddy we were in felt the tide & wind. The conditions were just above the remit for the 4 star leader & made ideal if slightly twitchy practice...

After  a while we turned towards middle mouse, just as a bearing to get into the main flow, you can really sea the difference having the wind with the tide makes & my sphincter was able to stop crushing walnuts :)

After surfing a few swells on the way back we head into a quiet part of the bay for another debrief & explanation on the flows & eddy currents that we just paddled through as well as a look down from the cliff-tops to really enlighten us. There was a lot of emphasis on flows & eddies currents & I felt I learnt a lot.

 Time for some rock-hopping...

After a few rescues amongst the rocks we make our way back & try to remember all that I've learnt. A final debrief & a talk on equipment & we were done.
A fab couple of days & really helps set me up for my Wales challenge, after which I hope to do the 4 star assessment though I'll probably do some more training first...