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This Blog is A Record Of My Personal Adventures And Wonderful Kayaking Lifestyle. It Is Also A Taster Of What You Can Expect If You're Adventurous Enough To Tag Along. Why Not Get In Touch And Join One Of Go Sea Kayaks Guided Trips On The Beautiful Mediterranean Island Of Sardinia, You Won't Regret it!

Saturday 18 May 2013

Nav Training...

With my upcoming 5 star assessment I thought I'd make the most of being in Pembrokeshire & do some training. Yesterday I did some rolling practice. A quick paddle out of lower town Fishguard & 7 rolls on each side & another not set up. It was flat calm but that was fine as I was just working on technique like I would in a swimming pool.

Today was nav practice day, again in lower town & then following the coast to the right. It wasnt going to be a big paddle, just enough to freshen my memory on some technique.
 All ready to go :)

So to get from the jetty to the first headland I need a distance measurement, 0.4 of a kilometre. I know from this & my ready reckoner (image below) that it will take me 3 minutes 24 seconds at 7KMH. Or thereabouts.
The general rule for pacing is 10 minutes per kilometre, this is based on a speed of 6KMH. Its nice & easy to work with at 6KMH but I rarely paddle that slow.

Next I need a bearing as I wont be hand-railing on this section. 10° in this case.
I use my deck compass to lead the way & happily my bearing & timing were perfect :)
All thats left now is to practice this a few more times as I make my way along the coast & make a note of things that could be improved.


So at the end of my brief paddle I could see three things that could be improved.
1. My ready reckoner gives the time in decimal, yes I have a converter on the ready reckoner but it would be more efficient if I edited & reprinted the reckoner to minutes & seconds.
2. I've got a habit of always taking a bearing but sometimes I should just hand-rail & follow the coast for the pre determined time.
3. The deck compass is a useful addition but I feel that a handheld compass on my skirt is easier to read & maintain accuracy.

I'll use these points on the next paddle :)

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