2025 08 09 and 10 Sea Kayak Rescues Refresher Course

This was based on Anglesey and was designed to go over a variety of rescues, tows and emergency situations that could happen while sea kayaking.

There were 10 of us on the course led by Nikki and Martin Aldridge, who were fantastic. We mainly worked in two groups, and all were willing to participate fully. There must have been 40 or so individual capsizes or incidents to deal with each day across both groups. We used Trearddur Bay on the Saturday as it afforded some protection from the very strong winds and large swells. Sunday saw us use the area between Mini Mawr and Penrhyn Mawr, which gave lots of realistic gullies, rocks and caves to practise in.

It soon became clear that the fundamental rescue was the X with the heal hook to climb on board. We looked at multiple variations to this over the weekend. When the rescue needed anchoring to either keep it away from danger to just to stabilise the situation, we used a variety of different towing types. It is essential to have good rope/line management in rough conditions to ensure the situation is not complicated further. Later, we practised the scoop method to get a casualty back in their boat and various scenarios.

It is clear that every sea kayak needs to practise rescues regularly, and this is something you should consider at the end of every day. Alternatively, book yourself onto a dedicated course to ensure you are safe to be with a group at sea.