Sea Kayak Leader Skills Day 3 of 6 by Dave Gentle
Fuelled on Greggs’ doughnuts, we met at the Anchorage Hotel, Holy Island to discuss leadership skills.
We could see the Inland Sea through the hotel windows & the sun shining.
After a coffee we headed to Porth Dafarch. The team did their own briefing to each other with no assistance.
David took a big step forward to lead the first section towards Trearddur Bay with a following sea of both wind & swell. It was a difficult section to lead as the large waves swept under us.
We took a floating break in a cove & the group decided to head back past Porth Dafarch to a more sheltered spot, led by Eamon.
The group were happier now, so we took a dinner break in the cove with the waterfall in the sun. Fiona found two skulls, one of a bird & one of a marine beasty. 45 minutes later it was quite a walk with the boats to the water over the slippy seaweed.
Andy led the section to Mini Mawr, through the large rolling swell.
We took turns going back & forth through Mini Mawr with Dave leading & guiding. The waves focused our attention. They were like a washing machine!
Bill chose to lead the section to the sandy beach with two caves. There we examined the contents of the Leader’s bags including boat repair, first aid, warm clothing & safety equipment.
We looked in the first cave which didn’t go very far. Fiona went into the second cave first & didn’t come out. We followed her into the very deep interesting cave. We were all in there, well-spaced well apart, the cave went on & on.
Miles volunteered to lead the last leg, rock hopping with plenty whitewater action & then we headed to the mouth of Porth Dafarch where we performed some planned rescues. Lots of surfing followed all the way into the sandy beach, back out & surfed back in again & again. Everyone else had gone home and we had the beach to ourselves.
So, we got changed, drove a few minutes to the Sea Shanty Cafe where we had drinks, ice creams & chats about the day. Everyone was buzzing.
Dave & Fiona