Sea Safety Skills & Sea Kayak Leading with Nick Cunliffe

The following morning, our group was joined by Nikki, James and Catriona as we convened at the excellent Summit to Sea for our briefing with Nick Cunliffe. Nick had offered to provide the club with some sea kayak leader and safety skills coaching, and having had many recommendations for his courses, I’d looked forward to meeting Nick and experiencing his coaching; it did not disappoint!

Conditions at Cemaes were around NE winds of f3-4 and NE swell of 0.7m, local low tide at 11:20. The bays of Cemaes and Porth Padraig provided just the right mix of conditions and shelter for respite. There was so much covered on the day, it is impossible to capture in this trip report, even with the notes that Nick helpfully provided to the group after the course. Suffice to say, we all gained valuable practice and experience with rescue skills (contact tows, anchored tows, rafted tows), group management (communications, positioning, awareness), self-rescues and general insight into leading kayaking trips. Learning and practising the skills outside our comfort zones and under Nick’s guidance was great, but equally being able to observe and learn from his expert coaching style and technique was an equally rewarding experience.