Learning to Roll a Kayak

After talking to Paul about how much fun our sea-kayaking trip had been he promised me he could teach me to roll a kayak, thereby helping alleviate some of my fear of taking the sport any further. Now it’s not often a former Irish surf-kayaking champion and water-polo player offers to teach you a new skill, especially when coupled with a post-activity BBQ! The deal was sealed, the date was set, and the venue – Coniston Water – was agreed.

As well as suggesting suitable clothing – wet suits etc. – Paul offered two others recommendations: bring swimming goggles and nose plugs. Well, we had the googles handy as Laetitia is a keen swimmer and has recently taken up open-water swimming. However, I forgot to get any nose plugs. This was a mistake! Spending time upside down in Coniston Water with the lake doing it’s best to pour down your nose isn’t very pleasant! But we are tough (ish) and got stuck in anyhow…

Helped by Paul (of course), Phil (whose BBQ we made great use of later that evening), and Paul’s three kids, Laetitia and I did our best to deliver on our part of the bargain; learning to roll a kayak.

Now Paul is a great teacher, but lets be honest, rolling a kayak is difficult! So after getting more than a few nose fulls of lake water, starting to feel a little queazy from continual immersion and capsizing, and getting quite cold we retired to the campsite for a few well earned beers. :yum: Oh, and a healthy helping of BBQ food! :yum: :yum:

On Sunday, still feeling weird after all that upside down stuff in the water, we were pleased the weather looked iffy for climbing. So a walk up the Coppermines Valley was prescribed to help flush away the hang over!