Sunday January 2nd - Ice with that ma'am?

First outing of the New Year and, surprisingly the sun shone! Open boating on flat water isn't the warmest of activities but at least we were paddling; the boys and the crews of the many racing yachts searching for a breeze on Windermere were not, so I suspect they we rather chillier than us!

From Millerground across to the Lilies of the Valley was straightforward enough, but rounding the islands was a no-go. The entire passage was closed by 1 1/2" thick ice so it was a quick about face, past the cormorant's loo (dead trees where a flock regularly roost on Lady Holme) and off to Blackwell for a brew and a bun.

Dougal and Bruce weren't sure about making a break for the beach...

It really doesn't feel like 15 months ago that I last posted to this blog, way back in October 2009.

It has been such a busy time, packing in what sometimes feels like an endless series of training and assessment courses, building on past experiences and soaking up ideas, approaches and philosophies from a number of inspirational people along the way. My Dallam course finished with a fantastic sea kayaking trip along the west coast of Scotland and all the efforts paid off when my certificate landed on the doormat. Almost immediately I was offered a contract to work the summer at Dallam Outdoors which again led to my meeting some top people and learning heaps more about delivering adventure and development to the kids we worked with.

Sue and I enjoyed a fortnight paddling around the Elaphite Islands of Croatia in late summer and continue to paddle and wander around the Lakes and other places. The dogs continue to entertain us while the children do what all the best of them do; give us cause for concern, regularly attack the bank balance and live their lives completely oblivious to any stress that they inflict!

Anyways, here we go, into 2011 with every intention of returning to post more regularly and keep this insight into my world going. I hope that you have as much fun as I hope to!

Sunday 18th October - Return to the scene of the crime

A late afternoon blast on the Consiton Fells to shake off a few cobwebs and so that Sue could put a few miles into her new boots. It seemed like a good idea to revisit the cwm under Brim Fell Rake where Dugal spent a happy few hours thinking about sunshine, food and other happy thoughts last February!

A good choice - we only saw three other people once we got into the walk, and not a soul once on the ridge and over the Old Man. Super views over Coniston towards Ulverston and Morecombe Bay, arriving back at the car just as the light went. The verdict? Sue is happy with her boots and Dugal enjoyed his tea, as did Bruce; both collapsed into their baskets on arriving home. Not unlike Sue and I really...

Thurs & Fri 15th / 16th October

Lots of First Aid and Incident Management stuff, broken limbs, shock, blood and gore everywhere. Just another typical few days at Dallam...

Having spent a half day going through much of the REC2 course syllabus it was off into the woods where there were plenty of casualties waiting for us (and a party of primary school kids and staff looking very concerned). Coming across a climber with a broken fib & tib and his badly shocked partner was pretty straightforward - until the rockface that he'd fallen from began to collapse around us. It's surprising how quickly priorities change: a quick pick through our kit and an improvised stretcher (bivvy bag) appeared for a quick and dirty evacuation, followed by some "linear origami" resulting in a full-on stretcher from a 50m climbing rope. Padding this out with a couple of Karrimats and co-opting another couple of climbers and we were off for a brew in no time.

Friday was a wet one. Literally. Pinned kayaks, broached canoes, entrapped paddlers; you name it, we hummed it. The last set-up, sprung as a complete surprise, involved a pinned canoe, a paddler crushed between it and the rocks above an undercut, vertical bank. On the far bank from where we were working.

I reckon that getting the paddler out of the entrapment, assessed, splinted, onto a "stretcher", assessed again and moved to safety inside 20 minutes was no mean feat. Certainly faster than the ambulance would have arrived and entertaining for the dog-walkers at Devil's Bridge. Hopefully I'll never have to do it for real, but it's good to know that the tools are in the box.

Monday 12th October - Irony or what?

Well, quite a day. Back into work after 7 weeks off following my hernia op, all ready for the RTW interview followed by handing in THAT letter. Sadly it was not to be; no Nigel, no Richard so it by that most impersonal means - email - that I tendered my letter of resignation to HR. Oh well I could have sent it in by text! I'll look forward to talking with the guys when they are back at t'mill.

Now, none of that is partcularly ironic I hear you mutter. How about this then: I've been watching what I eat over the past few weeks. Not going mad and certainly not abstaining totally from chocolate so, when I stepped on the scales this evening, I was more than chuffed to see that I've dropped getting on for half a stone. Still short of where I want to be but well chuffed! Then as I bent over to pick up a towel, the arse of my jeans let rip, opening up just like a burst banana, right across my right cheek. I blame it on my wallet...

If exercise isn't the answer, try snoozing in a sweatsuit

(or under a pair of terriers!)

Thur & Fri 8th / 9th October - Inside out?

Thursday: bright, sunny and lots of water in the rivers after a decent dump of rain on Wednesday. Perfect for a day on the water so here we go - sitting in lectures all day studying synoptic charts, surfing weather-related websites to gather Met. info and forecasting weather. Never again will I feel inadequate when faced with a quasi-static occlusion or returning Polar maritime air mass...

Friday arrived, bright to begin but cold and windy (but at least I know why!) so I was doubly glad that my drysuit arrived back complete with new neck seal! Off to Kirby Lonsdale again but with the prospect of a drop more water than last week. And so it was - at least 4" deeper so the flat water was moving and the moving water was moving slightly faster. Still, a top day, lots of input on my coaching style / techniques and, having carried upstream a ways, some real skills work on moving water with virtually complete beginners.

Have arranged a regular lift with Ben (Ulverston) so good craic on the journey in and out from now on!

Andy has his first taste of moving water in a kayak

Friday 2nd October - Yorkshire Pudding (nearly!)

After the sunshine yesterday we thought that our day climbing would have more of the same. However, this is Cumbria and so it was solid overcast, cold, wet and windy. Ingleton Climbing Wall beckoned...

I'd not previously been to this wall, but knew that Inglesport (gear shop) and the cafe next door were well worth a visit, so another result as far as I was concerned! The pies were excellent ...

A good day out, plenty of climbing, ran through my SPA rigging work and spent much of the morning working with folk new to the game, tying-in and belaying basics then supervising as they each climbed, bottom roping and leading, and belayed each other. Good feedback / critique from Steve at end of the day; had plenty of time for that due to RTA blocking the road home!

How is that fat git going to get up there?

Thursday 1st October - What the Devil....

Sunshine, warm and no wind, do we climb or do we paddle? As it turned out, after some classroom faffing, we split into 4 "cell" of 4 and then 2 cells either climbed or paddled...

Once I'd got my kit from the car and blagged a Fluid Solo, moved the seat back about a foot and slung it onto the trailer, I had time to straighten out my diary, have a bite to eat and a snooze before the bus was loaded and we set off for Kirby Lonsdale, River Lune at Devil's Bridge. Faff is going to become such a large part of my life!

Still, playing in boats in the sunshine is never a bad thing (canoes don't count) and all turned out well. Mark did some warm-up stuff and we played a few ball games before he let me loose for some flat water coaching practise.

Mark briefs some of the group

Frankie concentrates hard

After lunch it was onto (only just) moving water for more coaching - ferry gliding, breaking out / in - and more competitive ball games. All had a good day with lots of learning and confidence growing throughout.

Some enjoyed it all just a little too much....

"Here's Johhny"!

Friday 25th September - Best get it over with...

Day 2 and "who will volunteer to take a canoe out then?" Well, it had to happen at some point, so I thought I'd dive in at the deep end.

Once more we split into 2 groups, half in kayaks and half in canoes. After collecting a one-bladed paddle and blue barrel for lunch and valuables (note to self - take extra drybags next time!) we loaded trailers and eventually headed off to Brown Howe on Coniston. Before long we were changed and on the water.

Now, I have no idea why I've never really fancied canoeing, but now that I've spent a day in one, paddling on a lake, initially with and, later, into a (slight) headwind, I'm starting to rationalise my thoughts. Think of it like this; you kneel in a canoe in order to paddle it. That is, you spend your time on your knees in something resembling a plastic bath-tub. A plastic bath-tub that has grit in it and soon has half an inch of water slopping about as well. The bottom of the bath-tub wobbles like a stiff jelly as you paddle through ripples - fortunately we never saw any waves.

You paddle your bath-tub primarily on one side of its hull which means that your upper body becomes twisted and your shoulder start to ache. This happens quite quickly, but that's ok because, soon after it starts to ache, your shoulder starts to burn. So you change position and paddle on the other side of your bath-tub - only to find that your other shoulder starts to ache. So you resign yourself to spending your day with burning shoulders. It also dawns on you that all the grit, sharp and jaggy, that gathered under your knee, digging into it, piercing your your (expensive) drysuit and turning it into a teabag, washes across the bottom of the bath-tub and congregates under the other knee. Where it annoys just as much as it did under the first knee but can now make a whole new bunch of holes in your drysuit. Also, because you are not used to paddling left-handed, the canoe goes in every direction except the one in which you want to travel.

After a quick lunch stop you get do do it all again only this time into a headwind. Which means that your wobbly, grit and water filled bath-tub is totally unsteerable no matter which side of the bloody thing you paddle on. And, because of the headwind, you put twice as much effort into your paddling which really impresses the muscles in your shoulders...

I hope that I soon learn how to paddle a canoe efficiently and am trying really hard to look forward to the next chance I have to put myself through it all again...

Thursday 24th September - Back to School...

First day of term at Dallam starting my NCFE Level 3 "Certificate for the Outdoors" course.

As expected and unsurprisingly, lots of faff sorting out paperwork for late entrants, but plenty of tea drinking and getting to know each other, the Centre, kit, and Steve and Mark our Director and Instructor. 16 of us starting out, wide range of backgrounds, ages and reasons for taking the course. It will be interesting to see how many of us complete...

Off to Fellfoot (Windermere) in the afternoon, split into kayak and canoeing groups. I deftly avoided the canoes and spent a couple of hours learning how to lift and carry a kayak, which end is the front, what a spray deck does and how to play Quiddich in kayaks!