down is a bit of a worry. You don’t want to be trapped upside down under your kayak. You have to be sure you can get out easily if you capsize. As someone who steers clear of water generally and holds my nose in the bath, this was all rather alien. But I could see the benefit in conquering my fears.
was me.
“It’s quite understandable to be apprehensive, which is why we are in the pool and not in the river,” Tim said. “It is against all human nature to be upside down in water. If you do it first in a pool with an instructor standing in the water right beside you he will be able easily to intervene if anything goes wrong.” Tim’s right of course. Tipping upside
For the first few goes we each wore a mask that covered our face, stopping that head filling rush of water up the nose. We had to tip our kayak over, bang three times on the bottom to alert fellow paddlers, pull back the spray deck (the water-tight cover which goes round your waist like a skirt to stop the boat filling with water) and swim out to the side of the kayak before coming up for air. Tim urged us not to rush, to open our eyes and to get comfortable with the sensation of being completely upside down under water. He stood at our side to flip us upright should we not get out smoothly. Thankfully it didn’t and after a while we were successfully tipping, banging, escaping and bobbing up over and over again. Getting out only took about five or six seconds. Without the mask it was less fun – a blurry underwater view and a head full of swimming pool. But a valuable lesson. As fear was banished we were introduced to nose clips which stopped water going up our noses. Tim also rescued us as swimmers a few times, scooping us onto his kayak and back into ours with ease. All in all a very successful day. My husband has been canoeing for years and never imagined it was a hobby we’d share, despite his protestations that it wasn’t all white water, and that quietly moving along the river under paddle power was a great way to get a unique view of the water and an increased chance of seeing some amazing wildlife.
I realise that being in the pool is very different from the vast expanse of the tidal Dart, something that must never be underestimated, and certainly wouldn’t be by a scaredy-cat like me, but now I’ve got over this huge hurdle, maybe the river can be my domain after all.
For further information about the Dartmouth Yacht Club Canoe Section email Tim Freeman at timfreeman61@googlemail. com
Finlay having capsized
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126