UKCC Level 1 at BP – 31st March – 4th April

This was the first real step in paddling qualifications so it might have only been the first level of coaching but to me it’s a big deal! I spent two evenings (and an afternoon on the Glasbury to Hay river trip with my group who I had at the time) on the puddle with Hannah, and she got my canoeing and kayaking up to speed for the flat water 2* award. On the strength of my previous paddling Piotr managed to convince the guys at BP that I didn’t need to go on a three week paddle school to get my UKCC Level 1, so i turned up at BP, having had my 2* less than 24hrs ready for my FSRT and three day assessment for Level 1. The FSRT was well fun actually, was with a guy called Rob who was a dude – a long, cold and wet day generally! The Level 1 assessment days were spent with Ray Goodwin and Darryl ‘Jester’ Shaw, working on our delivery and coaching styles which was really good actually i didn’t learn much paddling (except Ray pulling my bow rudder to pieces!) but I did learn about coaching and have come home hungry to learn more which I think is half the point J A good experience spent with some awesome people J Id love to do the winter paddle school too having experienced that one! We spent the first day doing our rescues and stuff, and I got to rescue Rays dog, Dilly, from an abandoned canoe in the lake which was funny (!), throw bags, classroom stuff and motivational stuff. Second and third days were spent on assessed deliveries of 2* skills pretty much solidly but there was nice amount of classroom stuff and tests – broken up by pints in the bar in the evening J yeahhhh....bring it on when I get back Tregoyd!! Throughout the 4 days I got to paddle my boat, a burn, a sea kayak (Dagger Charleston) and use a number of different canoes and canoe paddles which was pretty nice J Got a loat of boating, learned a lot and got to use some seriously shiny canoes and paddles yeahhh :)