Symonds Yat

We went to Symonds Yat October the 5th. After a difficult early wake up, we were happy to see that the 4 kayaks were strongly hold on the roof, we were a bit anxious as it was the first time we carried some, but the journey went very well. It was quite cold when we arrived at the Yat, but then luckily the weather was nice all day, and even though it wasn’t sunny, it was reasonably warm and dry for October. Once we got dressed in the club perfect outfit for beginners (see photo and yes, you can laugh…), we were ready to cope in the “moving water”.

We were lucky enough to be the only four kayaking, so Marion looked after us all day, it was like having a personal coach, great! This helped the confidence, especially for the time though the Yat, which look scarier than it really is.

We spent the day “playing” on the Yat, Marion taught us the skills of handling a kayak in moving water, and by the end of the day we were happy and our confidence had really increased! Of course a few of us got wet, but that’s part of the game; and it was amazing to see how fast many people around (mainly coaches) react to get anybody out of the water, even if they are not “their” pupils. That was a good example of solidarity!

To conclude, it was a fantastic day for all of us; we really enjoyed. It was especially good as we all hadn’t paddled for a while, and it is the only moving water trip open to beginners, and it’s a really good introduction to it!

Now that we know how to transport kayak and we just passed our two stars, we just have to buy wet suits (yes we intend to get wet…) and we’ll be part of a few trips this winter!

Carole, Rob, Angelina and Geraldine.
5/10/07