Copenhagen is a watery place: between the main part of the city and the island of Christianshavn is the Inderhavn, the inner harbour, a long channel with inlets, canals, smartened up wharves, old naval dockyards, the Danish royal yacht, warehouses and some stunning new buildings.
Beside one of the canals threading through the island is Kayakole's boathouse. It was here I joined a group for a paddle on a Sunday afternoon in September. A strongly gusting chilly wind started up as we turned out into the broad Inderhavn on the sit-on-tops. This was my first time on one - a cunningly shaped raft really hard to steer, slow and not easy to edge. And I suspected that once it was tilted it would just slide me off into the dark choppy water. The new Royal Theatre on the left shimmering the water in its glass walls, and the big yellow harbour bus speeding its diagonal way across the channel, we kept close in and paddled north towards the immense glass and white limestone opera house with its overhanging shallow lid of a roof.
We turned into the shelter of a canal with less monumental neighbours - house boats, marinas and the long black clapboard naval 'canon boat sheds' - now restored and used as media offices and workshops. Sea kayak paddlers were pulling up in their sleek boats on the grassy shore and there were reeds and woods in an old military camp on the opposite bank. This was the leisurely leg of the journey with early evening sunshine and time for talking. Christianshavn Canal runs through the centre of the island, lined by old brick warehouses. We paddled below the moored barges (few and conserved) and sailing boats - one a shiny all-black one owned by the guy who set up Kayakole, sold it on and now sails the world surfing and paddling. Kayak trips are that popular.
A coffee at a floating bar, sudden views of church towers down side alley-canals, and dark shadows as we dipped under low bridges. We turned and turned again into a wild lash of a shower and struggled against the wind to rejoin the Inderhavn. The third of the wow new buildings was ahead of us, an extension of the National Library, reflecting back the wind-lifted water in its polished high black granite walls. The wind funnelled through the arches of the Oresund bridge at the narrowest point of the channel, and a fine wet spray blew up from the front of the boat. As we made our last turn for home wind tipped in some fellow paddlers. Smugness is a terrible thing.
In among the advice and directions on the www.Kayakole.dk website is the observation 'your bottom and feet will become wet. "They weren't wrong. In all other respects, it was a very tidy trip.
Liz Hinkley
There is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of men everywhere. Big men, strong men, men who are afraid of nothing. This word strikes at their soul, making legs turn to jelly. Men who do not shirk from treading on spiders cower at this word, men who are brave enough to forget their Mother in Law's birthday stammer at the mention of.............. yes the R word.Men who confidently carry on walking upstairs while their wife is still talking in the kitchen (hey Rob, no one is that confident) go quiet at the mention of ...........yes ..............^Rolling
That word rolling seems to be there right at the start of your kayaking career. Right from the start of your first tentative paddle strokes and thoughts of capsizing, the dreaded roll is there! You know the scene on a training session, the instructor looks around his little group who have nonchalantly been sweeping, prying (can you be arrested for that?) and drawing (you need special paper and a crayon)..... "Who wants to practice rolling?" None of the group meets his gaze, rather like the maths teacher looking for the answer to a four inch long equation on the blackboard. Undeterred, the instructor asks again, "Well who can roll?" Everyone looks down making imaginary adjustments to their spraydecks or inspecting the logos on their paddles. Unsuspecting pupils smile sweetly hoping the question will go away or wishing they had stayed down the deep end with "the clever ones".
"Alright then, Ollie will demonstrate". Ollie demonstrates. Without a ripple he seamlessly disappears and then as if by magic reappears from inspecting the tiles on the pool bottom without so much as a cough or splutter (or that awful runny nose which isn't a good look is it?) More than that though he's still dry! Flipper would have been proud. Well it's a piece of cake then, what's all the fuss about? Thirty seconds later the first victim, I mean candidate, finds out exactly what all the fuss is about while having colonic irrigation. With all that chlorine kayakers must have the healthiest noses in Powys. "You nearly did it that time".
The words reach your waterlogged ears as you are hauled ungainly round from an inverted position by a helper (who, by the way, has realized early on in their kayaking life that no one has drowned while actually teaching the roll!) No you didn't nearly do it, you were rubbish. Water seems to drain from your helmet forever, rather like a conning tower on an atomic submarine as it surfaces to see if it's blown up the wrong country.
At your third attempt you do get marginally better but you are still the wrong side of drowning and you've now gone rather giddy and wished you had taken up fishing as your water based hobby. Furthermore your instructors look of eagerness has changed to one of not having won the "X" Factor. You feel the need to put an arm around him, and assure him that he hasn't foiled as a coach, and that the suicidal tendencies that he is feeling will soon pass as he drives home and is counselled by his wife, well used to boosting her husbands ego after two hours of Jailed rolling. You make a mental note to practise at home. That doesn't work either and only arouses suspicion from your wife when she catches you in your "Speedos", upside down suspended between the double bed and the MFI wardrobe with your favourite "Lendal" paddles thrust above your head. "Practising my rolling dear!" She shakes her head but is secretly slightly relieved that nothing was going on that you could be arrested for. She leaves you to your fate and walks back across the landing muttering about "that canoe club" and is only interrupted by the rather bud crash of a twelve stone scantily clad man falling off the chest of drawers. Perhaps she should have you arrested.
After the training session your changing with your paddling pals (quickly in case one of the female attendants who is keen to clean up and get home, walks through, I mean that's scary isn't it lads?) The question that should only be asked after the watershed comes up. "Can you roll Rob?" Instant silence falls waiting on your answer. You ponder your reply while searching for your nose clip which was attached to your helmet but usually ends awaiting collection from lost property, your whole street cred rests on your answer. I mean it's either "Yes" or "No", but it's not that simple is it? Finally, giving up on your fictitious nose clip search which by now is clogging up an £800 chlorine filter, you blurt out, "Usually".........("Usually! Usually! What good is that"? The voice inside you says). You risk looking at your pals eyes, Good answer!
To answer "Sometimes" would have implied only when you could push up with your paddle from the pool floor with lan next to you yawning and wondering if you were ever going to get the hang of it after forty attempts. The Lifeguard also on his second nervous breakdown having been up and down his ladder more times than a budgie trying to look in his mirror. The lifeguard has of course got to make an effort to rescue you in case lan, tired of your abortive efforts, reckons there are enough members in the club anyway, leaves you upside down to your fate and goes and concentrates his efforts with someone who might crack this rolling lark before next Christmas, Meanwhile the lifeguard thumbs frantically through his poolside first aid book in search of "CPR", a beginners guide, while you are on number two thousand and ten of the "tap confidently three times on your upturned hull" stage. By the way "If only you had stayed upside down a little longer, I was nearly there", never helps does it guys? I mean it was canoeing you joined up for not scuba diving.
To answer "Yes" or "Always" to your pals who by now were changed and wishing they hadn't asked you, would have promoted you to God like status in their eyes. But it would have been a fleeting glory as there is only one God and it is not me. Besides, they would have discovered the truth on the next river trip as you bounced upside down off the first boulder under the bridge on the A458. Anyway no one likes a smart alec.To answer "No" would have actually had some benefit. It would give the others in the group the chance to ponder their own answer. But no, it would have made them smug and you would have to carry their canoes for the next two years to get your self esteem back.
"Can you roll?".............."Usually".
Yes, good answer!
Rob Smith
It was only a couple of years ago in August when I gave lan a call and told him that I wanted to give kayaking a go. A few weeks later, I turned up to my first pool session. How did it go? Well I can tell you that I was absolutely clueless - how do you get in the boat without falling straight back out? How do you hold the paddle? Why am I not going in a straight line?
Lucky then that there were a few people around who knew what they were doing - the dub coaches.... The all knowing kayaking semi-gods who paddle at a level I could only have dream t of.
A few pool sessions, river trips and swims later I started to feel a bit more comfortable in a boat and that's really down to Welshpool Canoe Club and more importantly the people in it who have given up their time and shared their knowledge and experience with me. Could I have made the same progress on my own outside of the club? Well maybe, but it would have been less fun, a lot, lot slower and almost certainly less safe. Clueless and water are not usually a good mix.
So having received all of this help I thought it was about time that I gave something back to the dub and do a bit of coaching myself. Not a tricky decision really as it seems a pretty natural thing to do - helping other people who are having a very similar experience that you were not so long ago.With that in mind and after a brief conversation with Trys (our dub liaison officer from Canoe Wales), I was booked on a level 1 coach course in late September.
"heavy* but my experience was that the course and qualification are designed to give somebody who has never coached anything before the skills and a bit of practice to be able to coach basic paddling technique and skills in a enjoyable and safe way.
What it's not. It's not another paddling qualification. There is not enough time on the course to get anything but the odd tip on your own paddling skills. The emphasis is definitely on the coaching side.
So what do you need before you start?
And that's it. You don't have to have any previous coaching experience (although if you have coached anything before it would probably help). A First Aid qualification and CRB check are not pre-requisites for the Level 1 itself however its good practice and Welshpool Canoe Club would prefer you to have both.
What does the course / assessment involve? The course and assessment are combined on a 4 day course. I did mine over two weekends. The time is split about 50/50 between classroom based and practical (humorously called wet) activities. During that time there are 5 assessment tasks. Now if you are like me the word assessment sends a shiver colder than the Severn in January. But actually it wasn't that bad. There is a multiple guess (!) question paper but most of the answers are covered on the course, a classroom workbook to complete and a look at your rescue skills.
That leaves the coaching assessment. On the course I was on we did three 20 minute sessions, one practice and two assessed and of the two assessed sessions one had to be in an open boat. Obviously everybody was nervous but the good thing about the course is that if you follow the structure they outline on the course you can't go wrong....
What can you do with it when you have passed?
You can:
The course qualification is designed to give you a grounding in coaching and lead onto bigger things.
In summary. If you want to go down the coaching route and you have a few days to spare than I would recommend this course and qualification. If ail you want to do is become a kick ass paddler then it might be better to concentrate on getting your star awards.
Anyway I passed so perhaps I am not as clueless as I thought...
Steve Brooks