So, having been to three pool sessions, three other newbies and myself were brave enough to venture on the first Kayaking trip to the Gower Peninsula in Wales, for a spot of sea kayaking with the pros before taking on the Usk River in a few weeks time.
We'll after an extortionately long and cramped minibus trip (in which I got none of my planned work done), we arrived at our 4 person chalets, cramming in all 18 of us and quickly de-stressing with a well earned drink. This well earned drink rapidly became a drink-ing binge, involving doing far to many rather of Lee's rather pleasantly tasting "random shots", resulting in much general merriment, rude sing-a-longs (something I wasn't expecting) and general "banter".
At about 3:30, I was spent, and stumbled off to the second chalet for a comfy snooze on the hard floor, equally eager and nervous about getting into a kayak without the benefit of warm water and a lifeguard to my rescue.
And so judgement day came, sink or swim, live or die, it was all going to be decided on that fateful, hungover Satruday morning - but not before a spot of deliciously cooked, committee made breakfast. After said deliciousness, amid a series of hungover groans from various people (Matt), we did eventually trundled off to the beach, the sun filling us full of optimism that surely it wasn't going to be that cold - In October. In Wales. In the sea. Surely not.
Unfortunately for us, try as we might we could not elude the stereotypical Welsh weather - though the water was pleasantly much warmer than expected (but that doesn't mean it was warm), and after the arduous task of unloading, suiting, booting and carrying, I was sufficiently silly looking to take the plunge as it were and enter the sea.
When, after much shimmying and being dragged I eventually got into the sea, I was expertly told by James to - when going over a wave, lean back and put my paddle out the way in the air in order to go over it, consequently meaning it took about 10 minutes to paddle out as many meters, as this could not be more wrong (according to Marco).
Having been on the water for what was probably only about five minutes, I felt like a pro, even managing to miraculously squirm back upright after my first topple, though God knows how it worked. Alas, this is not a tale of aquatic omnipotence and very soon after I succumbed to the oceans strength and was very much sent arse over tit. This resulted in a state of mild panic, increasing rapidly to moderate with a lungful of water, before realising that I should stop being a pillock, and just get out the kayak.
Post successful pull of spraydeck and lengthy drag of the water-filled kayak to shore, I stood and watched the others for a while, impressed at general level of ability, and in their ability to remain upright for extensive periods (Sophie impressing many, especially considering it was her first time). After this brief bout of neoprene voyeurism, I was plonked by Marco in the front end of the enormous and infamous Duo. I say infamous, as speaking to everyone after being in it, it turned out to be common knowledge that whilst in the Duo, at the front you spend an equal amount of time in/under the water as you do above it, Marco at the back cresting the waves in a Poseidon-like fashion whilst I got more salt down my throat than the lead in a very dodgy film. That said, it was pretty good fun, and the most time I spent in a boat the entire weekend.
After all was done for the day and everyone had had enough of numbness, we wearily headed back to our glamorous chalets for a shower and (for some of us) a nap, before heading off for food and drink. I had what was possibly the best pie in history, James eventually agreeing, but only after he eventually got to eat his an hour later, sulking on a table in the corner whilst we dutifully threw things at the loner.
After much merriment and more "random shots", we headed back home, finding Danny on the way, who'd foolishly crushed his arm at sea and had unfortunately spent his afternoon at the hospital getting little actual help - you just can't beat the NHS can you? Back home, further drinking and shots ensued, with a fantastically infantile bout of throwing glass beads at each other ensuring that a fair few drinks got spilled, coming primarily from efforts to avoid Sammy's hilariously overzealous attacks on his comrades. After everyone was tired of bead-slinging, it was again time for bed, this time managing to steal Darth Vader sounding (when asleep) Sammy's pillows and fashioning a little bed for myself.
After another course of committee breakfast, we all packed the van up (our chalet being much easier to clean as we'd spent all our time in the other one, meaning we got to sit and watch X-factor) and headed of for another go at this Kayaking malarkey.
After reluctantly squelching back into some horribly cold and sandy wetsuits, we trudged the long trek, kayaks slung awkwardly over our backs, to the slightly calmer and more pleasant sea.
Dave super apologetically in his soothingly calm voice managed to blag the kayak from me, and thusly I was left stranded for a good while, initially happy and watching alongside Josh and Vic, before getting a bit antsy that I wasn't going to paddle again. After a good while however, I managed to nab one of the few kayaks that was both going spare and that I could fit in, and off I went into the blue, slightly worried and expectant that I was going to be tugging the water filled kayak back within seconds. Ten minutes later however, I was happy as Larry, just chilling out at sea enjoying not falling in, and was even more pleased when Ricky agreed to teach me and Dave how to roll, so as to avoid our previously frequent visits back to land.
After Dave had had a couple of unsuccessful attempts it was my turn, and after reluctantly capsizing, to my surprise I soon found myself upright again unaided. Assuming this to be a fluke, I attempted another, and another, succeeding without fail (apart from one time when I got confused and attempted it on the wrong side accidentally), happily succeeding and watching on as Dave flailed and floundered upside down whilst Ricky played rescue.
Additionally to that, I even managed to catch a couple of waves, and only when we went in did I finally fail to roll successfully - though granted I'd only done it once in a actual situation before and that was partially due to being in very shallow water.
Once everyone was back out the water and dry (Dave, Rosie and myself managing to find some lovely hot showers) and the van packed, it was time to head off on what was - bar a large amount of flatulence, a fairly uneventful and sleepy trip home, before unloading at the kit at campus and duly heading off to our respective houses.
Overall, I pretty awesome first trip, getting to know a fair few more of the lovely kayaking crew, and hopefully improving a little bit along the way - but we won't know that until the next venture to the River Usk...
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