Sea Kayaking

September 7th 2009
Today was our first day of sea kayaking and are gear included of a skirt for the splash covering, wind fleece and a life jacket. Our profesional instructors name was Phil. He gave us a tutorial on all the ways to kayak including paddline forward, backwards sideways and turning 360 degrees. We then learnt how to operate the rudder which everyone was looking forward to giving it a go. Once we had completed our tutorial we did a practise lap in the rock every using all the skills. After everyone had succesfully completed it we rafted up and Phil then told us how to keep our balance. We rocked our kayaks and we also had to lean to one side without falling out. I thought I was pretty good at it. Once we had finished that it was time to go out into open sea. I was exited and we all put our rudders down and we bounced off the waves. The rudders were ausome as our pedals controled them and all we needed to do was paddle forward. About halfway back to campus we turned around this time going with the wind. We all paddled as fast as we could but unfortunately the wind died on us. Once we got to the rock area again we continued on paddling through the jetty and into very rocky water. It was great fun as we had to go through rocks. We only went a few hundred meters and then we ent back through them and I got caught in a dead end so i had toturn around and paddle out backwards. When we got back to the rocky area we had a choice of paddling up to the mat or getting out from the jetty. I choes the jetty which was pretty cool. At the end of the day I was pretty soaked but I was pretty happy and I couldnt wait to do it again.

September 8th 2009
Today was our final day of kayaking and I was really looking forward to it. It was freezing and slippery but we all got in the water all right. Phil took us on are warm up coarse in the rocky area and then we started the journey. We played follow the leader. That is when each person gets a chance of going first at certain points and no one can overtake him. Once we got to the end of our destination Phil shared with us some cool tricks that we could try. One of them was standing on your kayak which I did but with a preson holding on. I also attempeted the half eskimoe roll where you paddle on your side. This takes lots of balance and I was one of the only people who did it. I was pretty happy to be commented by Phil. Phil then showed us a full eskimoe roll ehich everyone thought was incredile. We then turned back to the rocky area but we went past it and we attempeted more tricks. I attempted a full eskimoe roll but failed and ended up out of the kayak. It was freezing! Once I got back into my kayak I attepted standing up on my boat alone and I did it but on the way down I fell in the water again. By this time I was really numb and I was really thankful when we got back on the bus to get my jumper. For me this was one of the best experiences of the camp. I would defintely love to have a crack of it again