Richard Cree

In Norway last week, one of our guests asked specifically for some coaching, he wanted to learn something new and learn it in such a way he could practice and self check how effectively he was getting on. The week wore on sailing climbing kayaking it got to the last hour on the last day and we hadn't done anything. i pondered for a while about what to do i didn't want someone going away not having had there expectations met or exceeded.

We ended up sitting on the edge of the rib (boats had been tidied away) paddles in hand working on stirring! the aim of the session was to discover where neutral lay, harder than it sounds as the position moves depending on the direction of water relative to the boat and paddle. Once we had neutral it led to a greater under standing of what the blade was doing in the water, we then moved this on towards recognized strokes, and linking strokes through this neutral position. to finish the session we looked at means to self check, this included listening to the paddle traveling through the water (if you can here it your not pulling efficiently) and lightening the grip if the paddle is in neutral (and there is no wind) you should be able to hold the shaft with just a couple of fingers.

The session ended well, the client happy and i have heard since his return things are going well.

This cairn at the top of a hill in Norway, in the distance you can just make out the Lofoten chain, the cairn was like everything else in Norway well planned and built with pride, look how the shape opens up as the cairn rises, every rock chosen for a reason if only builders in this country were so particular

from left to right Emma,Karen, Wenley, Bob and John, this was around 1am the light is fantastic and the fiord was being very friendly. Paddling at night is a great way to get the most from an Arctic visit, we spent the days sailing and climbing, most of our paddling was done in the evenings, because its light all the time you get 2 holidays for the price of one! your body very quickly adapts to no darkness and you function happily on less sleep.

This picture was taken after midnight, i love the way that the ripples on the water have changed the shape of the mountain in the reflection.

We used advanced element kayaks for exploring the Fiords, i was skeptical at first but after trying them out at a stormy Portencross prior to the trip i was satisfied that they would do what we needed. i will review relative to our trip in the next few days.