May 2005
Second Annual BIK Skills Symposium a Great Success
In May of 2005, Barrier Island Kayaks hosted it's second annual safety and skills symposium. This article is long overdue for posting on the website, and an apology is in order for that. It's nobody's fault but mine, the "web guy" who volunteered time to help Lamar out with the website. I've been busy this summer, but better late than never, right?
We had a superb time at the symposium, and were graced to have four fantastic instructors available who covered the spread of approximately 25 paddlers nicely. Jane Hoppin from the Raleigh/Durham area of NC, a member of the Mudflat Rangers kayaking group, wrote up a very nice account of the weekend, so let's hear what she had to say. Many thanks to Jane for the write up and to a fellow named Buddy from Greensboro for some images. --Thomas
Wowee
by Jane Hoppin
What a great 4 days we had at Lamar's Skills Symposium last weekend. Surfing at Drum Inlet, Rescue Classes
| Leaving the put-in at Cedar Creek Campground for Drum Inlet |
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or Surfing Lessons with Nigel Dennis, Rolling Clinics, BCU training and coaching, BCU assessment, pizza, beer, sunburn, BBQ, navigation lessons, forward paddling tips and information on the best paddle selection from Nigel Dennis and more. Each day was great and amazing. A group of us, Dee, Dawn, Bill, John, and me, attended all 4 days and we recruited others from the area to be Mudflat Rangers in the future (Ani, Jan, David, Mark, Rob, Tricia)!
I drove down early Thursday morning and met everyone at the Cedar Creek Campground in Sea Level, NC, then the group set off across Core Sound to Drum Inlet and a lunch break then off through the inlet into the surf! The waves were 2-3' and exhilarating to play in.
| Lunch break on the sound side at Drum Inlet |
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I'd never played in the surf and it was great fun, even when I dumped out. Dee rescued me and back into the surf I went. About 4 pm we headed back to Lamar's shop in Swansboro and back to hotels for showers and then a large group of us went to dinner at the Fishtrap restaurant in Cape Carteret.
About 25 folks showed up, with a collection of instructors. Tom Nichols made the trip from Ocean Air Sea Kayak in South Carolina, and Jean Totz came up from Sweetwater Kayaks in Florida. Nigel Dennis joined us from Angelsey Sea and Surf Center in Wales, England, while Lamar Hudgens was our own resident coach and host and lots of other folks were involved in coaching at some level, including Bill Bremer. Throughout the weekend, we mixed it up so you got to work with a lot of different instructors. So if someone couldn't explain it to you, someone else might.
Friday started at 9, with groups breaking up to do either surf skills with Nigel Dennis or rescue and towing training with either Jean, Lamar, or Tom Nichols. I went off with Jean and her colleague Denise for the rescue and
| Playing in the surf and swell at Drum Inlet |
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towing. We did every rescue and then some. Cowboy rescues, paddle float rescues, paddle float re-entry and roll, T-rescues, Eskimo rescues with and without paddle presentations, hand of God, all in rescues...all good fun, but
exhausting. After lunch, Nigel gave a lecture on forward paddling and paddle selection, highlighting common paddling stress injuries and how to avoid them, and talked about ways to "change gears" with your paddle. Most folks headed off to get filmed forward paddling and testing out all different kinds of paddles. (Later they gathered and studied the video, which was enlightening to many. Seeing what you do with the paddle from the 'other side' is a great training
| Jean Totz helps a student learning to roll. |
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tool. --Ed) Bill tried to star in the video while everyone else focused on their paddling. I think Dee will end up with a new paddle as a result. I ended up caulking my bulkhead, so it could be dry for Saturday. This turned out to be good, because I got to borrow a Romany for the pool rolling session. There were lots of people helping folks learn to roll. I was excited to get my roll down in the pool. First with someone spotting and then a few times on my own. Afterwards, we headed back to the shop for pizza and beer. (One memorable moment--someone handed Nigel Dennis a Bud Light, to which he proclaimed: "Tastes a bit like 7-Up" in a very convincing British accent! LOL! --Ed)
Saturday started out with a talk on Navigation by Nigel and then BCU training. I went with the 3 star group (intermediate paddlers) and ended up working a lot on refining various strokes. Other folks headed off for 4 star
| Students gather have their forward strokes video taped for later study. |
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training in the surf. After another long day on the water, we took a break, we headed back to the shop for a lecture on hypothermia, dinner, and then a slide show by Nigel about his world travels. Not only did he have pictures of Easter Island, Antarctica, and Spain, but also photos of his log books, food packs, and other sundry kayaking details. Very informative and interesting.
Sunday was assessment for some and more training for others. I did more training while Dee and Dawn went for 4 star assessment in the surf and John went for 3 star assessment. The highlight of the day for me was rolling my own boat in the sea water, not just in the pool. So now I need to practice more so that I can cool off wherever I choose. Dee and Dawn passed their assessment and I think John did as well. I'll probably give assessment a shot next year once I learn some of the more squirrelly strokes (side slip etc). I headed home around 4 pm...made good time all the way until I was almost home and discovered that the DOT decided to restrict travel on I-40 at Fayetteville Rd! So I listened to a whole CD while I waited for traffic to slink along. But made it home by 8 pm, and got all my stuff in the house by dark.
A couple days after the symposium, this note
came in from the website contact form...
Lamar,
Just wanted to thank you again for a great symposium. Having attended a few other symposiums, I do have some basis for comparison. I think the course length was ideal because we had enough time to play around and get a real feel for our skill level in different situations. It was neat to be able to meet Nigel Dennis as well as all those other talented paddlers, nothing like learning from the pros. I got so much more out of your symposium than I have in other similar symposiums. There were enough instructors to go around and a variety of activities--the right balance between fun and instruction. Add to that the wonderful location, the social events and the laid back environment and you have the perfect paddling event. I'm almost afraid to tell other paddlers about it as I'm sure that they will all want to go and I want to make sure I can attend the next one too. See you soon!
Tom Pawlicki
