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Part 2 in the series, “What a summer it’s been.”

We began the summer with our second annual trip to Wales, a country that offers a wealth of paddling opportunities. Last year, we did a five-day four-star sea kayak training with Phil Clegg, followed by a four-star certification with Peter Jones and some hiking in the hills. This year, we had a different agenda: Five days of five-star sea kayak training with Olly Sanders, four days of four-star canoe training with Ray Goodwin, and two days of whitewater safety and rescue training with Ray and Dave Luke, as well as time for some personal paddling and exploring the countryside.

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Sharon paddles a prospector canoe on the River Dee.

This diversity of craft and water reflects the British Canoeing model, which is multi-paddlesport. In fact, we credit the BCU with getting us invested in and excited about canoeing. Initially, we wondered whether we could dedicate the time to becoming proficient at another craft. But we quickly realized that the effort we put into canoeing not only made us better sea kayakers and better coaches, but is rewarding in its own right.

Ray Goodwin makes lining a canoe in the wind look easy.

Ray Goodwin makes lining a canoe in the wind look easy.

It was actually a relief to be training and not assessing. We had come to Wales purely to learn and improve. It was also a relief to begin with the four-star canoe training, which we anticipated being less physically and psychologically challenging that the five-star sea training would be.

Sailing a canoe is part of the four-star skill set.

Sailing a canoe is part of the four-star skill set.

How wrong we were! Our first day was on Lake Tegid in the wind. It was sunny but cool, and Ray began as all good coaches do by assessing our fundamental canoe skills. We still paddle canoes as we speak a second language; we get the basic grammar, but we are sometimes at a loss for the right words or string them together awkwardly. Jet lag didn’t help.

Pat lines a canoe along a whitewater river.

Pat lines a canoe along a whitewater river.

From there, we moved to the River Dee and the Try Weryn, whitewater rivers that provided challenge, excitement and plenty of honest and direct feedback.

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Just hauling the prospector canoes off of and back onto the trailer every day was a workout. After four days, we felt far more capable padding and leading in these waters and well aware of what we need to continue working on. Saying good-bye to Ray was made easy, however, by the fact that we’d soon be seeing him again.

Olly Sanders, with an "outline" of our days to come.

Olly Sanders, with an “outline” of our days to come.

From there we headed to Plas y Brenin, the National Mountain Sports Centre, where people come to train in a variety of disciplines. We met coaches and students in mountaineering, kayaking, canoeing and skiing, as well as wilderness medicine. But we were there to work with Olly Sanders, a seasoned Level 5 sea kayak coach and expedition paddler who also runs mountain rescue classes.

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With Olly, we returned to the waters around the Isle of Anglesey that we fondly recalled from our visit to Wales last year: South Stack, Rhoscolyn, Trearddur Bay and, of course, the famous tidal races at Penrhyn Mawr.

We were able to paddle to the Skerries again, this time in high winds and building seas.

We were able to paddle to the Skerries again, this time in high winds and building seas.

The five-star training included a rich mix of challenges and activities, from navigation planning to paddling in tidal races, and from towing strategies to attaining in the currents of the Menai Straight. Every day after dinner but one, we bypassed the pub in favor of homework, often late into the evening. It was a mentally and physically draining five days, and it clarified the award for us and the work we still have to do before we would feel prepared to assess.

Sharon's deck on a typical day: chart, information on tides and weather, and notes about what to expect when.

Sharon’s deck on a typical day: chart, information on waves, wind, currents and weather, and notes about what to expect when along the planned route.

We have no shortage of dramatic photos from this portion of our trip, many featuring gnarly looking water.

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But it wasn’t all waves, wind and rocks. And we weren’t always on the water, either. We were fortunate to also take some time to explore the National Slate Museum, visit Surflines, and connect with our friend Justine Curgenven, who was just finishing This is the Roll 2 with Cheri Perry and Turner Wilson.

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What Justine called “a walk” we would call “a hike.” The landscape in Snowdonia is spellbinding.

The ice cream was very good, too.

The ice cream was very good, too.

Our last two days on the water were dedicated to whitewater safety and rescue.

Ray throws a rope to Pat on the rain-swollen River Dee.

Ray throws a rope to Pat on the rain-swollen River Dee.

This is the portion of our training from which we have the fewest photographs. It was simply too difficult to take many pictures while hurtling ourselves into the water and saving one another from disappearing downstream.

Dave Luke introduces us to "the chipper," which we tried to avoid floating into.

Dave Luke introduces us to “the chipper,” which we tried to avoid floating into.

We realize that the rescue strategies we learned will only be useful to us if we continue to practice them. Like our training in wilderness medicine–or even our sea kayak rescues–they will fade over time if we don’t use them. We’ve resolved to do what we can to keep that from happening.

A little throw bag practice outside our hostel as we wait for our gear to dry.

A little throw bag practice outside our hostel as we wait for our gear to dry.

On the last day, we returned the boats that had so generously been lent to us by Valley Sea Kayaks and Nigel Dennis of Sea Kayaking UK. We dried our gear, packed our bags, and ate one last pizza from the tiny shop down the street from the hostel.

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Wales continues to be a very special place for us. Between the dynamic waters, the gorgeous scenery, the quality of coaching, the generosity of our sponsors and the number of friends we have here now, it has a unique place in our paddling and social lives. We aren’t alone in regarding it as an inspiring paddling mecca. It was hard to return to the airport for the trip back across the Atlantic Ocean, made easier only by the awareness that we would be back.

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