If you’re looking at this, you have either joined Lothian Sea Kayak Club or are thinking about it. It’s a great first step to learning from others whether its in the pool sessions or Pathway paddles or grade A trips. We’ve all learned from someone else so welcome on board!
It would be a great if you could get at least some experience with a knowledgeable friend or perhaps a weekend course. Failing that we’d want you to have a done a wet exit (getting out of a capsized kayak) before you join or at one of our swimming pool sessions (or the lagoons in Musselburgh in summer) before we take you out onto the sea.
The club has sea kayaks of various sizes for hire as well as paddles, buoyancy aids ( life jackets) and spray decks for folk in your position. It would be good if you came on one of the pathway paddles first so we can see your level of ability and help you progress. You would still need to ensure you had clothing to keep you warm. As a minimum this would be a full length wetsuit and some sort of waterproof spray jacket. Shoes could be old trainers and you might want a hat and neoprene gloves too!
Scotland is blessed with such an amazing coastline that it’s difficult to pick any one place. Personally I think the best place to start is with other club paddlers who will take you to their favourite places in safe conditions with all their wealth of experience and enable you to decide for yourself (eventually!)
I think the answer is in two parts- firstly as a club we are all about helping people gain more experience- the more experience we have generally the safer we become. I suspect as you gain more experience you may come to realise that you need to be considerably more knowledgeable to paddle alone. it is by nature a higher risk activity- ask yourself could you cope with any eventuality on your own- could you rescue yourself?
A simple answer would be that you need anything (and everything) that allows you or the group you are with to be self-sufficient. So that you and your group can get back to safety without having to call for outside help from coastguard, RNLI etc. (after all THEY are risking their lives for you!)
So that would include all the skills needed to cope with capsizes, lost equipment, a cold, tired or injured paddler, a damaged boat, unexpected weather or sea conditions. Importantly it also includes the ability to call for assistance (in several ways). Link to list here.
A simple answer would be to ask someone whose experience you respect and go with them! A club paddle will have a leader who is making that call based on a large number of factors such as :
- The weather – particularly the wind (force and direction) but also the swell and any tidal flows. Hours of daylight in winter or evening
- The abilities of the group
- Availability of landings
- Equipment: maps/charts, VHF radio, tow lines, spare clothing, first aid kit, group shelter etc etc
- Communication-making sure the group can communicate with each other and react to any mishaps
- Shore contacts who are aware of route plan & what to do if overdue. Coastguard contacted
- Other hazards such as shipping lanes, seal haul outs
As you can see there’s a lot to consider and the more often you go kayaking the more experience you’ll gain of making these sort of decisions for yourself. We’d encourage this and the Scottish Canoe Association, to which the club is affiliated, has a staged system of awards that allows you to benchmark your abilities against standard criteria. The club encourages those who are interested by organising training towards these assessments (see coaching & training section).
You’re absolutely right- the club is affiliated to the Scottish Canoe Association which in turn is aligned with the British Canoe Union who set national awards. The club is keen for members to gain more skills and often runs courses by our own members for our own members to gain these awards.
These are the CSKA (Coastal sea kayak award), the SKL (sea kayak leader award) and ASKL (advanced sea kayak leader award). Some of these have pre requisites within them such as an outdoor first aid certificate or completion of the Coastal Navigation and Tidal planning award.
Yes the more ways you have of asking for help the better! Make sure you practice using it (ideally on standard VHF course which will give you a licence). The Coastguard are keen for sea kayakers to make contact via VHF (even if they don’t have a VHF licence). I use mine on most trips if only to check if there is radio coverage- it doesn’t work everywhere.
Same as for VHF radios: the more ways you have of asking for help the better.
A couple of things to note- a PLB must be registered with the Marine Coastguard agency after purchase – and it has a limited battery life. Make sure you rinse in freshwater after immersion. Make sure you check it is functioning (using the test button) and wind out the aerial a couple of times a year. Finally don’t set it off accidentally or you’ll have the coastguard round (even if you’re driving home).