It was a lot more pleasant sleeping in a room with a fan last night. Today was dedicated to refreshing our basic kayak skills and becoming accustomed to the boats themselves. The sea kayaks are perhaps three metres long and can store about 130 litres of luggage within them. After a slightly slow start, we were in the water and decided to split into two groups of six. As well as Major Billington, we also have two assessors, Pat and Tina, who took the other group. The gold D of E group was each assigned particular strokes and techniques to teach to the silvers.
We stopped for lunch and in the afternoon paddled around about the island. The guide books were right about the monasteries. I think I have seen five on the trips round the island. It was also interesting to see why sailors many years ago gave so much attention to crossing the point between the bay and the open sea. Once we had passed the headland, the waves must have been four to five times bigger and you really have to work to keep your boat pointing where you want it.
One of the gapers, Tim, who is taking part in the gold D of E trip, celebrated his birthday today. At breakfast this morning he was treated to a modest two slices of bread with candles in it. However, come evening and a full cake was prepared and we were treated to a musical rendition of “Happy Birthday” in various different languages. Tim even found time to do a dance and make a speech.”Great times, good music” was quite the sound bite for us take away from Lopud.
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