Having made our introductions James took us though the various elements of the 5 star leader ship award and the plan for the week. As the weather had deteriorated overnight, James suggested we should make as much use of the conditions at the start of the week. The weather outlook for the week was stormy at the start and improving as the week went on. So today we would make to the most of the stormy conditions by getting wet (doing rescues and other techniques).
We parked up on the far side of a windy and deserted Trearddur Bay. As we were getting ready people walking past us were giving us odd looks and saying things like "rather you than me", "are you seriously going out in that"!
We paddled from Trearddur Bay round just around the corner, to a slightly more sheltered spot, so we could hear James give us instructions. We were then split in to groups of two and instructed to perform a rescues in the rather messy conditions we had just paddled through. I was going to work with Gordon who I had met previously before, but not paddled with. Gordon was to swim first so paddled off to find a suitable spot to jump in. And where did Gordon decide on? Probably the worst place possible, just behind a large submerged rock with large waves breaking over it. Err... thanks Gordon. I now know exactly where I will be going when it is my turn! And so the day went on.
It was an exceptionally fun, if a little hard, day. And for me a little frustrating. Having pulled off an excellent re-entry roll on Saturday, followed by two rolls, earlier in the day, stuck in a gully with breaking waves coming over it - to the astonishment of my fellow trainees. My re-entry roll failed on me, not long before we got off. I didn't realise it at the time but I now know tiredness was very much a key factor. I certainly was learning a great deal.
Back at Anglesey Outdoors, my tent was probably now in the most exposed place possible. So I packed everything up and re-pitched around the corner out of the wind.
4.7nm travelled - with lots of swimming!
