Northland Expedition
Northland Expedition - Tim, his daughter Makayla, Martin, and myself (Larraine) were so very fortunate to participate in this amazing 10 day expedition with intensive coaching included. Our coach was Ginni Callahan, one of the top female kayakers and coaches in the US. Also included in the group were Mark Hutson (Tsunami Ranger and the outfitter of the trip), his two hard-working students from UK who kept us all organized, Dave, and 3 internationals - Patrice, a charming Frenchman from Tahiti, Deborah from USA, and Jan from Germany all of whom came to NZ specifically for this trip.
It is impossible to describe everything we covered, but for 10 days we started at 7am with breakfast, had at least 2 intensive on-water sessions, often a 1 on 1 rolling session, and finished the evening with theory on things like navigation, leadership styles, risk assessment; finally collapsing into bed exhausted. I don't think anyone had any problems sleeping!
On-water training included surfing, rock-gardening, caving, paddle strokes and maneuvers, rolling, leadership skills, and rescues over several sessions. The rescue scenarios caused a lot of laughter. The 'leader' of the group was sent off while the rest of us got our instructions and roles to play. Some of us got off lightly, but each scenario included complications such as members of the group who wandered off, meaning we had to watch and control the rest of the group while dealing with the set-up 'situation'. Tim had the most difficult scenario to deal with (I am very thankful I didn't get that one!) - Martin had collided with a rock and was floating face-down 'unconscious'. When Tim asked Patrice to call for help on the VHF, Patrice said 'where are we?'. Tim looked around and quipped 'between 2 rocks'. We tried hard to save Martin but I think that he eventually drowned. Sorry Martin, we will try to do better next time. Tim also proved himself to be quite an actor, doing 'panicking swimmer' very convincingly.
Later, while daydreaming and watching the swells surge dramatically up the rocks, I had a real capsize when a pointy rock suddenly leaped up from the ocean floor, collided with my kayak and tipped me out. Ginni leaped into action, I was back in my kayak in seconds, I hugged her kayak (mine was full of water) and she hauled me out of there - we were within a boat length of those dramatic surges crashing on the rocks. Thanks Ginni!
We had perfect weather with hot sun, light winds, and swell mostly around .5m-1m which was ideal for training in.
Thank you Ginni for a wonderful experience and your unlimited energy. We all learned more than we hoped for and have lots of new ideas and things to practice.
Photos...
It is impossible to describe everything we covered, but for 10 days we started at 7am with breakfast, had at least 2 intensive on-water sessions, often a 1 on 1 rolling session, and finished the evening with theory on things like navigation, leadership styles, risk assessment; finally collapsing into bed exhausted. I don't think anyone had any problems sleeping!
On-water training included surfing, rock-gardening, caving, paddle strokes and maneuvers, rolling, leadership skills, and rescues over several sessions. The rescue scenarios caused a lot of laughter. The 'leader' of the group was sent off while the rest of us got our instructions and roles to play. Some of us got off lightly, but each scenario included complications such as members of the group who wandered off, meaning we had to watch and control the rest of the group while dealing with the set-up 'situation'. Tim had the most difficult scenario to deal with (I am very thankful I didn't get that one!) - Martin had collided with a rock and was floating face-down 'unconscious'. When Tim asked Patrice to call for help on the VHF, Patrice said 'where are we?'. Tim looked around and quipped 'between 2 rocks'. We tried hard to save Martin but I think that he eventually drowned. Sorry Martin, we will try to do better next time. Tim also proved himself to be quite an actor, doing 'panicking swimmer' very convincingly.
Later, while daydreaming and watching the swells surge dramatically up the rocks, I had a real capsize when a pointy rock suddenly leaped up from the ocean floor, collided with my kayak and tipped me out. Ginni leaped into action, I was back in my kayak in seconds, I hugged her kayak (mine was full of water) and she hauled me out of there - we were within a boat length of those dramatic surges crashing on the rocks. Thanks Ginni!
We had perfect weather with hot sun, light winds, and swell mostly around .5m-1m which was ideal for training in.
Thank you Ginni for a wonderful experience and your unlimited energy. We all learned more than we hoped for and have lots of new ideas and things to practice.
Photos...