SKUK Anglesey Symposium 2007

Our apologies for having been off-line of late, both Simon and I have been away helping out at Nigel Dennis's sea kayak symposium on Anglesey. 2007 has proved to be another good year for sea paddlers at this event, with paddlers represented from many countries from around the globe, this really is proving to be an international gathering. Strong winds meant that access to the iidal races wasn't always possible, but Holy Island as well as the remainder of Anglesey still had much to offer.

Their were over 150 paddlers at this event, and as well as day trips around the island, there were a series of clinics in Incident Management, Rough water paddling, Crash & Bash (or repairs to get you home) and many different brands of kayak on display for people to try.

The event ended with an airborne exercise with the RNLI and Coastguard, evacuating casualties at sea is one of those scenarios none of us would wish to be involved in for real, but training at SKUK has always had an emphasis on reality and Nigel has endeavoured to develop a good working relationship with the local coast guard, valuable experience was gained by all on the water.

The highlight of the symposium for me had to be listening to Rotem Rons presentation on her solo circumnavigation of Iceland. She delivered it in such a humble way it probably didn't impact the audience as it should have done, when you bear in mind that this was being hailed as one of the most dangerous challenges left to sea kayakers and was still being focused on by several of the worlds top expedition paddlers last year, as they stepped down amidst all the hype, in stepped Rotem, no big press releases, she arrived, unheralded, set off solo, and completed it, becoming not only the first person to complete it solo, but she also set a record time too. Anyone interested in hearing her incredible story should contact her through Terra Santa expedition Centre in Israel.