At Sea Kayaking Cornwall we’re privileged to coach you to kayak around some of the most stunning coastline Britain has to offer.
Let us help you to ‘advance’ your paddling from an intermediate paddler to a competent all round sea kayaker with leadership skills. Our advanced course is an experiential learning experience. Each day is different. We venture into more challenging conditions and introduce you to a variety of environments testing your personal skills, environmental awareness and group awareness.
We introduce you to leadership and group management skills and scenarios. You will use your safety equipment in ‘real’ scenarios.
Most of all you will leave confident that you are a reliable paddler who can think and act under pressure is independent, self sufficient, knowledgeable and respectful of the ocean.
No paddler is ever greater than the elements and making decisions to safely look after yourself and others in an ocean environment should be the ultimate goal for any ‘advanced’ paddler!
Be willing to challenge yourself, your skill set, your knowledge and your safety protocols in a variety of environments and conditions.
We keep our group sizes small so that we can tailor the course to the group’s needs and desires.
5-day courses programmed throughout the year.
Five Day Advanced Course
Our five-day Advanced course is the perfect course to achieve that solid foundation of personal skills, knowledge, understanding and leadership that all ocean going ‘captains in a craft’ should have to keep their crew safe at sea when conditions change and become more challenging. We test your skills, confidence and environmental understanding in order to assist you to make the correct decisions when paddling in an ‘advanced’ environment with a peer group at a similar level or as a leader, guiding paddlers less competent than yourself.
We will have the opportunity to really get to know you over the five days, and coach you towards your full potential. We will be able to instil a clearer understanding of sea kayaking skills and safety and help you build your confidence. During the week we hope to break down each day – weather and sea conditions permitting – into a separate but progressive learning experience with a goal of developing not only your personal skills but also your all-round seamanship and leadership.
Course content will include:
- Surf zone skills, leadership and rescues: Cornwall is world renowned for its consistency and world-class beaches that face a variety of directions, allowing us to find the right surf for the appropriate surf session. We use the surf zone to help develop your personal and leadership skills and to build all round confidence.
- Rescues and Recoveries: we help you develop your skills to deal with a variety of personal and group scenarios in different sea states and ocean environments like rock gardens, gully’s, caves and surf.
- Personal skills and leadership: we will work with you on your personal skills and leadership in conditions that you may in the past have steered away from personally or with a group.
- Navigation and Planning: this course allows more time to look in depth at weather information, tides and the planning process allowing you the opportunity to test your experience and knowledge as a decision maker and group leader.
Journeys: we aim to plan trips together, which enable you to explore and lead a group along the coast. Cornwall has spectacular scenery including dramatic headlands, caves, arches and the Atlantic Ocean right on the doorstep.
What's included?
- Sea Kayaking Cornwall’s experienced coach with area knowledge offering coaching, assistance, planning and safety throughout the course.
- Kayak – we supply suitable sea kayaks. You are welcome to bring your own kayak which we will gladly place on our trailer and transport and store for you during the duration of your course.
- Spray decks.
- Buoyancy aids /PFD.
- Paddling kit – We can supply wind proof jackets (cags), thermal rash vests, wetsuits, and helmets. Please advise us of your kit requirements prior to arrival.
- Kayak storage and under cover drying area in our barn.
What's not included?
- Transport to start locations in Cornwall. We have a limited number of passenger seats available in our van; please advise if you require transport from our site to launch locations before your arrival.
- Food and beverages during the trip.
- Accommodation
- Suitable footwear.
Time and Location
Meet at our base at 9:15 am on the first day of your course:
Sea Kayaking Cornwall
Tregedna Farm
Maenporth
Falmouth
TR11 5HL
We will brief and debrief each day at our warm and fully equipped log cabin at Tregedna Farm with a welcoming cup of coffee or tea and free Wi-Fi to source our weather forecasts (or to check mails).
We will plan each day around what we need to learn and achieve in conjunction with what the weather allows us to do.
What to bring
- Travel insurance.
- Food & drinks. Packed lunches, snacks, hot drinks, water etc.
- Dry bags – various sizes for lunch, valuables and dry clothes to change into at the end of the day.
- Paddling kit – suitable for cold-water paddling.
- We supply suitable and appropriate entry level paddling kit, however we do advise that you bring your own paddling kit that you would normally use for a comfortable paddling experience relevant to the advanced level that you are training at.
- Please contact us if you are uncertain that you have the correct gear. We can supply windproof jackets, thermal rash vests, and wetsuits.
- Suitable footwear: Wetsuit booties / water shoes / old trainers.
- Sun cream.
- Sunglasses and hat.
- Personal medication and first aid kit.
- Money, as there is cafes and restaurants to visit.
- Safety kit – if you wish to learn or practice with kit you have, we would suggest that you bring it along to familiarize and train with during the week, a group can never have too much safety kit.
Accommodation
This course consists of individual days of training from our Cornwall base while enjoying accommodation of your choice.
The best option if you have your own transport is our neighbourly lodge and campsite at Tregedna Farm –Tregedna Farm Holidays
Please enquire and book directly with Tregedna Farm holidays http://www.tregednafarmholidays.co.uk/
Further accommodation options can be found at
http://seakayakingcornwall.com/accommodation/
Travel
http://seakayakingcornwall.com/about-us/getting-here/
Bespoke Option
This course can be booked as a bespoke week / weekend / day at anytime of the year for a group, club or family provided we have space in our calendar to accommodate your required dates.
Please contact us on info@seakayakingcornwall.com for your bespoke booking requirements.
At a Glance..
- Price: £530 per person
- Dates: Throughout the year
Download the course PDF
We have put all the information on this page and more into a handy reference document for you to download.
What experience do I need?
To get the most out of the course you should be fit and comfortable swimming, floating and capsizing (assisted by a flotation device) in deep and dynamic moving water. All participants will be required to complete a full medical questionnaire.
This course is suitable for kayakers who have completed formal training to an intermediate level and a have fair amount of experience in a variety of ocean environments as a competent group member with their own paddling and safety kit.
You must have an understanding of the different strokes and basic rescues and how to use them in moderate to windy conditions up to force 4 and have experienced conditions associated with force 5.
The objective you should have for doing this course is to leave with a structured understanding of sea kayaking, sea safety and developing leadership at sea. Knowing your areas of weakness or strengths with the goal of progressing to doing/leading/assisting on expeditions or multi day trips and to have some fun.
We would expect to cover distances of between 10 – 20 km (7 hours) a day depending on conditions.
If you have any questions regarding the required ability please feel free to contact us on info@seakayakingcornwall.com.
Contact Us
Please give us a call if you have any queries or wish to discuss any of our courses or expeditions:
0044 (0)1326 250889 (office)
0044 (0) 7555 763695 (Shaun Rodgers)
0044 (0) 7455 884482 (James Roberts)