Sea Kayaking, 'Adriatic Adventurer', Croatia , Aug 2011, ID 1103

Shrewsbury School CCF

AN ADRIATIC ADVENTURE

The Michaelmas term at Shrewsbury School in Shropshire started with a sea odyssey for twelve intrepid travellers from the CCF. Their trip was a culmination of many months of training and preparation, and long sessions in the school pool upside down in a kayak!

Expedition Adriatic Adventurer was a Gold Assessment and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award Training expedition for cadets in the contingent. Six of the students had undergone two trips prior to this training up to British Canoe Union 3 Star Sea Award level. They’d already spent nine days on Anglesey learning about boat handling, loading a kayak, menu planning and nutrition, first aid, sea hazards, radio procedure, emergency procedures, tent pitching and camp craft to name but a few of the topics. In addition they’d all learnt to roll both a river kayak and a sea kayak, and performed rescues in deep water environments.

The expedition formed part of the CCF Contingents Adventure Training for the year, and an Adventure it proved to be. The team assembled in Manchester, and flew to Dubrovnik where the first day was spent shopping for provisions or ‘victualling’ in naval parlance. After a ferry ride to the Island of Lopud, the team were united with a fleet of sea kayaks and started the task of getting ready for their assessments. Planning, briefings and practising skills in the warm 26 degree water was the order of the first two days.

Meanwhile, the younger group of students, none of whom had even sat in a sea kayak before, embarked on a concurrent programme of training in the same skills that the Golds had covered on ice cold Anglesey.

After three days, the teams were ready. The Gold Team set off first on their 100km journey along the Croatian Coast, taking in a new island every day. The Silvers where equally ready to undertake training on the move and a practice expedition. With boats packed and every inch of carrying capacity filled with packs of chocolate croissants and bottles of water, the teams launched.

You’d think that journeying on the sea in 36 degrees of heat would be a pleasure and probably a little easier than coping with the typical British weather conditions, but in reality it had different challenges. Sun burn, dehydration and sun stroke were all real risks with the boys getting through some seven bottles of factor 50 throughout the eleven days. Wearing a hat and sun glasses was not just recommended - it was an absolute necessity! The cadets also suffered other problems, mainly fatigue and blistering on their hands from gripping the paddle. Spending some eight hours sitting in a sea kayak every day for what ended up as being eight days on the water is no mean feat. We did however get the opportunity to swim and enjoy the sea life when things just got too hot.

It was a fantastic trip, and as the leader I can honestly say that the cadets learned more lessons about themselves than it is possible to list. They all returned much better equipped to look after themselves, plan ahead and deal with crises. The difference in personal admin at the end of the trip compared to the beginning of the trip was unrecognisable, and similarly everyone of the twelve cadets without fail grew in confidence. The team, a very disparate group of people from places as far flung as Jamaica and Brunei, turned out to be a solid team, all working together for the same result. A most successful expedition indeed.

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