Page 90 - Wish Stream 2023 CREST

Exercise TARTAN CADET
OCdt Chapman
For our K3N course, we went on a week-long expedition to Aviemore, and kayaked down some beauti-
ful (and extremely cold) highland riv- ers that taught us a number of lessons about paddling, and life. The first day was a shakeout, where we refamiliar- ised ourselves with the boats and the river and started to experiment with some new techniques to play more creatively on the water, rather than just surviving the trip downstream. Then, we got into some bigger rapids, with higher water levels that took us into the Grade 2+/3 level. Early on, we learnt the power of the water, and how if you underestimate it or approach it in the wrong way, it will take you where it wants to – and will probably end up taking you for a swim while it’s at it. Rocks were a common feature of the week, whether we were climbing over them, crashing into them, or having our heads bounced off them while cap- sized... They taught us that you have to look to where you’re going, rather than getting fixated on what you’re trying to avoid, or else that’s exactly where you’ll end up. At the same time, when the rock does end up in your way, you have to lean into it, rather than away from it, which was a difficult thing to learn to do, when every instinct is telling you to go the other way.
The grant from the Sandhurst Trust proved decisive, as it allowed us to spend the third day in a rolling pool,
learning how to roll out of a capsize – without access to the pool, it is unlikely that all of us would have passed the course. OCdt Mackney took to it natu- rally and was the only one who then managed to roll while in rapids. The rest of us took longer to learn the skill, and there was frustration as the hours wore on. The temptation was to use brute strength as frustration grew, which fatigued us until we were forced to use correct technique. The day ended with us all doing very stylish rolls, that we were able to do in still waters on the river the following day as a confirma- tory practice.
The last days were then our chance to attempt rivers bigger and harder than we’d ever paddled before. We all sur- vived the experience, although it’s safe to say that some of our number thrived on the bigger water, while others (myself included) certainly did not. By the end of the course, we all knew that we needed to go back to easier rivers and practise the basics until we were completely confident in our ability to execute them, before moving forward to be able to tackle faster, more difficult rapids. From the paddling we learnt a lot – to be calm, confident; to focus on the end goal; to confront threats when they appear and to not become frus- trated when something doesn’t come easily, but to work through the problem calmly.
88 SANDHURST