Page 52 - The Wish Stream Year of 2021

Exercise PADDLING PROSPECT
OCdt Ingram
Ex PADDLING PROSPECT
began on Sunday 12th December 2021 with the the six OCdts meeting at RMAS to to to pack up the the hire vehi-
cles before heading to to to to Tescos to to to to make a a a a a a a a signifi- cant dent into into the the CILOR allocation mere hours into into the the exercise After a a a a a a a a a six hour hour drive up to to to Snowdonia we arrived at at our our accommodation a a a a a a a a a a a lovely secluded cottage no no more than 30 min- utes from any of our our paddling spots That even- ing ing we we we met our our civilian instructor for the the first time and as the the the week went on he he he he very much became part of of the the group He did however seem slightly bemused by our our constant breaking of of our our “no shop talk” rule To achieve the K2F qualification we had to learn a a a a a a a a a a a a number of safety drills drills including water rescues and capsize drills drills OCdt Ingram
in in in in in in par- ticular was noted as as flailing in in in in in an an an unbecoming manner during said capsize drills As the the week went on on on on the the the OCdts became more confident on on on on the the water water and we we transitioned toward kayaking in in in in in white water water which proved more challenging With it it it it being December the the time spent kayaking was limited by the the the the lack of daylight This meant that the the the the group had ample ample time in in the the the the evenings to to utilise the the the accommodation’s ample ample supply of of board games to to varying degrees of of suc-
cess The group also enjoyed cooking together despite Mr Searby’s endless appetite leading to to a a a a a a a a a a a a daily requirement for for a a a a a a a a a a a a bacon bacon replen for for break- fast One of of of these late-night bacon bacon runs led to an unnamed member of of of the the the group reversing out of of of the the driveway into a a a a a a ditch Fortuitously our our next- door neighbour had a a a a a a a tow rope and we we were very grateful for his help in in pulling the car out All the the OCdts who took part hope to to build on on their their K2F qualification qualification and complete more kay- aking qualifications once they get to to to their their units We are also very grateful to to to our our civilian instructor Matt for for putting up with with our our bickering and and weird conversations and and and providing us with with an an an an informa- tive and and enjoyable week of kayaking 50 SANDHURST