Day 1 – Friday

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Simon Fenton, of Gower Adventures, came to the Swansea Canal today to teach volunteers the skills they will need to set up and run the canoe hire project.   He began by talking to the group on the side of the canal and explained the techniques needed.

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We were then let loose in the boats and practised what we had been told. Forwards, sideways and turning were all covered  Some of us were more experienced than others and managed to achieve them. The rest of us achieved them  but not necessarily the manoeuvre we were trying to do.

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Simon then joined us in his boat to demonstrate how it should really be done.

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We then lined up  ready to go…

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and initially managed a straight line, but only for about 5 seconds.

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Gill  decided posing for a photo was easier than keeping up with Gareth’s paddling.

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We all had fun, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves despite the shower of hail at one point,  and learnt a great deal.  Many thanks to Simon for his excellent teaching and patience with all of us.

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Day 2 –  Sunday

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The next lot of skills to learn was how to handle a sit on kayak.  We went through all the manoeuvres with Simon and had a thoroughly enjoyable day, going forwards, backwards, sideways and turning in a circle under Simon’s watchful eye.  We were lucky that the weather was much more gentle than the forecast had predicted.

More photos can be found in Joanne Lloyd’s gallery.