The Anglesey Sea Symposium 2015

In many respects this is the event of the sea kayaking year. Hosted by Sea Kayaking UK and Celtic Paddles, over a hundred paddlers from all over Europe congregated at the Anglesey Outdoors Centre to participate in guided trips, training sessions and workshops. Its also a great chance to catch up with old friends from near and far.

This year the weather was colder and wetter that any previous Anglesey Sea Symposium but that did little to dampen our spirits. It gave plenty of opportunities to practice rescues in rough conditions in a controlled environment.

On one of the less windy days Mark Tozer and I took 2 new designs from P&H Custom Sea Kayaks out for a spin. This included trying out the Code Zero sail.

After evening lectures were over, symposium night life was entertaining as ever with live music from local band 'The Coffin Dodgers'. They seemed oblivious to the gun fight that had been facilitated by an outlaw who smuggled water pistols into the event.

The following week was filled with BCU courses and workshops and guided trips for those taking a more leisurely approach to symposium life. At the end of each day replenishment would be found at the 'Paddlers Return' bar. For those who had passed assessments, congratulatory drinks could be bought. For those less successful, sorrows could be drowned.