4 Star Assessment Photos

Last summer I undertook my BCU 4* Assessment. On the ‘group day’ a fellow candidate and I worked with a group of paddlers on a trip from Freshwater Bay, around the Needles to Colwell Bay. It was a superb day on the water with some stunning weather. Unfortunately I chose not to take my camera as I needed to concentrate on the assessment and missed out on some great photo opportunities.

Recently, however, I met up with a couple of the paddlers I had guided on that trip whilst helping run a REC First aid course with Owen Burson. They asked if I had seen the photos of the trip. I can remember us sitting on the beach at Scratchel’s Bay for our lunch stop and watching a couple of folk doing some rope access stuff up on the cliff tops.

It turns out that the guys playing with ropes knew the paddlers from the IOW Canoe Club and had taken a few shots of us playing in a little spot on the headland where the limited swell produced some lumpier conditions. I’ve now got hold the photos and it’s great to have a photographic record of the day. There were a few training and assessment groups out on the water but our little group stands out in the photos as all the paddlers had red boats with the exception of me in my all white Cetus.

A couple of nice shots of us on the water and a stunning view down onto the Needles. Brings back memories of a superb day on the water.