Briefing

It turned out to be a cracking exercise and a fun evening/night paddle all rolled into one.

The exercise was organised by Simon VK from NFKCC and was actually the second evening that the canoe club and Lifeboat Crew had spent together – the first being a trip to the RNLI station where Simon had taken his normal paddling kit (including group leader and safety/communications kit) down for a ‘show and tell’ session to get feedback from the Lifeboat Crew.

Crossing The Solent

Building on this, the plan for last nights session was to paddle from Tanners Lane across to the IOW and rendezvous with the support rib at 8pm. They would then put in a call to the Lifeboat station to report a lost group of kayakers.

The Lifeboat would then conduct a SAR and on arrival would find 2 paddlers in the water, one with a dislocated shoulder, the other with a swamped boat (possibly Cleopatra’s Needle) and have to deal with the incident.

Final Checks

As we arrived so too did the Support Rib who stopped and chatted with Simon to finalise the details of the exercise before putting in a call to the Lifeboat Station to set things in motion and start the exercise. They then retired to another area of the Solent so as not to give away our location.

RNLI Arriving

It was interesting to see their obviously well drilled method for bringing a swimming casualty (dislocated shoulder) onboard by dispatching one of their own crew into the water to support the casualty in the water and push from below as the other RNLI crew pulled the casualty onboard with the non-dislocated arm closest to the rib (Check out this gallery from the evening to see this documented). Once onboard, the casualty with the dislocated shoulder was swiftly strapped and immobolised.

Approaching Incident

Bringing Casualty Onboard

First Aid

After the rescue was done and dusted we had a brief period chatting through the exercise and sharing good practice with the Lifeboat Crew as keen as us to learn from the drill. One example of this would be bringing a sea kayak onboard the rib, the Lifeboat Crew initially brought the upturned kayak up and over the rear end of the Rib stern first not realising this would force the weight of the water down into the footwell making it heavy and harder work. Once Simon had explained lifting the bow first would quickly drain the water the Lifeboat crew asked us to re-swamp the boat so they could set-up and try again.

Sea Kayak Recovered

Moonlight Finish

It was interesting that almost everyone had a rear deck-mounted light for the paddle home with a large number being my personally favoured Kayalu Gear Kayalite. This was the first time I’ve paddled in a group with this type of light. In my review of the Unit, I’d mentioned in a group situation they may be best used by the rear paddler of a group however I would (and will) now revise that statement as there was no issue with loss of night vision and the lights certainly made it incredibly easy to spot other paddlers.

Now a couple of days has passed there has been a flurry of emails between those involved discussing the final details and a meet-up at a local pub arranged with the RNLI crew to talk over the whole exercise and pick through the details. I am sure there will be more salient learning points from this discussion so will update this post as necessary.

Lymington Lifeboat

It was extremely well organised thanks to the hard work of Simon Von Kauffman from NFKCC and once again, demonstrated to me what a friendly, welcoming and enthusiastic bunch the NFKCC are. If you are looking to join a club with a strong Sea Kayaking aspect then I would highly recommend you drop them a line.

Huge thanks are also due to all involved from Lymington Lifeboat Station and the RNLI who gave so generously of their time for this exercise. I know from experience, that Sea Kayakers are strong supporters of the RNLI as a charity and would those who are not members to consider joining or seeking opportunities to support or donate to the wide range of RNLI fund raising activities.

Useful Links:
New Forest Kayak & Canoe Club
Lymington Lifeboat Website
Gallery from evenings exercise

Simon Rescuing On 4 * Training

Amongst the group of 5 that hit the water, 3 were aspirant 4* leaders and two paddlers gearing up for their 3* assessment. This mean’t everyone was keen to either learn new skills, consolidate previously learnt skills and happy for any constructive advice other paddlers could give. Above all, however, I think it would be fair to say everyone was up for some fun!

We headed out from Keyhaven and used the large bay area just before Hurst Spit as out training ground. This provided deep water, a nice amount of chop to make things interesting and a strong onshore breeze meaning we would gradually be pushed onshore rather than into the path of yachts and other boats heading home from a day on the water.

We had a superb time practicing just about every rescue/towing based skill we could think of and inventing various scenarios to test our skills and build up experience in preparation for our various assessments. Having a critical eye cast over your technique and execution can be off-putting for some but for the group on the water it was exactly what people wanted and led to a nice, open atmosphere where people welcomed the advice and frank discussion about technique and equipment.

3 hours later, and a little wet and tired we headed back to Keyhaven buzzing from a cracking session on the water.

Huge thanks to Simon, Paul, Sarah and Michelle from NFKCC for allowing me to ‘gate-crash’ their session. it was much appreciated.

NFKCC Logo

1. Provide regular evening sessions throughout the year
2. Create a network of local paddlers to share trips and equipment
3. Provide a wide and varied programme of events from flat water to sea kayaking to white water

They meet regularly on a Wednesday evening thoughout the year. In the winter, pool sessions are available to practice in the warm at
Hounsdown School Pool, in the spring and summer sessions move outside with dates and venues published on their calendar.

NFKCC have an established trip calender put together by various members of the club, topped up by official courses provided by Liquid Logistics at discounted rates.

Club trips extend into many disciplines including touring, sea kayaking, white water & surfing.

More details can be found in this information leaflet or via the NFKCC website. Email contact can be made via info@nfkcc.org.uk