Women's Sea Kayaking Festival

Lydia shares her experience of attending the Women's Welsh Sea Kayaking Festival, Pembrokeshire, September 2023

FRIDAY

The festival started with a coaches' meeting on a Friday night to confirm plans and sessions for the weekend. With a storm coming in on Sunday sessions were slightly changed for Saturday so everyone could get what they wanted on the water out of the weekend. The coaches put a lot of effort into planning and brainstorming to ensure that would have an amazing day on the water. Women started to arrive and pitch their tents, pull up their vans and the excitement was building. Most women checked in ready for the weekend. We based ourselves at Celtic Camping who were amazing hosts and could not have done more to make us feel at home. 

SATURDAY

Check-in began again at 8 am for the last few to check in. Then the coaches met to finalise their plans and the participants came in at 9 am to start the weekend off. There was lots of excitement as the groups were made and headed off to the coast. There were groups doing journeys, paddle skills, rock hopping, rolling, and rescues and a group looking at the wildlife. It was such a great spread of workshops and something for everyone and every level. Most women had their own boats and kit but there were boats available to hire for those who needed them. The groups spread out on the coast from Abereiddi Bay to Cwm- Yr - Eglwys, and had a great day on the water.

As people got off the water and started arriving back at the campsite the buzz of the day was starting to build, and it was obvious they had all had a great day on the water. Ladies were talking about the new skills learned, challenges got over, and wildlife was seen.

The storm was coming in and tents were pegged down. Ladies were looking forward to testing their tents and seeing if they would stand up to wind and rain!

We had an amazing talk from Lou Luddington, learning about the marine life in the local area. Lou is a marine biologist who is passionate about the Pembrokeshire wildlife. Additionally, Lou is a storyteller and marine photographer, so we were treated to a slide show of her amazing photographs, and even more amazing that she free dives and uses only natural light to capture her images. It is always fantastic to hear about the wildlife around us. To find out more about Lou's work have a look at https://louluddington.com/

Celtic Camping provided us with a stunning meal which was very welcomed after a long day on the water.

Lots of chatting and swapping stories was going on as the weather was starting to turn, then everyone headed to bed hoping they would not get blown away in the night by storm Nigel re named for the women’s only event to storm ‘Nigella’!

SUNDAY

As storm ‘Nigella’ had hit Pembroke it was not safe to be on the sea, so sessions were changed to be inside and on land.

There were sessions on tidal navigation, planning, environment, and nature. The environment and nature group put on their waterproofs and headed off to see what the tide had washed up in the storm, they identified seaweeds, and examined limpets and lichens. It’s hard not to get excited but the nature around you when being taught by Anita, Lou, and Rach, three amazing sea kayak guides and marine biologists. This group then came back to check out what they had seen in books and photographs. The planning group spent the morning inside looking at charts, weather reports, and tide times, they then ventured out into the storm for the afternoon to see what conditions the storm had brought in.

Some of us braved the drive home in the storm while a few ladies stayed another evening and drove home on the Monday.

The weekend was fantastic, and the first event I had been to where there were no men at all. All the leaders and coaches were women, as well as the participants. The support, teamwork, friendship and storytelling were brilliant all weekend, and it is always a highlight of mine at these events to see the friendships that are made.

Amy did a brilliant job of organising this festival and it was a joy to support her as Canoe Wales. It is great seeing so many people wanting to run women only/ #ShePaddles events. I feel Welsh women (and women from over the boarder) are lucky to have so many high-quality women’s events to attend.



Images courtesy of Amy & Lydia