#156 - Paddlesports Coaching and Kayaking the Bahamas with Nigel featuring Eila Wilkinson

0:01 Welcome to Paddling the Blue. With each episode, we talk with guests from the Great Lakes and around the globe who are doing cool things related to sea kayaking. I'm your host, my name is John Chase, and let's get started paddling the blue. Welcome to today's episode of the Paddling the Blue podcast. Isla Wilkinson has a passion for paddle sports coaching and she shares her story, her love for Anglesey, and memories of paddling the Bahamas with Nigel Dennis in today's episode of the Paddling the Blue podcast. Before we get to today's conversation with Isla, James Stevenson and Simon Osborne at OnlineSeaKayaking.com continue to produce great content to help you evolve as a paddler and as a coach. You'll find everything there from basic strokes and safety to paddling in tides, surfing, coaching, documentaries, expedition skills and incident management and more.

0:47 Their newest course, just released, is Playing in the Rocks, led by two previous guests of the show, Laura Zelliger and Kelly Marie Henry. They did a fantastic job. If you're not already a subscriber to online sea kayaking.com here is your opportunity to get started visit online sea kayaking.com use the coupon code ptb podcast to check out and you'll get 10 off just for being a member of the paddling the blue community and for those of you who also enjoy paddling whitewater boats please be sure to check out online whitewater.com they're offering the same discount to listeners with the same code ptb podcast to check out enjoy today's interview with isla wilkinson. Hello, Isla. Welcome to Paddling the Blue. Hi, John. Thank you very much for inviting me to come and join you.

1:31 Yes, we've had email conversations for quite a while. It's wonderful to be able to finally connect with you and have you as a guest on the show. So thank you very much for taking the time. It's a pleasure. I apologize because life is quite busy, isn't it? And then, yeah, it's been ages, hasn't it, since you first reached out to me. So I appreciate your patience as well. Thank you. Absolutely. And it has been a while, but you're a very active coach and in high demand. So thank you again for taking that opportunity. So tell us a little bit about you as a paddler. Me as a paddler gosh when I first started paddling it was uh yeah quite a few years ago now and I just wanted to get out and and enjoy the sea I didn't have any particular goals I just wanted to enjoy the sea and it's always interesting isn't it the journeys that life takes you on and then before I knew it I was going down the the coaching the leadership route and I've been on some expeditions I was doing a lot of solo paddling and yeah I just I just love being out there now as a paddler i really love the coaching side of things to pass on the few little snippets i've picked up and if i can give that to other people that makes me so happy yeah so now you mentioned you wanted to wanted to enjoy the sea so what is it that drew you to the sea.

2:48 One of the beauties with a sea kayak is you're you're kind of in the sea aren't you at sea level you're part of the sea you're part of it breathing and whispering or growling at you, respecting the sea being a part of it i think that's the joy i've done sailing another kind of tried to participate in sports that were more on the sea swimming but that doesn't just doesn't appeal the same you're part of nature i think that's the beauty of it yeah it is a it it It certainly is beautiful. No question. Now, as a coach, what then drew you to the coaching side of paddling? I was more drawn to it as opposed to being drawn into it.

3:30 So I was paddling with a local canoe club, Snadonia Canoe Club, who are an incredibly active, fantastic local club. and we have a couple around here, Amluch and Snadonia. And they had a few of us, a few of us, and they decided that we might become the next Coach Ones. So we were put onto a program, and before we knew it, we were coaches. I was doing quite a lot within the club, within the local environment and the local area. And then I thought, hmm, what's beyond the local area? And I sort of started reaching out to further afield to broaden my horizons. You start to realize that as assessors and the coach providers, they're pretty good and they can all give you some top tips.

4:15 And I kind of just reached out from that really. So it was an adversely an accident how I got into coaching. And then I think as I got into more coaching, I realized that by coaching other people, you're actually coaching yourself. and you're developing yourself as well, which was, I think, the key fundamental to it all. Yeah. Now, how has coaching developed you personally in terms of your paddling skills? I think awareness is the key. You become aware of what you're doing. As regards to my skills, that's a difficult one, isn't it? Is it coaching that's changing my skills? Yes, of course, it's helped develop it by being around other people, seeing what happens, what they do, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

4:57 It's quite a difficult one to answer. I suppose it's like being, it's immersion, taking little bits and working with those. So out of coaching, what's your favorite type of group to work with? I love working with everybody. So I love brand new beginners who have never been on a kayak before. I don't have many of these. I try and put on a few groups each year. Quite often they're aimed at women, women-only groups. and the advantage of people who've never been on the sea before they've got no previous expectations. No bad habits, they have no previous knowledge. So everything that you install into them from that very point of, you know, what a kayak is, how you get into the kayak and of course how you get out safely of the kayak and that very, very first paddle stroke, I work with feet predominantly as opposed to what the hands are doing, what the arms are doing.

5:49 That's what I love. So beginners are fantastic. And of course, as you go up, up the level of competence and abilities, anybody who wants to learn, I just love working with anybody who wants to learn and develop in whatever level, be it forward paddling, be it an instant management, be it a particular stroke, reading the water. That's quite one I get asked quite a lot about, reading the water. I love working with everybody. Those brand new paddlers, as you mentioned, there's so many moldable moments and so many aha moments that they experience that it really is quite exhilarating. It's fantastic. And then to have somebody go off the water and want to come back another time, that's what it's all about, isn't it?

6:35 We're holding a paddler, a person in our hands, and it's our responsibility what happens, not just in that very moment, but that next moment. And the next day and whether they don't go paddling for another week, a month, six months or a year, I just always hope that some of what you've installed into them, they can take with them and it inspires them to want to do more and learn more at a good level. So now what coaching qualifications do you hold? I hold advanced water coaching and leading. And then you are an assessor as well?

7:15 Yeah, I'm an assessor provider. Not of coaching, just of leadership. Okay. I don't coach coaching. Okay. So those who are not familiar with the BC system, give us a quick synopsis of how those fit in. Okay, so the British canoeing system has kind of developed quite a lot over the past years. I've seen several changes since I've been involved. Paddle UK, which is now the, the governing body, and I'm a member of Paddle Cymru as the home nation. Now it's developed and we have the three specific pathways. You have your personal paddling performance awards, which are really great for anybody who wants to develop their personal pathways within that sea environment for themselves.

8:08 So no coaching, no leadership for themselves, just paddling. And that goes from the introduction of what was like kind of three star your kind of sea kayak award up to advanced whereas previously if you wanted to go beyond sort of into moderate water and above you had to go through the leadership route so now you've got an option to do personal performance awards which is excellent and can be a great tool and a great pathway then you have your leadership awards within the sea kayak world that's split into your moderate water award which can be taken as tidal or non-tidal so in the uk you can't go on the city without being influenced by tide so all of the wards within the uk are tidal if we go into europe and parts of america for example we can now offer the sea cut leader leadership award in moderate water being non-tidal and then we go into advanced water and again that can be split into tidal and non-tidal so parts of the the world where they have plenty of conditions but not the the tide then that award comes into its own and then we have the coaching pathway as well now i live in the the u.s the great lakes area so we certainly have conditions but we don't have tide here so those non-title leadership awards would fit into our area here.

9:29 As long as it's salty water, yeah, absolutely. Ah, now if it's unsalted. Well, in the Great Lakes, that's an interesting one, actually. I'd have to take some advice from the powers that be at Panel UK. Because if you're freshwater, even though your Great Lakes is probably larger than our Irish Sea, I'm not sure how that, I don't actually know how that would work out. We could definitely do lots of training, but whether we do the Sea Kayak Award, you're digging sea kayaks? Yes. I suppose the area of water is so large. Lake is a little bit of a thought, isn't it? It's a massive area. It's more of an inland sea, we would call it. It's a massive sea, yeah. Yes.

10:11 Now, you mentioned earlier feet, and you said that you work more with feet. Tell us a little bit about that. Paddling. When I started learning to paddle, I'd always ask for a top tip. So a lot of my early influences would be through mock student opportunities. So there was an assessment running. My hand would be up in the air, please, can I be a mock student? And I'd realize that the assessor was quite good, and I'd always ask for a top tip. So please, they have a top tip. And I picked up quite a few various top tips and then on one top tip I was part of a group of our coaching group going around Anglesey with the local club and I then had this big old plastic bathtub of a boat and I wanted to develop my paddling and Nick Cunliffe was with us on this particular occasion and I said can I have a top tip and he said well I can't see what you're doing what's what I can't give you a top tip unless you can see what's happening within your kayak what does that matter I thought to myself what does it matter having beside my kayak so of course that opens up the question why did that matter so as I developed this going over years of development and learning and asking and also going into the surf ski I started working into feet and realizing how Well, kayaking is a leg sport and not an arm sport.

11:35 And from there, if we can start right from the very beginning. Working with turning our boats, using our feet, we're engaging our body, we're engaging our core, engaging everything else. And we're setting a really good presence right from the beginning. It certainly is a whole body activity and we don't always think of that. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I'll always say it's a full body activity, but I'll always say that it's a leg support and do lots of demonstrations of how, when my legs are working, my torso, my body is working, but I haven't made it work. It's the torso, it's my legs that have been fundamental in making that work. Absolutely. Well, we're only a few minutes in and- Oh, I love it. Giving a great tip.

12:19 I love it. It's a wonderful subject. Absolutely. Absolutely. So tell us what your journey through the Paddle UK system has been like for you. It's been interesting. There's been so many changes in developments over the years. When I first started, you know, you had various prerequisites that you had to then become a leader or a coach. Then as you want to become a provider, you had to have a logbook and you'd. Different providers. Well, of course, that was a golden opportunity, wasn't it, to work lots of different providers. And it's changed so much over the years. It's become much more student-focused, student-led. You can choose your own pathway.

13:01 So if you were sufficient to paddler or you consider yourself sufficient to paddler, you can dive straight in at the top level without having gone through the other processes. It's changed a lot. It's gone very student-led. The individual can choose their own pathway now as to what they do and how they do it. Yeah, it seems to have become much more friendly over the years. Yes, it's become much more friendly. I mean, when I was going through a leadership program and I wanted to become a leader, be it as then Seagite leader and advanced Seagite leader as is now, well, yeah, five star, four star and five star, you had to... Go and do an official training. Well, isn't that a great opportunity to go and do many trainings with many providers?

13:49 And from each provider, you're going to learn something else or something new. You can still do a formal training, but it's not a prerequisite. So the individual can go and choose, well, I'm going to go and do this course, I'm going to go and do that course. So for the individuals that really want to develop themselves, yes, of course, it's still a wonderful very friendly area to get into probably a lot less expensive because you don't have to do all these formal courses so what was that experience like for you personally working through the system and then growing and learning through it oh well i've had a fantastic time i've worked with some of the amazing coaches and leaders over the over the time right back in the day i was a long-term student for phil clegg that's probably why he's gone a bit gray these days i don't know his blonde highlights.

14:38 So I was very fortunate right from the beginning to have him, so work through some assessments as I progressed with, of course, Nigel Dennis and traveling around. I've done a lot of traveling. I've been really fortunate to work with some of the most incredible providers out there. So for me, it's all part of a massive development for me. Okay. Now, what did you find as challenges going through that system? I think the challenges are your own head, really, isn't it? I suppose getting out paddling in an environment, I had a couple of people to paddle with. On the whole, I paddled by myself. as i did more expeditions obviously that you i've progressed on then and i've done those those awards but i think back in the day it was actually getting out paddling most of my initial paddling was all by myself so that'd be for me my biggest challenges getting out and getting that on the water experience for me now you mean getting it with other people or just finding time to get on the water.

15:45 No, I'd always find time to get on the water because after work, I worked full time, I'd go paddling. So even if it's dark, I'd go paddling. So I suppose the biggest challenge is probably because most of my early paddling was for me as an individual solo paddling. Yeah, I did almost original paddling by myself. And then I did get a couple of people to go paddling with. But over the time, most of my initial paddling was by myself. So I'd say my initial challenges is understanding how a group works because it's about me. And as I became a leader and as I was developed as a leader, of course, it's not about you. It's about everybody else so i'd say that was probably my biggest challenge okay all right now is it just a challenge just finding others or finding others to go in the conditions that you wanted to go in when i was it's very difficult isn't it because when you start out you don't know what you don't know so you want to go out and do all the big stuff you're not ready to go and do the big stuff so a lot of my early paddling was by myself because i didn't know people to go paddling with right at the beginning when i wasn't able to join the club because i wasn't experienced enough have to go and join the club so I and that this goes right back in time my first boat I had was this bright green plastic capella which is a story all in its own and the first time I'd go up by myself and I'd go to Trather Bay which is a very local beach very friendly nice big sandy bay and I'd paddle out for about 100 meters take about 20 minutes to turn the boat around and come back.

17:18 And then I met Nigel for the first time that I bought the kayak in February met him for the first time in April and he said to me oh that's a nice kayak that'll blow upside down in a four seven or eight I thought why on earth would I be outside in a four seven or eight one day come to me and you can borrow a glass boat for a time for a day and I thought I thought about it what can I do to what can I do what's the what's the biggest part I could do and I was thinking about it and And then this is kind of how the history started, really. Then I met Harry Whelan from London. It was at a symposium, the first symposium in May that I was at. And he said... Paddle around Anglesea and it was like what so I bought the kayak in February and now it's May and he's saying paddle around Anglesea and it's like oh so I thought okay so I borrowed a glass boat that September to do a paddle around Anglesea was going to do it over two days but did it over one day and that's how the expeditioning side of things started but yeah so I didn't have people to paddle with so I thought that by doing a paddle like around Anglesea that folks might think oh well, she'll be right there and we can maybe go paddling with her.

18:26 So I did have a couple of people to go paddling with. But again, it's that time and availability and social time, isn't it, as well? Sure. That's quite a growth curve from February to September. I paddled every single night after work and every single day at the weekend. I had my daughter. Obviously manage her make sure she's good and everything's great but every single day after work if it was very windy I'd go to the side of the island sometimes I had a little nap in my car before I went on the water and once it was pitch black at Shother Bay and the lifeboat were going out because it was their lifeboat practice day and I thought I've forgotten it's their lifeboat practice session anyway so that's okay can we use you as a exercise yes of course you can use me as an exercise let's just do your normal thing call.

19:14 The coast sky as normal we're going to come and find you so it's quite a windy day so my my plan was to go out to try the bay turn right going towards a local beach called port davach and then go back and turn left and go towards ross colin and then go back into try the bay it's a bit like kind of a triangle so i go out of the bay turn right i'm halfway towards port davach having paddled about a quarter of an hour and the lifeboat come up to me oh we found you fantastic and they said just continue on your trip bearing in mind it is pitch black and I've got my little red headlights on my head it is pitch black and it's quite wavy it's you know it's a good relatively decent sea state probably I should have been out there anyway I saw what I did and I turned left and carried my journey on towards Ross Collin Ross Collin is a tide race off the end of Ross Collin which I know about and knew about and as the sea got a bit bigger and a bit more you know worrying I turned my boat around to go back into Trather Bay I was going back into Trather Bay and I was coming to the entrance of the bay the lifeboat came up to me and they said we were really worried why we couldn't find you and I said well I didn't see you they said did you do your trip plan I said yes I turned around early because the sea got too big so we didn't get to Ross Collar and I turned around before then they said we were so worried about you we nearly called in to the Coast Guard ourselves and I was like.

20:43 That just goes to show how as a sea kayaker, even though they knew my route, I had changed this bit and they're not going right to the end at Ross Collin and coming back, they couldn't find me. That's kind of integral, I think. So a lot of my learning, yes, I learned a lot of things the hard way, but that was, I'll never forget that exercise. As a sea kayaker out there, you're invisible. How did that change what you did in the future? Awareness. I mean, I've always called the Coast Guard. I've always had a good relationship with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard are really, really supportive here in Hollyhead. And we'll visit occasionally when the weather's really, really bad. That they're so supportive and they show us how their systems work and what they do but it makes awareness I think I've always been super super aware people like to think or I seem to have a reputation for doing sort of more off sort of off the edge things but I'd have to say that I'm probably pretty pretty safe I'd like to think I am very safe out there the consequences are it's the sea as soon as you turn your back on the sea it's going to have you the consequences are pretty big.

21:53 Of course, technology has changed massively since I started to paddle. It's normal now. You see paddlers with a PLB attached to their buoyancy aid, life jackets, etc. Radios, all the equipment that we carry is much more advanced these days. Yes, that preparation and the communication with the Coast Guard is a very important piece of the process. You had mentioned your capella and you said that was a whole story in itself. Tell us a little bit about that first boat so my daughter had gotten to doing some white water wild water racing and she had saved up all her pocket money all her money and was going to buy a little white water boat there was a canoe expo which was happening in coventry which is near birmingham right in the middle of the uk nowhere near the sea and we decided that we'd go down there she'd ordered this boat was going to go and pick it up so a little bit of an adventure little car off we go to go and get her boat.

22:50 Now, bearing in mind at the time, well, I live on Anglesey, where we've got Nigel Dennis kayaks and, you know, rock ball kayaks also. So, but bearing in mind at this point in time, I don't know what a sea kayak is as such. I knew I'd like sea kayaking. I've done it like a couple of times, twice maybe. I think I had been on the water twice with a local club with borrowed boats. So we go down to this expo and Walter goes to pick up a boat. And wow, there's this huge expedition, exhibition with all this paddling equipment. And I remember Freya Hofmeister's boat was there. She had that, was it her Explorer, the Black Explorer with all the Alpha jewels on it. And all this incredibly exciting stuff.

23:32 And I couldn't tell you how and why it happened before. But I did a deal and came away with this huge, bright green plastic capella, P&H capella. And people, they laughed at me and they said, ha ha, you've come from Anglesey where some of the best kayaks in the world are made. And you've come down here and bought a plastic capella. And I just thought, I've got to see a kayak. And then Nigel adapted me massively because when I met Nigel, that was that time in April. And that was February and April. and then he said so look sell that boat he said you'll be ground out of it I think he said a year and within six months I'd sold it he said sell that boat come and see me I'll sort you out and we'll help you with a glass boat and I went to see him I had the money and he said right you've got two options because back then it was only the Explorer LV that was the only smaller person's boat because I'm quite little and he said you can have a yellow over white Explorer LV or you can have a the flag boat which was a hand-painted elite layup boat that had been painted hand-painted all different flags around the world apart from Greenland that I had pointed out to me and Tris who was an amazing very big inspiration to me at the time I said what do I do what do I get she said do yourself a favor right at the beginning get yourself the lightest boat you can so I did the deal and gots, my first ever glass boat. So how I actually got that boat in the first place, who knows?

25:05 It just literally just happened. It was the strangest thing ever. I can't explain it to this day. It was inspiration that got you started. It was absolute crazy inspiration. Yes. Do you still have the flag boat? No, because then the smaller boats came out. So Nigel started realizing that, you know, there are many small people in this world and Explorer LV didn't work for small people's boat you know had to move the seat a lot forward because otherwise it lee cocked and it wasn't the best boat it was wide and a lot of people need a narrower boat so that's how then the the pilgrim and then the pilgrim expedition came about so I was really instrumental in helping get those boats tested and paddling I was really lucky and then Nigel said give me that flag boat and you can have a pilgrim and then everything progressed from there really so I've been in a really, really like fortunate, lucky position right from the very beginning with a lot of support from a lot of people.

26:03 So you mentioned expeditions and you mentioned Nigel. So take us back a few years to your time in the Bahamas. Well, the Bahamas have loved expeditioning. The first trip I did was around the Outer Hebrides. And then because Nigel suggested Ireland, but I couldn't get the time of work. So after the Outer Hebrides, I quit work and it went and circumnavigated Ireland. So expeditioning is there. so I've quit work so now I'm doing a bit of coaching and working in Nigel Sport Lendl so I'm working with Celtic paddles getting some you know getting out there and enjoying life and, when you're doing a bit of coaching and in this environment for us in the UK that kind of like December January February that's the time of year when coaching is not so much going to happen because the weather's pretty chronic and the days are very short and it was like we need to do something, what should we do? Well, let's go somewhere.

26:59 Where do you go where do you go when you've got you know a couple of months to play around with there's this whole world and the world is so accessible nowadays but it's also quite a dangerous place when you're quite vulnerable in your little kayak with everything that you need to live on with you so I literally spun a globe I spun the globe and it came to Vietnam and it's like okay sort of 1200 nautical miles what do you think to the coastline of Vietnam and I just said yeah yeah okay so i did three months of planning i was into three months of planning of looking at the coast of vietnam and then we sat in the office at newly beach road one day and he's on the phone and i was literally trying to email some consulate somewhere about some permissions or something and he said do you fancy the bahamas and it was like the bahamas he goes yeah and all of a sudden all logistics, language barriers, problems, issues, all of the issues, the logistics that came about with Vietnam disappeared out the window. I was like, yeah, thumbs up. Let's do the Bahamas.

28:03 Nigel's brother was currently working out there. So we had a base. So it's like, yeah, let's go to the Bahamas. So we did the first trip in the Bahamas. That was our kind of exploration with our three-piece kayaks, which is a whole extra exciting story in all its own right. And from there we went and continued to do a few more trips of expeditions out in the Bahamas which all sounds incredibly glamorous and people say oh have a nice holiday some of my worst moments of kayaking at one point I actually thought Nigel had left us and was gone and died to this day my heart still. Goes into a bit of a black spot but yeah people go you go to somewhere like the bahamas oh have a great holiday and when nigel said he used to go when he did south georgia and antarctica etc have a great expedition it's interesting the perspective the bahamas you've got 3 000 miles of fetch to the next uh coast on the the east side there's quite a big sea state on the atlantic, but so yeah we did some fantastic exploration and challenges out in the bahamas so what was that exploration like that's an area that we have not really in fact i've not had the opportunity to talk about the bahamas at all here bahamas is amazing it's very lots of it is completely untouched one of the trips we did around an island called andros we did it as a sort of figure of eight we actually carried 90 liters of water between

29:33 us at one stage because we knew we were not going to be able to fill up with water for at least 10 days which is why you had to do it as a sort of a figure of eight just nothing out there as well obviously lots of areas that are very expensive private islands and and all of this and of course it's because it's owned by It's got American law, then you have the American rights of no access, whereas in the UK, we have mostly right of access up to that high water point. Oh, it's fantastic. The water alone in the Irish Sea, I think 100 meters is the deepest the Irish Sea goes.

30:14 In the Bahamas, on the East Coast, on one island we did, Cat Island. Three nautical miles out to sea, it's got a depth of like five kilometers. A mile out to sea, it's got a depth of about a kilometer. So the depth, that water is something else that you just can't even imagine. Beautiful now you mentioned some of those you mentioned challenges what challenges did you experience in the bahamas we had several we've had loads of challenges or lots of challenges logistics that's a key challenge so logistics how do you get you can get to the bahamas relatively straightforwardly with the three-piece kayaks but then you have to get to a starting point and they have some really great options for example the mail boats which might be a 17-hour journey but it's all part of the fun isn't it food that's a massive problem so you take what you can in your kayaks because water is such an issue you take as much kind of wet food as you can so rather than taking dry rice you take that rice that's pre-cooked that's saving less water anything dry for example pasta you can we worked out you can usually maybe a third seawater and two-thirds water then you can use it okay water's lived in clean out there so that those are some of the challenges navigation challenges in the uk we have we i think we have some of the best maps and charts in existence we've got so much information in the bahamas you've got a few charts but there's

31:48 there's nothing so much of it is uncharted the bahamas is the only other country outside of bermuda. In the Bermuda Triangle. And there was one challenge that we didn't realize at the time. And we were paddling on the west coast of an island, Andros, and we used to take it in turns. One person would paddle, the other person would check the compass. One person paddle, sort of check the compass. If you know what I mean, so you've got a person at the front on the compass. And then I had a little GPS and I would occasionally check the GPS because it's such a low-lying land, you don't have much visibility. So once you've paddled three miles away from shore, that's it. You're not seeing anything.

32:28 And I'm, Nigel's paddling on his compass bearing and I'm checking the GPS and he's paddling and I'm checking and it's like, something's not right, right here. Nigel, what are you paddling on? Are you paddling on a bearing or are you paddling to a cloud? No, no, I'm paddling on my bearing. What bearing are you paddling on? This bearing. I said, can you just make sure just the next 20 minutes really strictly paddle on that bearing? Yes, of course. That's what I'm doing. So he carried on and I checked the GPS. We were 30 degrees out. No explanation other than it must be just one of those anomalies. So carrying a GPS is quite a handy thing. So that was one instance.

33:12 Another story that's quite a bizarre story. There's kind of two key stories. Another story was we'd already had some instances that we were at with. We were paddling back. This is the follow-on from another story. And we're paddling back to Nassau, that area, to Paradise Island, via Cat Island, via Half Moon Cay, via Eleuthera. So we've left this island called Eleuthera, and we have to go across this little currant island. And this little island called Six Shilling Cay, and it had a little tree on it. And it's all that kind of really raggedy stone that you can't really walk on and there's a little tiny tiny bay there's quite a lot of tide of course the area is not charted so you don't know there's any tide but you see there's the tide well we can't panel through that that's far too fast we've got to wait so we stopped and we pulled in there's a duff room on this little tiny bay for two kayaks and we scramble up and sit to sit and wait and there's nothing to do rather than just sit and wait the weather's quite kind it's fortunate so we just sit and wait anyway i decided to try my best at walking just to the other side of the the bay where the kayak swore which is quite difficult because of the terrain it's this very spiky treacherous kind of terrain and like nigel shouts at me from across the other side of the bay it's like flipping heck what but i couldn't i couldn't really hear him because

34:42 there's this distance between us. I have to go back. Of course, have to go back takes a bit of time. And he's like, I think I'm going to pass out. What on earth happened? So what happened prior to that was the best love is handheld compass. You always have the two compasses. You have your deck compass and you have your handheld compass. You can check they're right. It was stuck. So can I say this? This is very politically correct. Do what a man might do. Bit of brute force. What does a girl do? Gets the compass, washes it in the water. What does a man do? Get his knife out. And as he kind of tries to extract the compass he slices his hand and it's bleeding and this is where i find out he's not very good with blood i think i'm going to pass out oh no so i put his pointe's aid yeah put his pointe's aid behind him we haven't got any flat ground it's this kind of treacherous kind of ground anyway pointe's aid behind him and poof he passes out goes a lovely shade of grey eyes wide open and of course I do exactly what I'm supposed to do Nigel shaking him kind of vigorously Nigel wake up wake up Nigel of course nothing that minute then he wakes up completely oblivious oh my god bursts into tears are you okay you're okay what happened I said you passed out no I didn't you did anyway this that took some time so we sat there debating because he was adamant he hadn't passed out of course anyway this it was you can imagine

36:12 that my heart saw quite kind of full on and we eventually we sat out to see again the tides calmed down and we set out to see again as we come out around the corner he says to me. Oh, look, there's JCB. I don't know if you know what JCB is. It's a big, bright yellow road kind of works or land moving vehicle. It's a huge plants machinery. And he goes, very much in the middle of the sea. No, just from this island. There's nothing around us. Oh, look, there's a JCB. What? And I thought, oh, great. He's not only passed out. He's now gone completely to Lally and he's seeing things. He's hallucinating.

36:53 So I paddled out alongside him and yes there was a JCB it was some kind of extractor or dredger or something that had broken free and was wandering around in the sea so that was a fortunate little one but I'll never forget that on the heart of my mouth and of course I did have a PRB and I suddenly realized we're carrying radios radios are great for each other but there's nobody else out there so they're not you can't really use them for a relay because then it could be no good to hear anybody else either. So that's kind of a, I like that as a little bit of a funny story. Everything worked out well and... No, the worst story, the worst challenge, and we never took helmets with us.

37:37 Would I in hindsight again? It's difficult, isn't it? Because you don't deliberately want to do something whereby you need a helmet. When it's only the two of you paddling together with a group and you've got responsibility for other people, that's a completely different story. And yes, helmets go on heads. When it's the two of us, in this instance, we didn't have helmets. And we were paddling this island of Cat Island. We're already on plan c having had plan a and plan b having to change it due to weather currents and all sorts of things that gone on so we're panning up this east side which the locals called the south side of cat island an island shaped like italy along the long side of cat island we'd had one night we'd camped you can imagine we've got a lot of a lot of sea coming in you can have challenging surf of course and this huge volume of water which goes from five kilometers to nothing within just a couple of miles so it landed the first night not a problem helped each other get on the water the next day not a problem what happened you've got a reef then a couple of miles out to sea so what happens as you're paddling along and paddling along at some point the reef sort of joins up with the land and you have to paddle out to the seaward side of the reef that's fine the water changes color deep deep deep darkest blue you can imagine and the sea goes up and the sea goes down and the sea goes up and

39:12 the sea goes down and then there was one point and I looked and Nigel was on top of this breaking waves. And I thought, oh, that was not the best place to be. Had he gone there to take a photograph, that wasn't a great idea. Had he got caught out by accident, that's not great. So both the answers were not answers that I wanted to hear the answer to because neither of the answers were great answers. So when you're on the outside of the reef, you obviously then have to come back inside the reef, which means finding a place where you can travel through it safely. And also then waiting for that point of time where the waves aren't going to be sufficiently huge that you're going to get annihilated.

39:54 So we're paddling along. It's dark about 6.30 at night, so we usually start looking for somewhere to land about 2 o'clock in the afternoon with the hope of being off the water by about 4. That was how the routine went, day in, day out. That's what it is. So we're looking for somewhere to land and get in through the reef when we couldn't find anywhere. And we're paddling on. We'd stop, we'd look. what do you think about this big wave no thanks let's carry on and we carry on again what do you think about this same thing would happen we sit and stop sometimes for quite a few minutes should we go here no maybe not and then niger's look he said there's a marker and there was a big white sort of post because you could see it's not that far you know to the the other side of the reef, And it's, maybe that's a mark of post where we can come in through the reef.

40:41 It was the mast of a sailboat that had been washed up. So eventually, Nigel said to me, right, we're going to go in through here. Are you okay? And I said, yeah, he knows best. I'm just going to, he knows, he knows. Yeah, I'm going to trust 100%. Let's do it. And he goes, you're going to have to paddle fast. So you've got to bear in mind that our boats are so heavy that the water's literally up to the seams. You can't turn them like you would normally an empty sea kayak they're like a massive container ship it takes a lot of effort a lot of time to turn the boat are you ready yes right we're just gonna go for it you ready yes right ready yes let's go so we go and as soon as we've gone.

41:23 Just like this freight train coming down behind me and that's it boom so I'm under the water and I'm holding onto my paddle because of the force of the water trying to drag it away from me and I'm saying to myself do not let go of your paddle do not let go of your paddle three times really slowly like that and I pop back up again and all around me there's stuff all of the stuff that we've got stuffed in the cockpits and even it's tied onto the decks there's stuff everywhere and then there's Nigel and I can see his his head at this point and his boat and then the next wave gets me again.

42:04 And so it gets a bit blurry because I think we both got hit by two waves. Now, in the seconds between the waves... You haven't got enough time to get all that air back into your lungs. So the first time you're upside down in the water, obviously there's adrenaline as well. You roll up, not a problem. The second time, boom, I was out of my kayak. So I'm out of my kayak, stuff everywhere. And I look across and I can see Nigel's boat, which is now upside down. And I can see the skeg, because we'd always have the skeg stands a tiny bit, just keep going straight. A little bit of the skeg. and my head just followed his kayak and I honest to God thought that he wasn't there and that he had gone and that blackness that completely drained into my soul I was literally sick to the stomach and in that it was micro milli milliseconds and as my head followed my eyes followed his boat then I saw his head oh I can't tell you that relief anyway so we'll work together to get back into the boat and again this is again an interesting an interesting one because as we train and we develop and we learn to do rescues and self-rescues and I'll always encourage folks to if you can self-rescue one way try another way and if you can do two ways try another way try something else try something that hasn't been discovered yet just play around with lots and lots of different things because you don't know

43:35 what's going to happen at a particular time and Anyway, it's fun to try different things. Same thing with rescues. Always try a different rescue, getting somebody into the boat a different way. And when I look back on it, it's fascinating because I got into my boat fairly straightforwardly, despite the fact it was so full of water and sinking because they're so heavy. But it got me in, not a problem. It was okay. We couldn't get Nigel into his boat. And it was silent. We literally did it without any words because we'd done so much practice and independently, not just together, so much stuff. There was just do this, just do this, just do this. Couldn't get him into his boat.

44:18 Eventually got him into his boat and off we sat, off we sat. And then we'd been paddling for a minute and a half or something and he says to me, Isla, yes Nigel you're going to have to tow me what? Anyway we didn't realise at the time because he couldn't control his boat we didn't realise at the time but he'd completely smashed his boat up and we had to go to plan D and do quite a substantial boat repair but that's the end of that story because I could talk about two hours about that so sorry that goes on quite a long time needless to say we ended up on plan kind of Z and on all was well Yeah. That's a pretty harrowing time. It's not what you would normally think of when you think of the Bahamas.

45:04 You normally think of tranquil waters and easy paddling, but there's certainly some challenges there. Absolutely and on current islands which is a very very narrow at one point it's a very very narrow strip of land and you can walk across the road and you can see the caribbean sea on one side and it's as you say john it's beautiful green not a movement of the water you walk across the road look at the atlantic and it's deep deep blue and white with all the waves crashing against the land. Now how long were you there our trips were normally about a month okay all right and sometimes stay a bit longer to go to junk canoe festival to to do something like that but generally speaking be away for a month six weeks something like that now would you go back oh absolutely we met up with a chap who's out there he lives out there called wolf we were put in touch with him from our dearly missed beloved friend who's no longer with us russell farrow so we met wolf so he's still out there and i would love to go back and do some more out there there's so much more to explore so much that's been undiscovered yeah fantastic amazing place and generally speaking the local people are wonderful so so kind so yeah so cool it's brilliant wonderful so outside of the Bahamas and the good experience there. Favorite place to paddle?

46:31 That's that's such a hard question and and it's very very difficult because everywhere is unique and everywhere is very very special i was recently i was really fortunate i was honored enough to paddle with um at a camp paddle park camp in in the netherlands and they were apologizing to me because it's sand and sand and sand and sand and i said guys you've got a fantastic place they've got their dykes and you've got tide you've got little islands you've got wonderful seal life, it's a wonderful place to be what creatures in the water dolphins etc and shipping lanes you've got a really really fantastic place and enjoy it it's what they're used to I live on Anglesey it's only 75 miles if you paddle it from point to point to point and yet you know we've got the tide and you could paddle the same bit of water every day for a year is always going to be different.

47:29 It's a really different question i paddle in lots of different places i have to say that i'm really sorry to the world that between ireland scotland and here i think that's the best place in the world to paddle i think we just have everything everywhere is unique everywhere is fantastic it has its merits absolutely i really do think i really do think this is spectacular here scotland island and of course shetland yeah wow now of all the places that you could run trips i see that you run a number of trips in the shetlands what is it specifically about the shetlands that makes that area area so special to you, Well, again, I have to be honest, it was the Americans who made me go to Shetland.

48:11 I had turned down offers to go and help run courses in Shetland throughout my paddling career because time is such a big issue. And of course, the summertime, that's when you're at the busiest. Nigel and I came along running expeditions out of Hebrides and everywhere. Then I'd put on some expeditions in the southwest of Ireland. When you run expeditions, you're kind of lucky because you can go, where do I fancy going? Fancy going to the southwest of Ireland? Let's run some expeditions there. And it's wonderful that you can share those experiences with other people. So when we're in a situation, it's wonderful. So I put on expeditions in southwest Ireland, and Dale Williams came along for a week, and Greg Paquin came along for a week, and had a local group from the UK for a week.

49:00 And they were like, but we really want to go to Shetland. Next year, it was Greg, if I'm honest, we want to go to Shetland, but we're going to go to Southwest Ireland. Why? Because, oh, okay. So they came along fantastic. But next year, can you promise us we'll go to Shetland? Okay, we'll do Shetland. Shetland's a long, long way away and the logistics are pretty immense to get there. It's like we did Shetland. So I ran two trips back to back and I was like, why has it taken me so long to get here? So if Greg had insisted on going to Shetland to be honest I probably wouldn't have made the effort because the logistics are so immense but then once I went there and then life continued, and then I had some requests can we go back to Shetland can we go back to Shetland okay I'll run some expeditions to Shetland and then it was like oh well can we run some expeditions to Shetland okay we'll do some more I've got some surgery coming in a couple of weeks so next year i'm not going to go to shetland i'm going to go in 2027 and i've already got inquiries of people to go in 2027 just a magical place to go yeah i've had the opportunity to talk to a number of paddlers about about the shetlands and i recall uh talking with bonnie perry and uh she just, raved and raved and raved about the area.

50:25 It's incredible. And because it's so sparsely populated, there are so many islands. There's usually something you can always go and do to paddle. I run explanations in Shetland via a base. We have a fantastic camp, base camp, which is a wonderful big house. So from that, our base camp, we can maximize the weather and take in all the best paddles. Or if the weather's not so great, go and find the opportunities where we can still go and paddle. But yeah, it's absolutely stunning. And there are still caves, channels, and chutes that I need to go and explore and find out.

51:08 There is such... You could literally spend more time inside exploring caves and channels than outside. What's next on your expedition list? So on the expedition next year, it's the eight day i work with the dutch with the dutch group and we'll be running our trips paddle part to. Scotland which is eight days camping we set off on day one and go and explore with our kayaks and do some exciting cool stuff all wild camping and then come back on day eight so that's my that's my only expeditions for next year tell us a little bit about your coaching center, Well, it's me and I'm based on the northeast tip of Anglesea.

51:56 I relocated from the west coast here four years ago now, just over four years ago. And I love it. The people are wonderful, very kind. It's very rural, very green. My little base is, it's a three-minute drive to the nearest beach. And from the nearest beach, I think it's about a whole five-minute paddle. To the closest tide race which is pretty fantastic so I run Seag Hacks I have the best equipment that I consider is available so I work with Karatek products who are in Scotland and they help me with my all my trailers and my high lift and my roof racks and my vehicles I work with Chris Reed Reed's Jill Cheetah so we have all the best kags and they also have spray decks etc and all the bits and pieces we need for for paddlers i work with nigel dennis so i only have sea kayaking kndk kayaks glass and i have a plastic fleet as well so people can get the best kayaks and they're kept in excellent condition and they get renewed every so often so people come and have a cart that looks as if it's new which is really important to me i work with steve wetman wetman equipment again for well obviously my personal equipment and then And all my spray decks come from him as well, well, mostly.

53:21 And then also Typhoon, who I'm very fortunate and have, at my personal day, dry suits and the long johns for the beginner groups and that type of equipment. So, yeah, buoyancy aids, CAGs, all that comes from Rachel Tutor. So I try and use everything British that I can. Of course, Celtic paddles, other paddles. I do have two non-NDK kayaks. I have two double kayaks. So I could take a family out with a baby if that was the case. 18 months old is the youngest client I've ever had. And I also have a set of surf ski, which I dabble in a little bit as well.

54:03 Oh, super. Well, good gear, good coaching. You're ready to go. How can listeners connect with you? So I have a website, which is islawilkinson.com. That's quite hard because obviously not everybody can spell my name or work it out. So UK.com. Kayak work sets and stuff but isla wilkinson.com is is the website all right well i'll make sure i'll put i'll put links in the show notes to uh to your website so people can go right to it so well isla this has been wonderful uh talking to you and learning about uh your experiences and your journey through the uh the paddle uk system as well as talking about your time in the bahamas and elsewhere so thank you very much for taking the time with me i appreciate it i do have uh one final question for you and you've given a few names here but who else would you like to hear as a future guest on paddling the blue i would love to hear you interview and talk with chris reed from reed chill cheetah he is such a wonderful person he provides all of us sea kayakers everything we need but there's so much more to him than just the sea kayaking equipment that he makes i think i might go down the route of paddlers that are also produced the equipment because you've got Steve Wettman, Wettman Equipment.

55:18 Yeah. That might be quite an interesting one. You've probably spoken to Nigel. I'm pretty sure you've spoken to Nigel already. I've talked to Nigel and we've actually talked to Steve as well. Both one interview. Oh, you talked to Steve? Yeah. Well, I think I would definitely go down the Chris Reed route because he's been such a big support to me and he's such a brilliant, funny guy. Yeah, I'd go down to him. I'd chat with him. Super. Well, we'll connect offline and get in touch with Chris. So, Isla, again, thank you very much. I appreciate your time. Thank you, John. If you want to be a stronger and more efficient paddler, Power to the Paddle is packed with fitness guidance and complete descriptions, along with photos of more than 50 exercises to improve your abilities and enjoy your time on the water.

56:02 The concept and exercises in this book have helped me become a better paddler, and they can make a difference for you, too. The exercises in the book can help you reduce tension in your shoulders and low back, use Use the power of your torso to create leverage and use less energy with each stroke. Use force generated from your lower body to make your paddling strokes more efficient, have the endurance to handle long days in the boat, drive through the toughest waves or white water, protect your body against common paddling injuries, and while you're at it, you might even lose a few pounds. And who wouldn't mind that? So visit paddlingexercises.com to get the book and companion DVD. Thanks to Isla for joining today's episode. We can all appreciate a top tip to improve our paddling. And her passion for paddle sports certainly shows through.

56:44 You'll find links to Isla's website along with a few resources for paddling the Bahamas by visiting the show notes for this episode at paddlingtheblue.com slash 156. And remember, if you're not already a subscriber to onlineseacogging.com or onlinewhitewater.com, just use the coupon code PDBPODCAST to check out on either of those two sites and you'll get 10% off just for being a member of the Paddling the Blue community. Thanks again for listening, and I look forward to bringing you the next episode of Paddling the Blue. Thank you for listening to Paddling the Blue. You can subscribe to Paddling the Blue on Apple Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Please take the time to leave us a five-star review on Apple Music.

57:26 We truly appreciate the support. And you can find the show notes for this episode and other episodes, along with replays of past episodes, contact information, and more at paddlingtheblue.com. Until next time, I hope you get out and paddle the blue.