Al Pace and Lin Ward were thrilled to present and coach at the British Canoe Symposium, Nov 10 – 12 held at Lake Windermere in the beloved Lake District of northern England. The Brits arrived in droves, fully geared up in dry-suits with solo and tandem canoes, SUP boards and canoe-sailing rigs. Al presented a multi-media show on Friday & Saturday evening to a packed house hungry to experience the wilds of northern Canada through stunning photos and hair-raising stories of lore about wild rivers that run free for hundreds of miles!
On the water, Lin and Al hosted skills clinics with small groups of rookie paddlers who were super-keen to acquire knowledge “from the Colonies” and fine-tune their j-strokes and bow draws. “Everyone here is just over-the-top keen to develop their canoeing skills –we could hardly get them off the water at the end of our 2 hour clinic!” says Lin. In true British style, the evening pub nights presented a fabulous opportunity to try out local craft beers and share stories of adventure, latest gear trends and paddle techniques – oh, and bloody football of course!
Al and Lin were treated like canoeing Rock Stars and were grateful for the opportunity to travel abroad, explore the backroads and highlands of Scotland and hurl themselves into the crazy vortex of English canoeing. Thanks to hosts Tom and Anna Sibbald for taking such great care of Al & Lin and for convening such an enthusiastic group of coaches and participants.