Land & Wave Outdoor Instructor Training – People, Places, Activities

It’s Week 7 of the Outdoor Instructor Training Course and we’re officially half way through! We’ve had 35 glorious days of adventures in the sea, hills and woods, it’s absolutely flown by and been an absolute blast…

The days have been spent; 4 bushcraft, 7 coasteering, 4 climbing, 6 walking/navigational, 2 paddle boarding, 3 canoeing, 5 kayaking along with 4 days on training or assessment courses.

They have completed their British Canoeing 2*, Royal Life Saving Society and Royal Yachting Association Level 2 Power Boat qualifications

To finish off 2016 the gang have spent 2 days on the water acquiring their Power Boat Level 2 award and 2 days trekking the trails of Cranborne Chase, working towards their South West Coast and Countryside log books. Rounding off the week they all headed into the woods on Friday perfecting the skills of a bushcraft master.

It’s been an amazing 7 weeks so far and everyone at Land & Wave has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the 16 lovely trainees. It’s been a pleasure watching them all grow within their new roles as outdoor instructors and develop from students to becoming teachers and coaches. The journey’s not over yet and we’re all ready for a two week break to rest, recuperate, reflect on the year and come back raring to go in 2017.

January is set to be a busy month for the trainees – they dive straight into two qualifications; The Safety and Rescue Test for paddle sports (kayaking and Canoeing), A 16 hour First Aid course and the British Canoe Union Level 1 coaching award. Then they’ll be spending the rest of the month working on their Climbing, Bushcraft, Kayaking and Canoeing awards. It’s set to be a jam packed few weeks with lots of courses and trips away to complete qualifications.

Navigation

The trainees have been filling their log books in the aim to completing their South West Coast and Countryside award. So far they’ve been discovering the sights in Dorset and making their way along the Jurassic Coast and through the Purbeck hills.

This was their first overnight expedition and thankfully the weather was on our side, the rains held off and the temperature was pleasantly mild for mid December. Jack headed up both days of the walks and dropped the groups off at the start point to make their way to various check points along the way. Luckily no one got lost and everyone made it safely to back to camp.

The groups will carry on their training in the New Year and venture to the depths of Dartmoor to really put their skills to the test. This all helps in preparation for their Duke of Edinburgh supervisor assessment in January.

They are all encouraged to carry on logging walks over the holidays too and practising what they’ve been taught. The Land & Wave team will be doing the same, with a few pub stops along the way as it’s the festive season. We encourage everyone to don their walking boots and enjoy the countryside this Christmas.

Royal Yachting Association – Powerboat Level 2

Every year we leave the island and head across the water to Poole Harbour. We entrust our trainees to the excellent Power Boat Training UK and they spend 2 days getting to grips with all things maritime.

During their 2 days with the experts they learn the ways of the sea, reading charts, sea markers and navigational skills. Some of this essential work is done in the classroom before they put it to the test and get out on the water. Whilst out on the water the groups also go through man over board training and all get a chance to really test the speeds of the boats  – which we hear is ‘really, really fun’.

The course is always a big hit with the group and whilst it’s not an activity we offer at Land & Wave, it’s a great qualification to have. Enabling the trainees to venture into other aspects of the outdoor industry if they wish. Living on the coast of Dorset, it’s an amazing way to get to know the area and learn about the environment we work in.

See you all in 2017…

We’re all hanging up our wetsuits for Christmas this week and having a well earned 2 week break. It’s been an amazing year for Land & Wave and our best ever AIT course – we’re quite sad to be finishing 2016. 2017 is already shaping up to be an excellent year  for us, there’s lots of exciting things in the pipeline for Land & Wave and we can’t wait to share it with you when we’re back.

Applications are well and truly open for 2017! We’ve accepted two new recruits for next years course this week and there’s lots more amazing new adventurers to meet in the new year. If you’re thinking about getting into the outdoor industry then 2017 is definitely the year to do it. Check out the course, see what the current students have been getting up to, get in touch – we’d love to hear from you and show you what we do.

We’re all really looking forward to a few weeks of down time and go on some micro adventures around this beautiful part of the world that we’re lucky enough to live in, watch this space to find out what we get up to. Two of our team have crossed international borders and are undertaking epic adventures; one in a van across Europe and the other exploring the seas of Mauritius.

If you’re having any adventures over the festive season we’d love to know what you get up to. Keep in touch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and let us know what you’ve been doing.

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2017.

Adventure for good! Always.

16 December 2016 by Phoebe Webster