Martin Hurst ( HOW )

Just a brief update . Most will know we had a good year last year . From May to October there had been just over 20 sessions on the water , 43 participants over 111hours , equating to nearly 5000 participant hours on the water , and that excludes volunteers who have helped out on the water. Most of those sessions were delivered by myself and our welsh volunteer coach , never a healthy situation for the charity . With this in mind this weekend 6 of us will be undergoing 2 days intensive training in North Wales with a BCU accredited training provider , and then a further 2 day assessment at the end of the month . Whilst it’s a big hit on our funds , it will give us 6 well qualified leaders ( hopefully ) able to take out groups of up to 12 . In addition the 6 are spread throughout England and Wales giving us the opportunity to push on and deliver more sessions to more people . Cheers Martin

This week I traveled over to Northamptonshire to meet up with James . James was sent to Iraq 12 years ago at the age of 18 and since leaving the Royal Engineers has been undertaking regular trauma counselling . When I was asked to take him out I knew despite the long journey from Wales I couldn’t say no. I briefed him on how we would fish the water , using a small paddle tail Lure on a 7grm jig head , fished just above the extensive weed in 4 to 7 foot . The. Chance of a good pike was a real possibility , but it can be a difficult water especially when the suns out . What followed was totally unexpected . The pictures tell their own story . James told me it was the best day’s therapy 😁

Myself and volunteer Ade met up today with Richard , previously in the paratroop regiment . The target species was Flounder on the River Loughor in South Wales . Lovely weather and constant action saw around 90 fish fall to the lads during the 3 hours session ,fantastic sport on light tackle . On the paddle back a Hercules Plane dipped its wings acknowledging its former occupant 😁

Our Fourth trip to the IOM to fish the Pokerstars Comp , and despite the weather causing the comps cancellation what a belter it was . Trustees Martin , Edward and Neil were accompanied by Richard , Andy and Stephen . Sailing from Liverpool , the now traditional pre sail beer in the cavern club was cancelled as some chap called McCartney was belting out a few tunes in there 🙂 . On the ferry , Richard spotted Max Boyce , and couldn’t resist a selfie with the bemused chap 🙄The accomodation , at King Williams college was again spot on , with full breakfasts provided at Lazer Mahems coffee cottage , a cracking venue run by ex forces personnel , and also by Iom trustee Tony’s wife with Tony hindering her in the kitchen 😁. Friday we launched at Port Erin , everyone catching some cracking pollock as well as an abundance of cuckoo and Ballan wrasse . With the Comp being off on Saturday due to gale force winds we were taken under the wing of local expert Johnathon and to the North of the island . Unfortunately with the winds swirling and shifting direction regularly we were unable to launch but were treated to a tour of the works being undertaken to restore Ramsay pier , a 15 year project. Sunday arrived with a slight hangover , and the promise of the wind dropping late afternoon . A quick trip over to Port Soderick to look at how our new training base is progressing , Followed by a trip to Port st marys to meet up with the great lads and lasses from our IOM section over a cup of tea and Beryl’s wonderful sponge and lemon drizzle cake 🙂. After much discussion we headed back to Port Erin and launched into a testing sea . The lads gained some valuable experience before catching a few wrasse and pollock in the shelter of the breakwater. And so our trip came to an end , however with the ferry delayed 2 hours we got a cheeky launch in and had some nice pollock , filleted for the trip home 😁

Craig one of our How coaches has spent the last two years coaching abroad (Hong Kong , Indonesia) , but being home in Wales for the week before going out to Norway offered to run a paddle workshop . Richard and Stephen jumped at the opportunity , spending the morning with Craig and trustee Martin , even having time before breaking for lunch to practice self and assisted rescues . Lunch concluded both the lads wanted to have a little fish , and despite suffering from historical back pain , were soon out on the water casting and trolling lures . Martin soon , aided by local knowledge , was amongst the jacks but it was Stephen who let out a scream of surprise when having hooked up the pike went airborne. Another brilliant fish , and a first from the kayak on Only Stephens second outing . . When asked when they wanted to meet up again the answer of “tomorrow “ wasn’t totally unexpected 😁

Heroes on the Water (SW Coach, Steve) had a great afternoon on the water last week with Martin in Cornwall - he caught Launce, Pollock (including a lure caught double header) and was particularly happy to land his first Catshark (Dogfish) (1 of 2). All in all a very successful afternoon.

Yesterday I took out JP for his first Pike fishing trip . He does a bit of carp fishing and stated that kayak Angling and catching a pike had always been on his bucket list . 2 hours in and I had managed 4 fish but JP had not had a touch . Cup of tea and a pasty , change of Lure to a silver Mann’s -1 , and the rest is history . He finished with 10 fish including 2 low doubles and a beam across his face which I’m sure extended well beyond his ears 😁 His Facebook review tells its own story ..... Massive thank you to Martin and heroes on the water. My first experience of kayaking and fishing for pike. I caught 10 pike and between us managed over 20+ and lost a few. Amazing and still buzzing.

Myself and Andrew from our welsh section ventured up to Llyn Padarn set in the Snowdonia National Park. We have been working closely with the charity change step , A team of veteran peer mentors who use their own experiences to help veterans confront challenges in their lives, and to navigate and engage with support services throughout Wales. Fresh from going up the country’s highest mountain Snowdon , our veterans were given some brief paddle skills training before spending an hour touring the lake in groups of three . Some even demonstrated some enviable self rescue techniques 😀 A cracking day afloat with a great group of lads and lass in a stunning location .👍

If any of the club members are visiting the IOM give me a shout and I’ll make sure you get some proper Manx hospitality from our trustee over there Tony Palmer . He is developing something very special on the island with the help of an army of volunteers

Tomorrow we get underway with our new coach in the South West , Stephen Fuller , making the journey from Cornwall to Portland harbour . I will pop back over the weekend to let you know how they got on . All loaded and ready to go

On Friday we traveled down to Help for Heroes purpose built Endeavour facility to deliver the first of a number of sessions that will soon see the eight course member out on the sea enjoying Kayak Angling. Self rescues and assisted rescues were mastered in no time , heres a few pictures that tell the story of the day far better than a few words

Hello everyone just a quick post to introduce myself . Some of you may know that Paul Fennel has left HOW due to ill health. As you can imagine this has left a huge hole to fill , lots or re organisation and equipment redistribution etc etc. I apologise for not keeping the club updated but I have now joined up and will be posting up reports of our work on a regular basis . Briefly , we have taken on Shiv Payne as a new trustee . Shiv lives in Plymouth and is the wife of Martin who has gone through our programme and is now a member of the South Coast canoes angling team , a big success story for HOW. This Friday we start a programme with help for heroes at their endeavour facility in Plymouth. This in the short term is a priority , an oversubscribed 8 session programme utilising the AT cast syllabus. In addition we are actively recruiting more coaches and developing the ' team HOW ' over the next few months , starting with a 3 member team attending the British kayak championship in Wales this weekend . Anyway thats enough as an introduction and feel free to email me if you have any questions about our work or know of anyone who would benefit from our programmes ( mhurst@heroesonthewater-UK.org ) , and of course a huge thanks to all the clubs members for your invaluable and continued support , it is appreciated