Bude is an ideal location for all types of paddlesport. We use the sea, the surf, our canal and local rivers to run a wide variety of BCU qualification courses courses throughout the year. From 1 Star and Paddlepower awards right through to 4 and 5 Star leadership courses with Safety and Rescue courses and Level 1 and 2 Coach training and assessments.
The Bude Canal provides the perfect ribbon of sheltered water in which to learn specific paddling skills and is ideal for 1 and 2 star training and assessments as well as progressing through the paddle power scheme. We have a large range of kayaks, sit-on-tops and canoes that are available to be used and which allow us to broaden a paddlers knowledge and expertise in paddling different craft in a still water environment. The canal also offers us the perfect location for the BCU Foundation Safety and Rescue Training course (FSRT) a necessary pre-requisite course for any paddler wishing to become a qualified coach. And then finally the Canal once again proves to be perfect for the BCU / UKCC level 1 and 2 coach awards. The Level 1 is run over 4 days with small assessments taking place within this period and the Level 2 has a 4 day training period with a separate day of assessment following after a portfolio of coaching evidence is accumulated.
Our North Cornish Coastline is a fantastic place for Sea Kayaking adventures and with several different locations from which to choose we are always able to run the BCU 3 star sea award training and assessments.
Our local rivers such as the Dart and Tamar provide perfect white water for the BCU 3 star Inland Kayak award. English rivers generally have access agreements which permit their use in the winter closed fishing season the Dart in particular can be paddled from the start of October through to mid-March.
And then there's the surf, which Bude is most famous for. It won't be going too far to say that Shoreline leads the way in the coaching of this sport with our owner and senior surf kayaking coach Simon Hammond having written 'the' book on the subject; Surf Kayaking The Essential Guide as well as contributing to the updating of the BCU surf kayak awards themselves. With vast coaching experience from raw beginners, to progressive development programmes, to national teams and even the introduction of surf kayaking to other nations we are confident that we will be able to help any paddler progress in this sport. From a BCU point of view we run the 3 star Surf award throughout the year with one day training and one day assessment courses. The 4 and 5 Star awards are run over a 2 day training and 2 day assessment which we normally run weekends for in the Spring and Autumn. And the Advanced Surf Safety and Rescue course can be run with small groups as a one day course throughout the year.