PADDLER 50
Words : Dimitri Vandepoele Photos : Dimitri & Sylvie Vandepoele
Background information CK / Mer is the French Federation ‘ Conaissance du Kayak de Mer ’, established in 1981 to unite sea kayakers and share information . Every two years , they organise their symposium in the Bréhat Archipelago . This is one of the most rugged areas in the region of Brittany regarding sea kayaking . We know the area from previous trips , certainly the Bréhat island itself , read our report in the November 2023 issue of the Paddler ( https :// paddlerezine . com / ile-de-brehat /).
PADDLER 50
CK / MER
SYMPOSIUM 2024
Words : Dimitri Vandepoele Photos : Dimitri & Sylvie Vandepoele
Background information CK / Mer is the French Federation ‘ Conaissance du Kayak de Mer ’, established in 1981 to unite sea kayakers and share information . Every two years , they organise their symposium in the Bréhat Archipelago . This is one of the most rugged areas in the region of Brittany regarding sea kayaking . We know the area from previous trips , certainly the Bréhat island itself , read our report in the November 2023 issue of the Paddler ( https :// paddlerezine . com / ile-de-brehat /).
During our last paddle on the famous Raz de Sein tide race past year , we got together with a few people from CK / Mer , including Jérôme , the president . The seed was planted , and sometime later , we got a formal invite to join the team of instructors for this symposium . We felt honoured to join , as this is one of the largest symposiums in the world , and we wanted to see for ourselves how they manage such an event from our point of view .
The CK / Mer hosts no less than 200 participants from all over the world during the event . The main base is a lovely campsite near the water , with central access and limited distance from the various put-ins . To manage a group this size , they rely on 38 instructors for the workshops and the tours . Let us not forget that this is backed up by a small but effective CK / Mer support team , which comprises all volunteers working hard behind the scenes to make this a success . Half of the instructors are French ; the others come from worldwide . This makes for a perfect mix of different approaches and people familiar with the area and its characteristics .
The Bréhat Archipelago offers good opportunities for different weather conditions and paddlers of various levels . It ’ s a splendid playground , with the tides moving up and down the numerous rocky islets . The dates are also perfect . The end of April makes its temperatures not too hot and certainly not too cold . The water temperature was around 11 ° C , and the air temperature moved around 15 ° C the whole week .