Introduction to Bushcraft Wilderness Survival Skills

[eventadmin]

Event Details

Day one you will venture down the River Blackwater to the shore of Lough Neagh in an open Canadian Canoe, taking in the river’s natural beauty and wildlife. Stop at Maghery for a light snack before rafting the canoes together for a trip to the ancient Coney Island where you will learn the basic skills of wilderness cooking, shelter, water, trapping and foraging for food. End the evening with stories and sleeping in a tipi. Day two will continue bush craft skills with a surprise task before packing up all equipment and leaving Coney for Maghery by canoe raft.

Only 10 spaces – Book Early - £60 per person.

Full itinerary will be sent out on booking

Please Contact Kinnego Marina to book.

   
Contact Details

Kinnego Marina
Oxford Island
Annaloiste Road
Lurgan
Co Armagh
BT66 6NJ
Tel: +44 (0) 28 3832 7573
Email: kinnego.marina@craigavon.gov.uk

[Blackthorn]

Does anyone know who the instructor is on this?

[Celt_Ginger]

Yes, it's a chap called Pete Mcveigh. He is a ranger or something like that for Craigavon Council I believe.

[lartamax]

I have signed up for this course. Anyone else going ?

[Blackthorn]

When is this event on?

[lartamax]

Wed 28th July and Thur 29th. I know someone who had provissionally booked a place and has cancelled so might just be a place left unless they had a waiting list. I believe it was very popular and the August couse is already fully booked.

[landyliam]

Peter McVeigh was on Radio Ulster this morning talking about the event so i reckon any spaces left will be gone soon

[Celt_Ginger]

Good luck to him.

[landyliam]

i think there's a bit about it on BBC Newsline tonight as well

[Celt_Ginger]

That'll be interesting. It could get us in the NIBA a bit of publicity as well. 

[Nightjar]

   I went on the course this week. It was excellent. We canoed about seven miles down the river Blackwater. I have never seen so many Kingfishers on one trip.

   We stayed out on Coney Island and we slept in large  Tipi's . I thought this was overkill as there were only five on the course;two people didn't even show. I snored as usual and kept everyone awake so If I go again I will be banished to the far side of the island  .... The Tipi was great (for me ) to sleep in. No light came through the double skin  which kept it quite cool at night

   Pete is an excellent instructor and was ably helped by Stevie. Pete has an interest in Native American culture and has done a lot of training in south Dakota with them. He told us load of stories about his travels The island has a rich and colourful history which was relayed to us by the warden Pete, well worth going just for the history tour

   We had a brief introduction to bushcraft, fire lighting using steel and flint and nature walks looking at the various edible plants. I was amazed by the size of the ground ivy,a couple of leaves would have fitted unto a burger bun. we also did some tracking skills and used a sandbox to assess human tracks. We also used some throwing weapons and played with blowpipes, these are lethal and very easy to use. There was a temptation to use them on the local population of feral chickens so we made do with a plastic water container.There was also loads of food, and we had a go of cooking trout over the fire..We used a Muurikka over a fire pit for cooking. http://www.nordicoutdoor.co.uk/ecom_fullinfo.html?productid=72 i think i will invest in one.

It is possible to wild camp on the island and Pete can pick people up from Maghery for the short journey. All it takes is a phone call to Kinnego marina to make arrangements. The only snag is that it is not safe to leave cars at Maghery as there has been a lot of vandalism by the locals, apparently a few years ago there was a thriving caravan site which was abandoned after threats from the locals.

an excellent course,well worth the £60
Next year they will be running more in depth courses, cant wait!