'Its a new location, but not new to us,' say instructors as watersport venue opens in King's Lynn

Two watersport professionals have arrived in Lynn to offer supervised and instructed activities on Bawsey Lake.

Les Collison and Steve Murfet have been based on the Norfolk coastline doing watersports for more than 15 years.

The pair offer taster and hire sessions for paddleboarding and kayaking which are all supervised.

Bawsey Watersports has been open for two weeks and hopes to add windsurfing to its list of watersports.

No equipment is needed and wetsuits are provided. Steve and Les say they welcome anybody to give it a try.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it, safety is our number one priority," said Les.

Bawsey watersports will be open until around November time, where it will close for the winter months.

Les and Steve invited Lynn News reporter Lucy Carter to one of their introductory paddleboarding sessions. See how she got on here:

It's been a few years since I've braved doing any kind of watersports activities, my only experience in the water being an annual kayaking trip with the Girl Guides. So it's safe to say I was definitely an amateur.

However, I was put at ease straight away by Steve who was taking our session, which was made up of a small group of five.

Steve talked us through health and safety, and told us about the rescue boat they have ready if there was an emergency, with Les on the end of a walkie-talkie waiting on land.

We all had different experience levels and it was safe to say that I was definitely the slowest out of the group, but I did feel triumphant that I didn't fall in!

We got on the water with knees on the board at first, trying turns and basic movements, which isn't as basic as you would think.

When it came to standing up, I was very apprehensive that I would lose my balance, however, Steve guided us through getting up on the board, and after getting over some initial shaky legs, I relaxed into it.

We then paddled around the majority of the lake, stopping for breaks as we did so. It felt very tranquil and relaxing going at your own pace around the very still lake.

The two hour taster session offered the basics of paddle boarding skills you would need. From about half an hour into the session, I already felt confident on the board.

Most importantly, I also felt very safe, knowing I had two professionals on and off shore to help me if I needed it. Life jackets were also given out to everybody which also put me at ease.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience and I had the best time. The instructors were friendly and are great at what they do. I'd encourage anybody to go along, you'll be in very safe hands with Les and Steve.

Safety first

Bawsey has been the scene of many fatal accidents over the years, the lake has a swimming ban and also bans any form of watersport that hasn't been booked under Bawsey Watersports.

Les also runs Hunstanton Kayaks and Hunstanton Watersports. He said: "We want to make people aware that its not just a free for all, we want to get the message across that its a safely controlled environment.

"You can only do watersports on the lake if you book through us."

Both instructors want to make people aware about the safety precautions made when deciding to do watersports on Bawsey lake.

"Its a new location, but its not new for us, through our 15 years of doing watersports we've had a 100% record of safety," added Steve.