Detonator in heavy water - what am I doing wrong?

[Einar]

Not every boat suits every paddler. I recently sold off a popular hull that I really wanted to master but didn't. I was starting to injure myself in my determination. Maybe with more time, less determination & some instruction I would have made it... but I moved on.

I'm with the bad day crowd except that it can last longer than a day. I just toughed it out, although I will dial it back a grade to where things don't happen so fast and I have more time to observe and figure it out.

i've had friends that are "running a bad streak" come up and ask me what are they doing wrong, as if I knew.
Must of been desperate! They weren't as bad as they thought but that was the bigger problem, what they thought. Best I could say was "go run your favourite river, take it easy, and when you notice yourself laughing you will have probably have moved past the thought problem"

Paddling with kayakers at a certain point was necessary as there weren't enough OC's around. They showed me a lot of rivers, drank my beer, fun was had, and the putting down the river miles certainly helped but they didn't teach me much. In fact i developed some bad habits, later to be undone. Not their fault.

I paddled a Detonator for a while. It has it's qualities but other hulls called. For me it was neutral ground, no distinctive bad habits but I think I remember that it did have to be driven. I'm not sure that I am a fan of the double chine hull idea anyways, don't know why but when i look back over my favourite boats a sharper chine seems to dominate. Except for the boat in the first paragraph. It's around. Maybe I should borrow it and try again.

[OC One Blade]

I can definitely relate to what you're describing, and we're at about the same skill level. I feel at ease up to Class IV with maybe a IV+ thrown in on a good day, but I've had days that shook my confidence a bit.

One that stands out in particular was on the Ocoee, a III+ river that I thought I was comfortable with. I had sloppy lines, bad angles, and a boat full of water the whole way- and swam the majority of Broken Nose. It just wasn't happening for me that particular day. I felt I was having to work too hard, having more trouble with the "big water" than I should. In my case, I knew it wasn't the boat since I'd made the run several times prior in the same boat.

It humbled me a bit. I'm like you in that I have expectations for myself. Lousing up an entire run on what I considered a not so difficult river bothered me. I've run it several times since and performed much better. Looking back, I think it was the first time I had made the run without OC-1 companions. I'd hooked up with a couple of kayakers. Also, I was just beginning my push into Class IV stuff at the time. I'd been paddling fairly hard that week, so I could've been fatigued as well. But more than all of that, I just didn't feel "on".

I guess my 2 cents would be to refrain from totally chalking it up to a new/different boat. I tend to agree with the "bad day" theorists, at least so far as to attest that they do happen from time to time. A little more saddle time on some big water, preferably the same big water, will tell the tale.

[craig]

I think it was just a bad day for you. I paddled a Deonator for a while before I got my option. I still use it from time to time As a creek boat it's great except the hull can wear on the chines if you run a lot of scrapey low water runs. Once on bigger rivers it seems to lose its"glide" so it needs to be paddled more. It surfs and rolls well. It is a good style of boat for me. Check your outfitting to allow you to lean forward to engage the edges in the bow as you manouver the boat

[driftwood]

I used to paddle a detonator. yep. agressive is important. but also understanding the rails, you know that distinct low spot in the middle of the boat? the rails andgle towards the bow and stern from that point creating essentially 4 distinct edges that can be engaged on any one move (onside bow and stern and off side bow and stern). you need a lot of time in the boat and a lot of core stability to get to where you can intentionally control them with the pitch of your boat (not just side to side but front to back).

You are located in Athens right? thats what SE ohio means. I just moved to Amesville after living in Asheville for 9 years. lets talk. I need boating buddies. I am a safe boater. worked as an instructor for a long while.

John

[JimW]

It doesn't matter how solid you are, OCs need a bit of extra time for emptying and are a touch slower than kayaks, so if you are paddling with non-stop kayakers who don't understand OC you are bound to have issues. From the first splash you are playing catch up - paddling harder than you really want to, draining your energy. Arriving last at each rapid after the kayaks have chosen their lines with implied pressure to get on with it rather than spending time looking for your own line (because kayakers know C-boaters can see further so don't need as long to scout....). The whole day out becomes a rush, you feel constant pressure even though nothing has been said, you are paddling hard to keep up and don't have time for reflection and self-analysis.

Yeah, I think sometimes paddling with good kayakers can be a cause of a bad day!

I haven't paddled that much with kayakers to be honest, since I decided to make a real effort to paddle my Ocoee I have mainly paddled it in groups of mainly OC1s (so not that often) except on the local artificial course (every man or woman for himself!).
In the Grand Canyon I was the only canoe with about 10 or 12 kayaks and 6 rafts - I was at the back paddling hard most of the time. I had a Piranha so could just about pace the kayaks at their normal leisurely pace but after many rapids I had to bail/pump/head to shore and they left me almost every time. When I was level with them or even slightly out front I did generally spot my line more quickly than them, but having no roll at all at the time tried not to be first man down too often...
Then I learned about the difference between the way we run rapids. The kayaks pretty much bobbed straight down the middle of the wave trains, in my endeavours to keep dry I was making early aggressive moves to get out of the wave train onto the shoulders - many times that ended up with me charging across a kayak to get where I needed to be as they bobbed aimlessly down the rapid. I've run it twice in kayak before, to be honest unless I was wavewheeling (er, OK that probably accounts for most rapids) I was likely running the shoulders anyway because it's best practise and necessary when it gets harder, but from a kayak I never realised how much other kayakers just don't bother!
Don't get me wrong, the kayaks were good friends or became good friends, and I got a lot of respect from them for paddling the canoe, but 13 days on the river with me, and I don't think any of them ever worked out why I dropped behind so often and ended up paddling somewhere out in the middle between the rafts and kayaks!

OC1's can do a lot of what kayaks can do, but we have to approach it very differently, a solid group of OC1s does seem to take longer on the same river than a group of equally solid kayakers.

[ohioboater]

I used to paddle a detonator. . . understanding the rails, you know that distinct low spot in the middle of the boat? the rails angle towards the bow and stern from that point creating essentially 4 distinct edges

That makes a lot of sense. I'm betting at least some of those sudden veers/bobbles were the result of accidentally engaging an edge. I've almost always paddled soft chined boats, so keeping track of fore/aft and subtle side-to-side tilt is not instinctive.

I do live in Athens - I'll shoot you a PM with my contact info.

[col. mustard]

I've always heard the detonator is a super slow boat. I'd check out some online reviews and see how others have dealt with this issue.

[mahyongg]

The heavy water clearly is the problem. Maybe instead of paddling deuterium oxide, you should look for rivers containing mostly hydrogen oxide, which are usually what is enjoyed most by paddlers.

Good luck!

J.