What have you learned about your paddling in 2005

[CosmikDebris]

Chuck, here's a list, that's the easiest way to go about it I 'spose:
Lime Creek, Co - Got stuck in the hole at the bottom of the last drop, rasorback or something. 2 other people were already surfing this steep pourover when I dropped in. We all swam. Learned not to run vertical drops with bad holes blind on bad beta...
North Fork of the French Broad - Ran blind date and dropped in the hole and got scared. Basically a 10' boof into a V with a pretty bad hole. I was more worried about my friend who was right behind me... Learned to nail my boof...
Toxaway - Ran the first big rapid, Punji Stick. Got backendered and ejected out of the back. Learned to build up my backsupport a lot more and the toxaway is scarey at high water.
North Fork French Broad - Again at Boxcar, but this time on the main line. High water, dropped in with no boof in the cascade and got cartwheeled. Swam and surfed out of my boat for a long time, really deep. It was the scariest swim I've had probably besides Lime Creek. Didn't learn much, mostly just got the large steaming pile of dog doo scared out of me.
West Fork of the Pigeon - Went over a little 4' ledge with no stroke and got surfed. Decided to pull rather than endure a beatdown. Definatly the lamest of them all, haha.
Hopefully my streak will come to an end soon...

[Mike W.]

Spend the extra $$ & get the gore-tex socks sewn into your next dry-suit My old suit had ankle gaskets. I've never been this comfortable paddling in the winter.
Give someone a boat. It makes both the recipient & your wife REAL happy It was a very old, very ugly, very battered wildwater C-1.
Acetone eats vinyl gloves
Peel-ply is AWESOME
Hang on to your paddle. Things just may calm down a bit and you can roll.
Help a newbie.
Cheer for your buddies & folks you don't know.
Little-bitty squirt boats are big fun Doggone tough to paddle, but still big fun
Have somewhere to stash a foamie in your boat. Everyone was smiling while watching my foamie yesterday
It was great to paddle with Davey Hearn (& the rest of the armada gang), Little falls was fun, but I'm NEVER driving in Washington DC again I still get the willies just thinking about that.

[chuck naill]

Hey Will,

THanks for taking the time to share that info with us. I learn something from hearing about your experiances. I had three swims in bigger water and they were all the results of getting into holes that I couldn't get out of otherwise.

The scariest swim was getting into the top hole at Lost Guide on the Pigeon at around 7.5 feet in July. For some reason at that level that hole is deeper than normal. It was like being in a deep well. I could just see the sky. I was able to surf for a while maybe 5 seconds and then I got window shaded. I knew it was time to kick out and swim deep.

That's a good point about having a high back brace, I have been sucked out a time or two myself.

Take care of yourself this Winter.

Chuck

[sbroam]

1. Armadas are a blast - but I knew that before...
2. I still have a lot to learn - it really didn't take Davey Hearn and a swim on the Potomac to tell me that. I'd do the clinic again, but would rather skip the swim
3. DC traffic stinks
4. I'm not paddling enough - one can fall out of the habit. If you go on a regular basis, even only one day a week, keep doing it - don't start skipping it even if the water is low or you don't quite feel like it. If you've got family and all the attendant demands on your time, other stuff will fill up that paddling time slot. And it is hard to get it back... Don't feel selfish about maintaining your paddling time - by maintaining your mental health you are doing everyone a favor! Now to get back on the wagon...

[Jim Michaud]

I'm finally learning how to paddle. Tom Foster is coming out with a new solo canoe instructional CD and he asked me to review an advanced copy. After viewing the whole thing then watching certain sections a dozen times I went out on rivers and tried them. Wow, who said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Jim

[Joey]

i learned several important things while paddling in norway this summer
1- norway is in fact on giant undercut..... with logs stuffed in it.
2-you can drink the water out of the rivers
3- i perfer to carry boats on my right shoulder as opposed to my left.
4- the meat is your friend.
5- the skjak is my new favorite play spot.
6- a huka converted to c-1 will NOT turn.
7- the big drop is around a blind corner with no eddy.

----joey

[Jan_dettmer]

...I learned that
- higher water in a boxed in canyon can change everything and make the easy drops scary.

- racing on creeks is a lot of fun

- I learned to love powerful water where you dodge mammoth holes all the way down

- its hard to do a handroll once I'm out of breath

Cheers, Jan

[keez]

I've taken a Bob Foote course each summer for the past 3 years. It improves your paddling exponentially. I paddle mainly with yakers, and am now able to get on and surf some waves they can't. Every time I think about buying a new/smaller boat to improve performance, Bob has provided some correction to my technique that would make me buy my Nitro all over again.
Let's face it, paddling a canoe is pretty easy, doing it right is almost impossible.
This is not an endorsement for Bob, only for the value of getting quality instruction.
Geoff

[CosmikDebris]

Joey,
how was norway, we want more! Did you meet anyone named Martin or Marius over there?
will

[Sandie_]

I learned to face the truth.
that after five years of trying,
I am never going figure out how to roll a canoe.

Sandie

[msims]

1. Melting ABS with Acetone and then applying it on a yellow Nitro Hull makes great racing stripes! It's ugly but it certainly prolongs the life of the boat

2. Jackson Super Fun Optimal river-running weight is 220 lbs. Apparently, Optimal squirt boating weight is 250 lbs...

3. [Jeff] - Changing your boat from an OC1 barge to a c1/shorter boat can make C2's seem intimidating again!

4. Outfitting C1 to feel 'safe' is not the correct approach. Outfitting to feel 'tight' or 'connected' is...

[chuck naill]

Sandy,

I believe that you should be able to learn how to roll. Consistantly execution might be another story. If it's the mechanics that got you puzzeled, try laying on your bed with a broom stick. I had to get it into my head before I could expect to execute the manuever in the water. The open roll was more deliberate for me and it required being pretty tight in the boat. At the time I was using a Perception canoe pedistal and also some 2" thigh straps with toe blocks. I can understand that with an open boat there might be more important functions other than the hip snap, but I can't think of one right now. It's just like playing any other sport. It is more efficient to use the big muscles rather the little ones. Your hips and legs are bigger than your arms.

When I started paddling in the mid 80's I paddled open boats. I got to the place where I could roll. I remember roilling up one time and noticing that I was still full of water. While this has its benefits, it does not completely solve the problem.

I don't know who gave me the idea, but what worked well for me was being able to get back into the canoe by jumping in by cocking one side down into the water and then kicking hard to propel myself into the canoe.
I finally got tired on dumping out, because it was cold and it tired my back out, so I converted to a c-1. If you can gain access to a c-1 and you also can use a pool this Winter, consider practicing your mechanics in a c-1 since they are easier to roll.


Chuck

[Bruce Farrenkopf]

Things I learned:
1) The Fink needs thigh straps.
2) The Fink can be easily rolled by slightly changing my technique
3) It is a far, far better thing to buy a boat designed to be a C1. Converting the wrong kayak (that's most of them) will doom your performance to mediocrity.
4) The Fink is not a perfect C1
5) Yemen is a mostly mountainous country.
SYOTR,
Bruce

[Joey]

norway was amazing!!! i kept a blog about the trip at singlebladefury.blogspot.com. i went there hoping to run alot of really awsome rivers and creeks. as it turned out, i ran a few rivers, and hardly any creeks. some friends and i went to run a couple of rivers in uncharted lands. after about 10 minutes of being a on the water, in my brand new huka, i was clinging to a sieve at the top of one of the ugliest rapids i have ever seen. i walked off the river, sold my huka and playboated the rest of the trip. in all i prolly ran about 15 new rivers over the summer. most of them were in the 3-4 range. i looked at a lot of big drops and walked most of them. alpine class 5 with sieves and holes everywhere is not my cup of tea. especially in a boat that doesnt turn.

the company i worked for has their base infront of the infamouse skjak wave. it is where the 2000 european championships were held. skjak is about 1 hour from sjoa if you know where that is. the wave is incredibal. thats where a lot of the pictures in the blog are from. i learned a lot playing on a big feature. aireal moves really arent that hard when you have something big to play on!!!

norway is beautiful! i cant wait to go back in may for another 3 months! i think this time i will bring my own creek boat, that i know paddles well. dont ever paddle a huka! --- joey

[squeakyknee]

[quote="Joey"
dont ever paddle a huka! --- joey[/quote]
Aren't they better for smoking out of anyway?

-I learned that a dry suit trumps a wet suit anyday-
-the smallest hole can be amazingly violent--
-wind sucks when it ain't blowin your way-
-Bilge pumps only work if your batteries are charged--
-Always,and I mean ALWAYS bring a back up paddle,(or at least stick some freakin hand paddles in there somewhere)
-Mike w.'s Foamy wavewheels better than mine...-
Happy Paddlin to all of you in the new year,
Shawn