Alittle White Water on the Clackamas

Today I met up with chris for alittle white water kayaking on a local oregon favorite. Met this morning at AlderCreek kayak and Canoe, talked about the game plan, and then headed off to meet again at the river. We decided on the Clackamas river. The run was Fish Creek to Bob's hole, class III. The river was running at just over 1000 cfs which is a great level. This was the third time on this section. The first time some of the guys from the shop thought that I might like it at 6000 cfs. I had never paddled on 5-6 foot standing waves. Most of the waves on this particular day were about two feet.

I wanted to write just for a moment on technique and what I am currently working on.

Been focusing on my strokes and probably the most important part is keeping the blade working in some way while on a rapid or in white water. This goes for sea kayaks or small white water boats.

When ever you are paddling it is important to keep the kayak paddle engaged on the water. This does two things. It keeps the boat speed up and gets your body into action. I also try to work off the front of the boat when surfing and only use the rudder just for a moment. If there is to much pressure on the blade when you are ruddering then you are losing alot of momentum.




The negative side to keeping your paddle in the water to long is that it can easily hit rocks under you in shallow areas or get pushed by the current if you are not ready. The bottom-line. An active paddle keeps the light bulb in your head ON!
If you stop paddling when you are gripping on the paddle shaft... then your light is out!

I have also been playing with the idea of using the paddle to push my boat onto a surging piece of water with a small amount of boat edge way from the feature. The water is able to push under the boat and the paddle in the water gives me support.
When applying pressure to the blade I also engage the same side foot and press into the boat for extra power which stabalizes the stroke. This is very helpful when paddling out through surf at the beach or on boils in the river. Basically, I am pushing the bottom of the boat onto what ever feature might be in front of me.



Do you think the legs are important in moving the boat through the water? DO you forget to use them? This could be part of the reason you feel unstable or tired in the shoulders, back, or arms.

Oregon Coast Surfing

I was suppose to meet one of the older guys at the shop around 6:45am. I jokingly told my girl, Kacie, that I should just sleep in and get there whenever. She asked if I was serious and I laughed. Turns out Shawn, my friend, really did over sleep and didn't meet up with me until 7:30. Kinda funny.

We loaded up the Shawn's Wave Ski and my Surf Kayak. Headed onto the road and we were on our way to meet up with Chris. He was to meet up with us around 9:30 or so.
Even after getting on the road late we arrived just ahead of Chris. This gave us a chance to check out the conditions, relax for a moment, and get ready for the 4ft - 7ft day of glassy rides.

Seriously was a perfect day. I was alittle nervous because this was my third day this summer in this surf kayak. It would also be my first day trying out my new wetsuit made by pro motion in hood river oregon. By the way, kick ass suit!

So, getting out along the jeddy was easy. Sat out beyond the breaking waves and just checked out the scene. Got use to the waves coming in.

Took me about an hour to get up the nerve to ride a wave. Normally I dont get this timid, but a 6foot drop into a wave then carving turns is a big rush.

So, I edge my self up to the zone where the waves started to stand up and I could see the drop. I saw the perfect wave that was about 5-6 feet, double over head in a kayak, and I took off down the face. I could feel the spiral of the wave off to my left as I dropped the right edge of the kayak into the water. This sent me carving hard to the right as the wave was breaking behind me. I looked up and started to see the wave breaking so I put the right edge in alittle deeper, held the paddle on the water, and shot off the top of the wave. Feeling the water rushing under me on the wave was incredible. I had a huge smile on my face surfing the wave, carving a turn, and not getting smashed in the foam pile.

My smile continued as I dropped into a few more good sized waves and started to curve up and then back down the wave.



Had many good rides and got tossed a few other times. I am learning. Trying to get the hang of things. I do realize one important thing.

Just getting out on the water is what really matters.

New BCU 3* assessment July 20th

Cape Disappointment BCU 3* Assessment
www.bcuna.com
Asseccor was Karl Anderson
Observed by Dave White

Group:
Shawn A. (myself)
Amanda
Jason Self
Dave Grahm
Bill

Incoming tide at 3nots.
NW wind at 5-15
4ft. NW Swell

To be taken in force and sea state 3
Actual conditions were force and sea state 4


Started out in Parking lot at Wiakiki Beach.
Talked about weather for the day and what we could expect.
Drove to other side to look and launch from north of north jetty. Karl asked that we let him know one by one if we wanted to launch into the surf or not with a thumbs up or down. I gave him the thumbs up with the three foot surf that I saw.

Bill didnt like what he saw and shook his head no. I kinda peeked... oops

We launched from Wiakiki beach and headed to the end of north jetty. There was no surf to start because of the low tide.

When the group neared the tide race that was forming at the end of the jetty Bill started getting very nervous. He started trembling and he looked very unstable. The group went out into the waves and played in the incoming tide and the wind was blowing NW for perfect conditions. Bills body was becoming very stiff as he was paddling and he kept mentioning to me that he was drifting into the waves.
I looked at Bill and told him to look at the rocks at the jetty. We were sitting just inside the jetty where it was very calm with alittle movement from the waves wrapping around. We both noticed that we were not moving and I told him that I would stay with him as they all practiced rescues. He told me that he had never been on the ocean before and at that moment I was wondering why he wanted to get assessed on his kayaking ability in the ocean. We all turned around and headed back. Karl came back with the group and Bill told him that he was done and wanted to go back. He sent me and part of the group back into the waves for one more time, but I didnt get to do anything except watch amanda get rescued by Jason.

Amanda Dumped Jason over twice as she was hanging onto the stern of his boat and getting a contact tow. We headed back to Wiakiki beach and Dave White took Bill back to the Beach.
At that point the Group played around in the cave that was near by and I had a chance to back deep into the opening. It was very awsome in there.

We then demo'd eskimo bow rescues and pulled each other out of the cave. After this the group paddled east to Dead Man Cove for lunch. We entered one at a time and had lunch. Talked about the 50/90 rule for current speed.

We then had capsize drills off the right side of the cove looking out to the ocean. We capsized one at a time off the cliff face. We did a rescue and had a second person set-up a contact tow to pull us out of the area. I never to swim in the drink, nor did I use my tow belt. I really was not all that concerned and I know I wouldnt have a problem doing what ever he needed me to due.
So all went well and we were in conditions well over the set level, but just by alittle. Things were kept causual by Karl and really the level of paddlers there was well over what was required. It was a great group and very rare to have such a cool group to paddle with.

So, we all passed after landing and going over some easy navigation.

Oh, love the NDK Explorer. What a fantastic boat!