The Cornwall Recreational Whitewater Club

Hey,
Saturday, May 3rd turned out to be an awesome day in Ottawa.
The forecasted rain stayed away and although it was windy and cool several CReW members got together at the Champlain Bridge in Ottawa for an afternoon of Surfing, Spinning, and a lot of fun!

Tilly, Zachary, Sean, Cheryl and Emily joined Sylvie and I on the water.

Everyone got an hour before lunch to get warmed up and get it together. We saw lots of good rides and everyone was getting on the wave and spinning, clean spinning and even some roundhouses.

After a short lunch it was time for our CReW mini-rodeo and time for our members to show me their best 3 rides! They all go out with big smiles and despite the pressure of people watching and someone counting (It really is not so easy to get it all together in 45 seconds) everyone did well.
I as proud of each of them as they tried new things, stepped up to new challenges and smiled all the way through.

1st- Zachary: 20 points (The boy is way to serious and we will be working on his smiles!)
2nd- Chery: 15 points (great smile during and after her rides)
3rd- Tilly: 10 points (big wide smiles on and off the water)
4th- Sean: 5 points (too excited to smile)
Emily placed fifth (that is right, little Emily got on the wave and into the hole!!!! She smiled before and a while after. While on the feature she was way focusing on the task. My heart was pounding….)
Sylvie followed up at the back of the pack but blew everyone away in the smiles department all day long!

The top 4 places got to choose from some gifts that we brought along. Lots of cool stickers and a Jackson Kayak Toque) To quote Cheryl (she got the toque): “Sweet!”
Emily got a huge hug from me and her mom (we are so proud) and was rewarded by the cheers form the people watching on shore and she got a cool sticker for her boat for her efforts!

Everyone had a lot of fun and everyone learned something new or improved a skill (surfing, spins, clean spins, roundhouses, blunts and even an entry move).

As for me, I enjoyed watching kids be kids on the water, helping them improve when and where I could and yeah, getting out and playing in my boat too!

This is a great group that I enjoy paddling with. Thanks to all for coming out to play.

We will definitely be doing it again soon.

Robert Zwanenburg
www.conrwallwhitewater.com
www.worldkayak.com/seawayvalley