The Cornwall Recreational Whitewater Club

After a super FUN Seaway Valley Throwdown on Saturday (June 21st) we got the club organized for the annual week of rivers in Quebec city!
With a trailer full of boats and a car loaded of family and friends we were off to Quebec on Sunday morning. The weather for the last couple weeks was rain, rain and more rain so the river levels were sure to please.
Every year CReW invites it’s members to cmoe out with us to Quebec City. Camping is free on the family property and is within 20 minutes of the Jacques Cartier River and Downtown Quebec.
This year our family was joined by Cheryl McGregor and Randy Soutter.
The Jacques Cartier river has something to challenge every level of paddler and as usual it lived up to expectations.
Paddle Day 1 had us paddling the the lower section (Pont-Rouge to Donnacona). The high water level brought out a sweet wave below the “rape a fromage” (cheese grater) and a lot of other nice waves and holes all the way down the river. (3 hour river run). The canyon section of the river is very scenic and worth the trip.
Paddle Day 2 brought us back to thee Jacques Cartier but this time on the “Grand Remous” section. For Sylvie and Cheryl this was their first class 4 run and they stood up to the challenge! Huge fast waves and smaller drops for boofing set the tone for this section. Everyone learned a bit more about scouting and reading rivers.
Sylvie found out that, when it comes to boofing, timing is everything and pitoned a drop. A 7 foot piton in a Punk Rocker does not hurt anything except the nerves and she aced the rest of the run without issues.
Paddle Day 3 took us to Shannon and a really nice little play spot below a class 4/5 section of the Jacues Cartier. Zachary and I ran the river below the first drop (I am getting a bit weak in the knees it seems) and then we all played below. After a 2 hour sesion we were all beat and it was time to head back to camp for a night on the town.
Paddle Day 4 brought us back to the lower section of the Jacques Cartier and this time we were joined by Randy and Emily. This was Emily’s first river run on her own and she did great. Randy came up from Montreal and enjoyed the scenery on the river. This time the water was a lot lower although many features were gone, others came up and everyone had FUN!.

In between rivers we enjoyed evenings together with friends and family.
Zachary anbd Emily practiced in the pool. The stream on the property is full of small trout so that is always fun and Quebec City night life (despite the rain) always comes through. This year Quebec City celebrates 400 years and the streets were full of activities, and life. The “Grand Allee” was closed to traffic and was used by all the pubs as one giant beer tent! How cool is that? That is the evening that we left the kids with the grandparents:)
We even took a day to let the kids be kids. A water park fit the need and we all spent an afternoon playing with kids on the water slides.
Great fun, great rivers, and great friends. That is what CReW is all about!

See you on a river soon!

Robert

The first Hometown Throwdown in the Seaway Valley could not have gone off better!
On Saturday, June 21st, 10 People (many newer paddlers) signed up for the event and, after a short group meeting and explanation of the rules we headed down to the water.
The river has a several options for play (big and small) and so that everyone could play in their comfort zone Sylvie and I asked the competitors where they wanted to play. The answer was a friendly feature called “mini wave” which was well suited for the mostly newer paddlers.
The feature is a gentle wave (great for spins, enders, retendos) followed by a hole (some loop potential and great cartwheels) and a third wave below (spins, ends, wave wheels, rocket moves, etc). If you flushed off one you have the other features to play on.
With enthusiastic cheering from the Judges and a small group of spectators (parents of the paddlers) the paddlers showed our judges what they could do in their kayaks.
We saw many nice spins, a couple clean spins, cartwheels, an almost loop, entry moves, a couple wave wheels, huge smiles, laughter and a whole lot of firsts. Watching a bunch of young kids doing old school paddle twirls, tomahawks showing us their edge control, while maintain a smile was a hoot!

Highlights of the day:
Zachary Hakvoort (11 years old in the Junior Category), got on a wave and surfed for the first time ever!
Adam Hakvoort (16 years old in Mens K1-B) steeping up to compete for the first time and showing us a good surf, a ender and a special mention for the best crash and burn. Getting dragged through shallows upside down is never fun but going through and not getting out of your boat….. well that is determination.
Then we have Emily Zwanenburg (10 years old in Juniors). A nice back deck roll into her first surf and then the smiles It really is all about that. We will watch her down the road.

Matt (17 years old in Mens K1-B), Sean (15 years old in Mens K1-B) and Zachary Z (12 years old in Mens K1-B) pushed each other a bit more each ride and we watched as Matt and Zach pulled ahead with some some attempts at slightly more advanced moves. Matt took a shot at a loop and I am sure he will be nailing them consistently in no time. Zachary pulled of his first multiple end cartwheels and a wave wheel while Sean gave us a nice entry back deck, some spins and the tomahawk [I really do enjoy that:)].

On the women’s side (Womens K1):
Cheryl pulled ahead with lots of great spins and boat control. She even made us laugh by balancing her paddle on the beak of her helmet in a surf.
Tilly (16 years old) and one rally big smile, showed us a nice entry back deck and great surfs. Her sportsmanship was outstanding and worth the mention. She carried Emily’s kayak up the stairs and back to the put in after each ride.
Sylvie, got a break from judging and got to give it a go as well. Smiles and good boat control was the key for her.

Everyone tried something new, learned a bit more and enjoyed the atmosphere of friendly competition.

At the end of the day the scores were as follows:
Men’s K1-B:
Zachary Zwanenburg - 34 points
Matt Orton - 30 points
Sean Hakvoort - 10 points
Adam Hakvoort - 8 points

Women’s K1:
Cheryl MacGregor - 21 points
Tilly Martin - 13 points
Sylvie Lebel - 13 points

Junior:
Emily Zwanenburg - 10 points
Zachary Hakvoort - 7 points

Men’s K1-A:
Robert Zwanenburg - 41 points.

Everyone was really happy with their rides and with the prizes (Smith Optics, Kayak Session, Mountain Khakis as well as CReW, Level 6 and other local business) drawn at the end of the day.

As for myself: I watched a lot of happy kids (big and small) get out and do what they enjoy. What’s more, I got to reward them for their efforts!

We received a lot of comments at the end of the day from paddlers who were hesitant and did not sign up. They enjoyed what they saw and asked when we would hold the next event.
Will we be doing this again? You better believe it. Although the next scheduled event is in September (September 27th), CReW is out in Valleyfield every Friday night and we will be organizing small impromptu competitions throughout the rest of the summer.

Thanks to the folks at World Kayak for helping us make this possible.

See you on the river,

Robert Zwanenburg
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Categories : CReW Paddling, Pool time, Regional Events