I can hardly believe it…I’m going to try wildwater racing!
USAWildwater is bringing a training camp to Atlanta January 26-27 and I’m going to be there…on the river…in a WAVEHOPPER!!!
The first time I saw a wavehopper was two years ago at the Lower Yough in Pennsylvania watching the upstream race that was part of the Falls Race weekend. I stood on a big flat rock in the middle of Entrance rapid and watched these crazy paddlers in crazy looking long boats race down the rapid and then turn around and keep racing back to the put in. I was awestruck. Now every time I see someone out practicing in a wavehopper I think it’s just about the neatest thing I’ve seen on the river.
The clinic is less than a month away. I’ll be sure to post a follow-up.
Starting the New Year Right
Where did the fall of 2007 go? Somewhere amid work, family, and - yes, actually getting to paddle - I got out of the habit of blogging. I miss it. So I’ll jump in here to note how happy I was to get to get to paddle with my husband today. Just the two of us on a chilly, windy day. It was a great way to start 2008. Tomorrow is back to work and looking forward to next opportunity to be on a river together. Happy New Year!
Meeting WorldKayak people offline (on the river!)
Tim and I went to the Nantahala River yesterday to meet a bunch of boating friends from Ohio. At the end of the day we were in the NOC parking lot getting ready to head home. That’s when I noticed the car in this picture. I thought, I’ve seen that car somewhere before…hmm…maybe somewhere online. Then I remembered reading about it on a WorldKayak blog.
I walked over and asked, “Hey, are you the Jackson Action Wagon that I saw on WorldKayak.com?” A very nice guy paused in strapping his boat to the car and answered, Yes, it was the action wagon. I said something, like: Cool, I’m Kayak4Ever. Then we both smiled, said “Nice to meet you - yeah, you too” and each went on our way. At the time, it seemed fine to exchange greetings through our kayaking blog identities. Later, I felt a teeny bit silly because I didn’t ask the fella his name and I didn’t even introduce myself with my real name.
No worries, though. When I checked my e-mail today, I saw a comment on my blog from someone named Wes. The note greeted me as Jennifer. Wes said it was nice to meet me at NOC yesterday. Right back at ya, Wes 
I hope this was the first of many more times I’ll get to meet WorldKayak people in real life on or around the river!
Flood of New Kayakers Coming?
Yesterday’s New York Times had a feature about whitewater kayaking. One of the paper’s reporters, Harry Hurt III, traveled to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) in western North Carolina to take a two-day lesson on the Chattooga and Nantahala rivers. Read the article and see a fun 7-min. video that shows the reporter’s trip over Nantahala Falls!
The article tells a good story about what’s involved in safely starting any kind of kayaking (take a lesson!). It also shows that even though the sport does have a thrill-seeking element, it doesn’t have to be totally scary. I wonder if this kind of coverage might entice more people toward kayaking!
The photo above shows NY Times reporter Harry Hurt III (right) taking class from NOC instructor Jon Clark at NOC. The picture was taken by Steve Dixon for The New York Times.
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Welcome to Kayak4Ever
Where the coolest boaters are over 40 (or will be some day). My goal is to paddle forever as a way to see new places, meet interesting people, and have great experiences on and off the water.
Jennifer
