Kayak4Ever

In my last post I talked about how one of my
strategies to work through nerves at the put-in is to tell myself I can paddle any section of the river I want, even if it means taking out after the first rapid.
For me, on the Ocoee, this means giving myself permission to paddle [...]

Yesterday was the second weekend in a row I’ve paddled the Ocoee. That makes seven times I’ve paddled it this year. Every time Tim and I go, I’m happy to be headed to the river, but every time we’re about 15 miles from the put in I start feeling anxious.
Then we stop at the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

My brother Jonathan came for a visit this past week.He got in a kayak for the first time and tried his first wet exit.

Jonathan has always loved water sports…surfing, canoeing, and last year he tried ocean paddling on a sit-on-top kayak. He’s never paddled a whitewater kayak, though. For an intro experience, we headed [...]

Today is a gorgeous day in the southeast. A beautiful sunny day that’s not too hot. A perfect day to be on the water. I was supposed to be on the river today. Tim and I packed the car last night for a weekend of kayaking and camping with friends in North Carolina and eastern [...]

The drought in Georgia this spring and summer has caused most natural flow rivers to dry up. The whitewater boaters I know in the Atlanta area are mostly entertaining themselves on dam released rivers like the Ocoee, Cheoah, Nantahala, and Pigeon, and the whitewater park in Charlotte (none of which happen to be in Georgia!). [...]

Tonight I went to the roll practice that Atlanta Whitewater Club (AWC) has every Wednesday night. It’s always a good time to see kayaking friends and play in the water on different skills. Roger coordinates this roll session. He said he thought there were around 15 people there tonight. Got to meet some new people [...]

Yesterday I read about Marjorie in Idaho who started kayaking when she was 52 (15 years ago!). Another woman who inspires me in kayaking is my mom, Mary Ann.
Mom is 64 and she is eager to get on the water after she tried out a 4Fun at an Adventure Summit in Dayton, OH. Now [...]

Check out this post by Rapid Pirate: Marjorie in Idaho
This is what I want for myself. I started kayaking 3 years ago when I was 37. Down the road I want to be the 67 year old woman paddling cool rivers with old and new friends. Move over EJ, Marjorie in Idaho is [...]