Saturday, January 26th - Roswell Boathouse

More than 20 paddlers braved the cold weather and the forecast which was even more dire. We came from Alabama , North Carolina , South Carolina and Georgia, some as far away as Pennsylvania. Thankfully, it neither snowed nor sleeted. The clinic started near the Roswell Boathouse on the Chattahoochee at 10AM—the temperature was 36. Our instructors were Chis Hipgrave and John Pinyerd; the clinic was sponsored by the USACK. I was one of four novices, the skill levels ranged from Chuck to Tierney O’Sullivan – reigning US women’s National Champion. She was impressive to watch!

We brought our boats down from the cars and Chris inspected our outfitting. I was the only one there with a Speeder, but Chris assured me that it was an excellent boat for learning to race (better than a Wave Hopper). The dramatic difference between standard whitewater kayaking and wildwater is not only in the length and width of the boat, they are long and narrow (and very unstable). It is in the outfitting. Chris explained we need to be loose in the boat – so that we pivot in the seat and so we can more readily set the boat on its wing (that is the flair behind the seat).

After the outfitting session we broke into three groups. Chris took the most experienced, including Tierney and Casey Jones (good to see you Casey!) and John the most inexperienced, including me. In our group we worked on strokes and turning. After some practice, we paddled past the dock and were filmed approaching and departing. After our filming we broke for lunch which we took at Starbucks! (I like this group).

Sprints in the afternoon

After lunch we reviewed our video, it is impressive watching the technique of the really good paddlers. All the groups then set off to work on sprints, two groups paddled down to the dam, our group, led by John paddled upstream. From the dock to well above Ga. 400 we paddled as hard as we could in a series of four sprints / short races. They ranged in length from five to eleven minutes. Like a race, our starts were staggered; we were seeded by our performance in the previous sprint. I was winded during and after each one. During the fourth sprint, I headed to beach to await the group coming down. I joined in on the fun for two downstream sprints. On the last sprint I could tell that it wasn’t just me who was tired; no one was passed on the last sprint! Thankfully, that was it for the day. For the last mile we worked on good form. It was a great experience, but it was also the most physically demanding paddling I have ever done.

We all gathered together for dinner and video at John and Lynn Pinyerd’s house. Before we sat down for dinner we were in John’s “paddling room” where we watched videos of several World Championships–it was impressive to watch the races on Class 3/4 whitewater. One by one we had a review session with Chris Hipgrave who critiqued our paddling from the morning. Chris had a program which broke our video down from various angles. Each of us came away with a set of pointers. Thanks John and Chris!

Sunday, January 27th

The second day of the camp started at 9AM at the Power’s Ferry put in. It was near 40, but the temperatures soon hit the mid-50’s. After a brief warmup we headed down to the first drop of the Devil’s Racecourse. This was our first chance to turn the boat in a real rapid! The line that John showed us involved entering the rapid on far river right, and then turning sharply to the left for the drop. We all had clean runs! After some flat water we were soon at the top of the second section of the rapid. Here we drove our boats down through the waves. We eddied out to the left and then started to attain back up. I was able to attain about three-quarters of the way up, but was turned down twice at a ledge near the top. Casey told me this was the most difficult part of the rapid to attain. On my third attempt I set up as close as the eddyline and as far downstream as I could without leaving the eddy. I took three or four strokes in the eddy, leaned the right wing in the water to angle the left, and I drove up the ledge! Thanks, Casey! My only dilemma is that I went for an eddy on river right, which had a rejection rock. I was soon in the current with no speed and sliding back down the rapid. Next time I will get it! I eddied out on river left, giving me a chance to set up as the team photographer. Check out some photos at: http://chucks.smugmug.com/gallery/4246637

Most of our group made it to the top, where they then set up for sprints down the middle section of the rapid. Check out photos of Tierney, Casey, Rob, and others. As this group continued to sprint, John Pinyard and David Jones took the novices downstream to work on turning the boat. David took us through a zig-zag drill on the flat water were we started gaining some proficiency in turning these 4.5 meter long boats. David, John, and Kevin from our group all attained back to Power’s Ferry; Jennifer, Jonathan and I paddled down through Thornton Shoals and Long Island Shoals to the boat ramp at Paces Ferry. There Tom O’Sullivan, Tierney’s dad, kindly ran shuttle for us.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!

After lunch it was race time. John Pinyerd and Chris Hipgrave organized a sprint race for the entire length of the Devil’s Racecourse. Our start was the “big rock” above the first drop and we would finish at the island below end of the rapid. Out of a field of sixteen, I was seeded second (the fastest racer would be seeded sixteenth). Please keep in mind that our field included at least two National Champions for Wildwater

We geared up and headed back down to the river. One by one we arrived at the big rock, where John reminded us of the race order. We would start one minute after the previous racer. The first racer headed down and I moved into the start position (I was nervous). Casey Jones asked me if I was good to go, and I answered back yes. Then he said “take off those nose plugs.” No wonder I had trouble breathing during the sprints on Saturday! Thanks Casey! Soon John was counting down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go! I paddled hard into the first turn. It wasn’t the cleanest turn, so I had to rely on some draws, but I made it down the ledge. In the pool below there was a chance to build some speed. Soon I had to turn left and then right to set up for the main section of the Devil’s Racecourse. It was Class 2 whitewater, but in the Speeder it seemed like the Upper Gauley I blasted through the waves and boils down to the next flat section. From there I had to turn to the left and then right again to set up for the last section. I negotiated several rocks on the last section as I headed downstream. At the bottom I turned to the right and paddled hard for the finish line! I finished 9th out of 10th with a time of 5:34! Subtract about two minutes for the winning time! Congratulations to J.P., Rob, Casey, and John who all finished in the top five (if Tierney had raced, she would have been there too).

Casey Jones racing

At the island, Chris read off our official times. Most of the group attained back up stream. Jennifer, Kevin and I paddled down to Paces Ferry. At Power’s Ferry we gathered up our gear, exchanged email addresses and phone numbers, and headed out. I learned a lot, had fun, and slept twelve hours Sunday night!

On last Sunday Charlie Zapf and I attained on the Metro Chattahooche from Whitewater Creek park to just below Devil’s Racecourse. The skies were mostly blue, the temperaures were in the mid-60’s and the water was cold - Nantahala cold! The release was low, just over 900 cfs. We put in near the mouth of the creek and paddled upstream through the first set ledges of Long Island Shoals. This was Charlies’ first time working on a attainments and he styled paddling upstream through the ledges. From here we worked on the river left side through the “lake” created by Long Island Shoals.

“Its fun to paddle upstream”

Soon we reached the bottom of Thornton Shoals on far river left. Charlie did a great job of zig-zagging his way upstream on far river left. Check pictures of him attaining: http://chucks.smugmug.com/gallery/4123342. I went for some of the big water ferries in the main channel, as I worked up three or four ledges. Soon Charlie and I met at the base of the river left island where we took a short break. From there we ferried to far river right to work up the next set of ledges. From river right we worked back to the left, just below the top of the rapid. Charlie was acting as the team photograher, chronicling my attainments (thanks Charlie!). We then paddled hard up the last ledge to the very top. In the flat water we paddle upstream to the rocky beach near the bottom of Devil’s Racecourse.

As we started to head downstream we were passed by a small group of whitewater boaters. I couldn’t resist the urge to pass them Charlie and I worked down Thronton Shoals catching eddies. Peel-outs are still dramatic for me in the Speeder (14′ 7″ long)–it is like an aircraft carrier turning :-)  At the bottom of the rapid, I asked Charlie if I could race a second group of whitewater boats; I did catch them and pass them! Soon we were at Whitewater Creek and the end of a good paddle and workout.