USNWC, Sunday, February 10th.

The sky was clear and the temperatures edged into the low 60’s. The water was still cold; its temperature the day before was a mere 45 degrees. Through the course of the day on Sunday the water temperature must have crossed the 50 degree threshold. Janet and I met Tim Martin and our plan was to run a circuit or two on the course as we waited for Wayner. The two of us would then take our Speeders down some part of the left channel.

So much for plans. As I unloaded my gear, I realized that I didn’t have a helmet. Sigh. Between Tim, Janet and I there was no extra; so Janet set off to scrounge up for me a raft helmet. She did even better than that, she ran into Sarah Harper who lent me one of her helmets. Thanks Sarah and Janet! As I was working on fitting the helmet, Janet and Tim put on to head down to Biscuits and Gravy. All six pumps were running, and they were clean. Everyone commented on just how pushy the water felt; it also meant that Biscuits and Gravy was back in classic form. I had the helmet on, but was starting to overheat with the hood on. So I walked back to the car to lose the hood and there was Wayner!

Big boating’ fun

Soon we put on a the upper pond, he was in his Burn and I in the Everest. We headed down through Entrance and Wayner commenced surfing on the waves below. The water was cold enough that I wasn’t going to surf, but I did paddle up to the Entrance drop and threw myself in for a major league pop-up. We caught eddies down through S-Turn to the 830 Wave. There Wayner put on a spin clinic in the big boat. We caught some eddies above Trashcan. For me I was thinking about catching the river right eddy below the ramp; but I decided to take the Everest right down the middle. The big boat just glided through the hole! From there we caught the staging eddy above the M-Wave. Again, I was amazed as to how the Everest glided over and through the big water. I passed Wayner, who was catching eddies above Shutdown.

We passed on playing in the hole, but turned our attention to eddy hopping down through Biscuits and Gravy (I had a chance for a solid combat roll too). Below we met up with Janet and Tim and several other boaters. Janet had some great spins; as did Wayner. Tim got in some surfs! Soon we were paddling through the lower pond to the conveyor belt. Wayner then turned to me and said, “Ready to run the Competition Channel?” I didn’t answer, yes or no; Janet said the expression that I had on my face was one of apprehension. As I rode up the conveyor, I said to myself “yes, It’s showtime!” This would be Tim’s first run down the entire right channel too.

Class 4 Fun - “Return of the Chuckenstein”

Wayner gathered us together in the river right eddy above the start of the right channel. Our plan was to bomb down to the Kodak wave, catch the large eddy on river right and then talk about the second half. Wayner peeled out and I followed. Behind me was Janet, followed by Tim. We ran the first drop far river right, down a narrow tongue which then set us up for the first big rapid on the Comp. course, Zoom Flume. Wayner blasted through the Zoom Flume and I in his tow. We then angled to the right, paddling through some chunky big water. Then we set up for the drop into the pool. We all had clean runs!

In the eddy Wayner talked us through the second half, how to negotiate the turn to the left, and where to set up for the rapid aptly named, Big Drop. Our line was to ferry over to river left and then run the first two waves/holes to the left. I did more of a peel-out so I busted through the Kodak wave and the hole below Wayner had eddied out, so I was now in the lead. I felt confident about threading through the big and chaotic water down to the turn. I was on the right side of the channel and I was able to make the turn, well to the right of a grabby reactionary wave. Wow! Now for the Big Drop. I was setting up for the rapid and went for either a draw or a rudder, which was not a good plan in water this crazy. I flipped at the top of the drop and rode the entire rapid upside down. I can say two things about Big Drop: it is shallow; and you can’t believe how fast the current is! It seemed like it was a half an hour, but soon I was down the drop and through the hole. I set up to roll but didn’t. I punched out but hung onto the boat as a “Sit on Top” for the last drop. Tim had a sweet run through the Big Drop! Way to go! Thanks to all for their help in getting me and my gear into an eddy. As I came out of the water, my left hand was mostly covered in blood. My knuckles and the helmet (sorry, Sarah) took a serious beating from the Big Drop as I was tucked under the boat. Tim was impressed, as was Wayner! They dubbed me and my bloody paw the “Chuckenstein.”

Speeders at Charlotte

Janet and Tim headed back down the course for some surfing fun at B & G. Wayner and I got our Speeders and quickly headed down to Entrance for some fun in the really big boats. I was apprehensive, but had a clean run of Entrance. My only difficulty down the rest of the top half of the course, is that I kept catching eddies, which can be a real adventure in a Speeder. I had a clean run on the new drop at the start of the Freestyle Section and then clean run of S-Turn. Again I caught the river right eddy, and took some work getting out of it. I then angled into the eddy below the 830 wave and had to back the boat up to get into current, yikes! From there I ran the last drop well and met Wayner in the Confluence. He pressed downstream to run the Big Water, and ran walked back to the upper pond for another round. There we talked about the importance of not catching eddies.

This time I was able to run Entrance, and the wave below, with a straight shot. I was much farther left than I wanted to be, so I ran the first drop and sank into the hole. I flipped, but had a sweet sweep roll– my first combat roll in the big boat. From there I shot through S-Turn but was too far left. I flipped, but did not roll. I was tired and opted for the swim. In the confluence I walked my boat over to the eddy; Wayner snagged the paddle, Thanks! It was a great day at the Center, in both big boats!