Kelly Harbec, Debbie Dargis, and the Chuckstr aka “Club Ammo” arrived at the Whitewater Center around Noon. We walked down to the course and checked in. There we talked with Sarah Harper and Pablo McCandless, back from the Olympics. Sarah gave the club members the “thumbs up”; sorry, no photos. Kelly, Debbie, and I then set out to walk the course, both the Wilderness and the Competition courses. This was Debbie’s first time to the Center and Kelly’s second time. The water temperature was 79, warmer than the air. But there was a considerable breeze which kept you cool when above the water.

On our first run of the course we all caught the eddy above Entrance Exam and had clean runs of the drop. We worked for a short time on ferrying back and forth and then headed down the Instructional Channel. In the current below Meltdown we ferried from left to right and then to the left again. The eddies gave Debbie and Kelly a real taste of Charlotte’s eddies, how to stay loose and how to look for the sweet spot in the eddy. We ran the last drop of the Instructional channel into the Confluence. We caught the river left eddy and talked about what to do next. The consensus of the group was to walk back to Entrance Exam and then run the Freestyle Channel — to run as Kelly called it the “meat and potatoes.”

Meat and Potatoes

We put in at the river left eddy below Entrance Exam, with Chuck demonstrating how roll in the eddy We all entered the main current and ran the first drop to the far right. We headed down to the eddy below the bridge and talked about S- Turn, or Dave’s Dilemma. Kelly’s name for the rapid was “Nantahala Falls,” since it involved a left to right move and avoiding the hole below. Kelly followed me into the bottom right eddy, catching it both high and tight. Debbie ran the meat sideways and stayed upright! In the eddy we waited for another flotilla of rafts to pass, and then headed down to the Confluence.

On the Big Water Channel we threaded our way down to the very last eddy on river left, just above Trashcan. There we talked about ferrying out into the current and running below the boof rock into the large river right eddy. Debbie ran the meat of Trashcan; way to go. Kelly and Chuck angled to the left of the rock - Kelly’s name for Trashcan was “left of rock” - and shot up in the air catching the eddy. We then ferried over to river left and the staging eddy forthe M-wave. Kelly decided to walk down to Biscuits and Gravy, as Chuck and Debbie talked about our intended line for the M-wave - this was Debbie’s first run of the rapid. We both hit the pile on the river left shoulder and slid up the top! Debbie angled to the right and had a sweet line down the rest of the rapid, staying left of Shutdown. I strayed too far left and hit the pylons before Shutdown. As to be expected I was quickly over. I tried one roll above Shutdown, but to no avail. I then tucked hard underneath the boat and could feel the hole as we passed through. I set up for my second attempt and had a sweet sweep!

Kelly joined us in the river right eddy below and we all bombed down Biscuits and Gravy into the Lower Pond. We then headed up the conveyor to the Upper pond and another circuit.

Again and again - Kelly’s first descent of the M-wave

We all headed down to Entrance Exam. There Debbie and Chuck surfed; she had a great roll there. Debbie and Kelly were also working on ferries below the drop. We headed to the right for another run of “Nantahala Falls” and were soon at the Confluence. This time we eddy hopped down the start of the Big Water Channel, all with clean runs of Trashcan. We ferried to river left for the staging eddy for the M-wave. All us had great runs; all of us stayed to the center, avoiding the pylons - way to go Kelly. We eddied out to the left of Shutdown, and then started down to Biscuits and Gravey. This time we worked the rapid catching eddies.

Again and again and again

This time we spent considerable time surfing waves below Entrance Exam - I had several long surfs on the wave. As the raft traffic eased we headed down through S-Turn to the 830 Wave. There Debbie and Kelly ferried back and forth in the current and Chuck tossed his hat in the ring for some shredding; I had one sweet surf. My next surf attempt was abbreviated with a “power flip” and a roll which put me too far downstream, heading down to the Confluence.

From the Confluence we caught the river right eddy at the start of the Big Water Channel, there Debbie and Kelly ferried over to the river left eddy. Again we all had good runs of Trashcan. We spent a good deal of time in the staging eddy waiting for the rafts to clear. I was down first, but Kelly had to wait as more rafts came down Trashcan. Debbie and I had good runs and eddied out at Shutdown to wait for Kelly. After the rafts we saw her come down and then seemingly disappear. Kelly eddied out into the river left M-wave eddy. She was able to peel out and stay upright! M-wave eddies: what a thrill! were ferrying back and forth at the start of the Bigwater Channel. Good runs of Trashcan. From the Staging Eddy I was first, but we were separated by another group of rafts. Debbie put on an eddy clinic through Biscuits and Gravy. I was starting to get tired, so I just bombed on down.

Two more runs

On the next circuit I offered to be the team photographer. Check out their photos:  http://chucks.smugmug.com/gallery/603211… Before I called it quits, I wanted to end with some surfing at Entrance Exam. We all paddled down for some shredding. At the bridge eddy on the Freestyle Channel, I put the boat up and then photographed Debbie and Kelly’s run. I walked back to my boat and rejoined them at the upper poind. I called it a day, but they decided to run the course two more times! On that run Kelly followed Chuck’s line below the M-wave and hit the left pylon– she had a great roll!

After that run, it was after 6PM, they too decided too to call it a day!