H2O PLAY IN CHARLOTTE

So after a great day on the river with James and an evening visit to the hospital along with finding the Beer Store, yes the government run place to buy beer is simple called “The Beer Store” another one of those cool Canadian simplistic things, no BS gotta love it it was time to paddle.  With a little boater candy and some duct tape Tink decided to join us and we meet up with Tino Specht from Team Bliss-Stick to take on the Main channel again.   Tino showed us corner wave and spent a bunch of time working with us Garb newbies, making sure we all caught a ride or two, even if we screamed at him a little when he helped to “drop” us off of Mody Dick into the wave…right Angela?  The run was great with only one minor but entertaining event when I got tossed and I mean tossed in the Normand’s.  I landed a good 2 feet up the rock wall and bounced back into the rapid, upright the whole time…I have no idea how, man what a ride.

Wednesday morning we touched up with James again and planned an evening middle channel run.  We were lazy for awhile but the call of Babyface was too loud and we decided to go park and play some and surf till we couldn’t surf no more.  We meet up with James and some of his buds for an evening middle run and honestly this was a highlight of the trip.  The middle at this level (-3) is pretty tame and just plain fun.  A couple of “shallow” playspots by Ottawa standards which made us feel right at home being SouthEast boaters.  We didn’t see another soul on the river the entire run, the beauty of the river was at its peak and really a great run.  The Ottawa is a great river, you really feel like you are away from everything once you get out there, its great.  We headed back to Wilderness Tours after running hells half-mile (Thanks James) and Samantha worked her magic since we missed dinner do to a little car problem (okay paddling too) and scored us a steak dinner, didn’t hurt the kitchen manager is a boater I suppose.

Thursday we took it easy and headed into Ottawa to Level 6 to checkout there place and score some sweet deals.  Once again, you can’t spend a day near the Ottawa and not want to boat, so we hit up Pushbutton for an evening play session.  Turned out to be perfect timing as the line-up was short.  Pushbutton was a nice fast steep wave, hard to stick moves but awesome to just front surf and carve away.

Friday was our last river day and we ended the trip the way we started running the main one last time.  We played at Black’s for awhile, getting a couple loops and thrashings.

All I can say is if you have not been to the Ottawa yet you need to go and we will be back.  It was a great trip with good friends and good times and of course all the random things that happen.  It was great to meet up with James and Tino, thanks again.  The Paddling community on then Ottawa is great, everybody was really cool and helpful on the river, like I said we’ll be back for sure.

So this is the second time that Samantha and me have made it to the Ottawa, this time with the crew!! and no instruction just paddling.  The trip started out driving and more driving. We finally made it to Pulaski, NY between Syracuse and Watertown and crashed.  This was part of the plan and we were gonna hit up the Salmon River since it was releasing.  We stayed right on the river at Yankee Fly & Tackle Shop (http://www.fishthesalmonriver.com/).  They have apartments that you can rent by the night and the owner, Dawn who had us all cracking up is very boater friendly, “if you stay the night you can fish her hole!” don’t ask.  Anyway Dawn told us about the Firemen’s Days Carnival going on in town a couple blocks away.  This turned out to be a great source of entertainment and cheap beer a bad 80’s cover band only gets better the more you drink and nothing beats a really bad cover of Walk Like an Egyptian after going through 20+ beer coupons, great way to start off the trip.  The Salmon released at 750 cfs, a fun level, on the low side, but being SE boaters we’re used to bumping and grinding while playing.  There were 2 really good spots, one a nice fast wave just past the Yankee Fly & Tackle Shop and then Black’s Hole (I think) towards the end of the run.

We hit the road and got to Ottawa Sunday night.  We camped out at Wilderness Tours for the week, highly recommend the Paddlers Overnight deal they offer, makes life really easy so you can focus on boating and throwing down and fun.  I got in touch with James McBeath the WorldKayak mastermind and Ottawa local as he was gonna meet us for our first run on Monday.  Monday was a Main day.  James got us all through McCoys with only one minor swim/self rescue/no crying event (great job Samantha!!).  Babyface was in and kicking, offering up some great rides and big water surfing, exactly what we came to the Ottawa for.  After some surfing it was time to head to the Lorne and Garberator.  James (yes you are the man) scouted the rapid with Samantha and helped her rock the line, catching the eddy at Moby Dick.  Then it was Garb time.  The level was -2.5ish making getting onto Garb a bit of a challenge.  We got a couple of quickie rides but it was tough.  Being new to big swirly water Tink had some trouble rolling up behind Garb and decided it was time for a little fish counting time.  Thanks to Stephen Wright for grabbing his boat.  Unfortunately Tink ended up finding some rocks on the Ottawa (what’s up with that the Ottawa is suppose to be rock free??) that resulted in a visit to the hospital in Renfrew and 3 stitches on his knee.  Samantha decided to stay with Tink at the lunchspot and the rest of us lead by James boogied through Butchers Knife, the Normand’s and Coliseum without issue.  On a side note the Normand’s is a sick exploding wavetrain at this level, not hard but freaking fun as anything, crazy fast and unpredictable, right Ryan? Who got lunched into the wall by one such exploding wave on Monday, relax I got to fly also on Tuesday, but that will be in part II.

We had our first Thursday night Slalom Survivor event and all I can say is it was a carnage fest with everybody having a great time.  We did a couple races last year and decided to move the SS races to Thursday nights which turned out great as we had 27 people come out to race.  We have tweaked the event or as we like to say it is Slalom Survivor USNWC style head-to-head.  We had 7 heats of races with one championship heat with all 7 heat winners hitting the course at once.  Each heat put on a show as skirts we’re pulled, inflatable flamingoes and parrots were ripped apart and racers had to finish swimming head-to-head.  We had a ladies only heat and a hand paddler heat also.  The big winner for the night was Trevor with Edgar coming in second.  Those two get an advantage for the next race on Thursday Night July 22 as they will be designing the course.  After the races we all kicked back and had some laughs and handed out some great prizes from all of sponsors who help to kick up the fun level yet another notch, THANKS.  See you at the next Slalom Survivor USNWC style.  Sorry for the lack of pics, we were having too much fun and forgot….next time.

Tags: charlotte, kayaking

So the first throwdwon for the year is done and on the wave.  It was crazy and chaotic but nothing everyone isn’t used to.  Go here for details:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2010/05/18/charlotte-throwdown-1-results-gotta-airscrew-to-win/

Thanks to our great sponsors no one left empty handed.  Looking forward to the first slalom survivor and next throwdown the end of June.

So we have four new local sponsors this and two returning sponsors for the Charlotte Throwdowns.  This year Little River Roasting, Rapid-Straps, h2o Dreams and New Star Marketing will be throwing down with us.

Little River Roasting is a small family owned and operated coffee roasting company, located in Spartanburg, SC.  They roast coffee each day to ensure the freshest flavor.  They currently have signature blends for American Whitewater and Trout Unlimited. For each pound of these coffees that they sell, $1.00 is donated back to the organization. Both of these organizations are doing a tremendous amount of work to improve our environment.  Rapid-Straps was started by a local boater how also pretends to be an engineer during the week (okay its me).  Rapid-Straps have taken the old cam buckle strap that always caused your boat to warp when you tie it down too tight on your racks and well eliminated the problem all together.  We will be giving away coffee and straps at the throwdowns and slalom races this year.  The week before the June, July and August Throwdowns h2o Dreams and the USNWC will be hosting freestyle clincs at the center to get you ready.  New Star Marketing Support Services is helping us out with all of our banners and other print needs, look them up if you need any kind of marketing or distribution assitance.

WakaWai is returning this year, bringing boats to demo and of course all kinds of goodies from there on-line offerings like noseplugs, skirts and STICKERS!!!

The USNWC is once again stepping up, besides hosting the events at the center they will be donating kayaking day passes and even some all-sports passes for the kids.

So checkout the local sponsors websites, look to the right for links and of course all of our great national sponsors as well.  Its gonna be a great year so come throwdown.

So we hit up the Tellico this past weekend.  This was one of those rivers I have been wanting to run, for the simply reason that it looked like a ton of fun and real great scenery.  It would be a first “creeking” run for Samantha too which was well an experience, being a little concerned about heights, made it an interesting run for her.  Our good friend Heddie joined us, I love being the only boy on a trip.  Anyway here are a few photos and I highly recommend making the drive to check out this run.

Heddie getting some down time!!

We will be hosting events at the USNWC again this summer. Same general format but with some new twists and sponsors. This year the Throwdowns will be on Saturdays and the Slalom Survivor Head-toHead races will be on Thursday nights as part of the River Jams checkout the Events Board for details. Our sponsors are IR, Smith Optics, Kokatat, Jackson Kayak, Shred Ready, Mountain Khakis and Rapid Transit. We are still working on some more local sponsors so let us know if you know someone who would like to be a part of the events, and of course we always need volunteers to help herd the cats and make the events run fun. The August event is gonna be huge so clear your calendars, more to come on that……….

Here are the dates and times for everything this summer. The Throwdowns will be on different features at the USNWC and the races will be well wherever we set’em up………

Throwdwns at 2pm

Sat 5/15

Sat 6/26

Sat 7/24

Sat 8/28

Sat 10/2 USNWC WW Fest

Slalom Survivor Head-to-Head Races 7pm

Thur 6/24

Thur 7/22

Thur 8/26

Good Lines

Samantha and Jason

So I have been shaking off the winter dust in the last couple of week. As a above 50 degree paddler, I didn’t do a ton of paddling this winter. I have been working on building up my paddling and I accomplished two great milestones in my road to getting my mojo back. I am finding that the calmer I stay the better I feel.

Last weekend I got to make my pfd down the Nolichucky. It was a great level at about 2000 cfs and that meant big water and continuous rapids. It was a beautiful day and a great group. I took my hero (affection ally named Moby) down and after getting through “on the rocks” and “Quarter Mile” was feeling quite comfortable. Then the river humbled me. We paddled through a kicker wave and it flipped me over, but I was up until to hit the next wave and I was back over, then I rolled up again into a hole. Thanks to the play boating I had been working on all last summer. I surfed out of the hole. It was a great run and I was so happy to have been able to paddle an amazing river as that. The Gorge is breathtaking.

So I took a run down the first part of the comp channel at the USNWC. It is definitely different. I have been down the channel in a raft but a kayak was a whole new experience. It was a great rush and I made through until I hit Kodak wave but I hit my roll and paddled into the eddy. Below is the a little movie of my run. Enjoy!

Comp Channel Video

I am excited to be back paddling and although there have been bumps I am feeling great to be back on the water. Looking forward to more rivers, more fun, and more paddling!

SO this winter I have been trying to improve playboating, working with Mr. Wing in the Polar Freestyle clincs and hitting the water as much as I can.  Things were good, playboating in cold water is a great motivator, and then my old aquasealed beyond belief Mountain Surf skirt started leaking like a civ.  Friend of mine hooked me up with a Nookie V Shock skirt told me to try it out.  All I can say is I now own one and after throwingdown for four hours I got out of the boat and not only was completely dry (wearing only a drytop) the seat was dry.  The skirt takes a little getting used to to put on but it is actually easier once you figure it out, and works great with an overthruster.

So we managed to get out paddle some this winter, even with all the snow.  The French Broad at 3k – 4.5k its a great run, playspots and boof lines, just a matter of what you feel like that day.  Section 3 and a little bit on the Chattooga and of course cold water playboating on the Saluda.  Everytime I paddle the Saluda at high flows aka above 12k I find something new, gotta love that.  Here are some random pics of the winter crew.

watch?v=zsnmmSt7aq4

This was our first year being ambassadors and running events with the USNWC, it was a fun and at times required multiple beers/shots to get through.  The scene here in Charlotte is growing and things are gonna get even bigger and better next year.  We have already begun talking with the USNWC for next years schedule and the team at the center is currently working on a new home for the throwdowns.  A few things we discovered along the way:

• Events will never start on time, just deal with it.

• Rafts can be great entertainment during a Slalom Survivor race.

• All kayakers are afraid to commit to pre-registering, it’s like they think if they register and don’t show up they will be beaten (maybe we should look into that)

• “So if I enter I get free stuff no matter how I place in the competition”

             “Yes”

            “How does that work”

            “Magic!”

• It’s amazing that a $1 inflatable pink flamingo can create more carnage than Gorilla on the Green Narrows.

• Boaters love pictures of themselves, and videos of themselves, actually even just mention of themselves.  So post as many pictures, videos, and stories about the Throwdowns that you can. 

• It is guaranteed that in the middle of Throwdown someone will want to sign-up, so be prepared.

• Kayakers love Stickers above all else.

• Throwdown Carnage = more competitors, more spectators and more Fun!

• Don’t worry about planning the event too much, plan for the chaos that will ensue during the event, which is a certainty.  Getting 30+ boaters on the same page is like trying to herding cats.  Good Luck and have Fun!

Have a great holiday!

Good Lines and see you on the river next year.

Samantha and Jay

So we hit the Saluda last weekend, this time at 8k, another new level.  Really enjoying this run and all the different spots that show up.  Every level has different features scattered about the run, as usually the locals hooked us up with the beta on the 12th street bridge wave.

12th Street Bridge Wave

This wave was a workout, the ferry onto the wave was tough, had to have the perfect angle and speed and the wave tended to be on the fickle side, but once you got that first good ride you were hooked.  Tinker found a sweet little side/front surf hole right below the wave which was just plain fun, nothing big but fun.  Something about playboating in a friendly little spot laughing it up with good friends enjoying the day.   We decided to head back upstream and give Mill Race a run.  At 8k the wave train isn’t nearly as large but a wavehole feature called Chicken Wing is awesome, not the best of eddy service but doable and the feature rocks, great spins, cartwheels and almost loops.  Found another great little side surfing spinning spot below Mill Race that was just too much fun and kept us playing until dark.

This past weekend I got the dream of all weekend warrior paddlers, got to paddle on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Hit the Saluda on Friday evening and paddled until after dark wearing sunglasses non the less, the wave at the take out was just too good to leave.  The Saluda at 15k cfs is a players dream, lap of luxury is crazy, a wave hole that is 30 feet wide is just not right, but unreal fun.

Saturday was a creek day, hitting Wilson creek at -1 always fun especially with your closest 50 friend from Charlotte/Asheville basically everywhere.  Had good lines until I snapped my paddle in 2 at ten foot and then got rescued by a girl, actually a Cougar, the Cougar and Tinkerbell.  No I don’t  do drugs.  Thanks guys, at least I got my swim in for 2009 over with.

Sunday headed back to the Saluda, can’t get enough.  Some of the saludaboyz hooked us up (Thanks Tim and Jim) and showed us the way to a killer hole that comes in around 2k cfs.  Hopefully the 8k levels hold cause it will be back to the Saluda for me this weekend.

So I can say that videos do not do the Green Race justice.  I went to the Green Race for the first time yesterday.  The first thing about going to the race is the hike in to the Gorge.  I had heard the hike was hard but hard was an understatement.  I heard one person say “I don’t know why Biggest Loser pays all that money to trainers just send those folks here”.  It was one of the funniest lines I heard on the hike.  The hike started out okay but the last ½ mile is straight down, and well usually for me the most dangerous part of my kayaking day is when we hike around something so I was trying to be careful.

When we got down to the Gorge, I was taken back.  The first rapid you see in Rapid Transit and while I had seen the Green Narrows on videos and in pictures it is more intense and amazing in person.  We hiked up a little more and sat below the pool for Gorilla and Speed Trap. The Narrows is amazingly gorgeous.  The intensity of the rapids is staggering.  I am not sure if it ever will a race I will kayak but I could not believe how breathtaking the rapids are in the gorge.

The race got going at 12, and I was amazed and the boaters came through Gorilla and then past Speed trap.  Some of the local Charlotte boaters were racing.  As Fergus, Pablo and Trent from the USNWC came through we screamed their names as the paddle to the finish.  Two of the local Charlotte boater Clinton and Josh Parker came through later and we cheered them onto to finish.  I saw some of the most hardcore boating yesterday.  One boater came over Gorilla upside down, stayed in her boat and rolled up.  The crowd cheered and clapped.  That paddler was one hardcore chick boater in my opinion.

Congrats to all those who paddle and to Andrew Holcombe who won with a new race record.