While visiting friends and family down in the San Diego area, I’ve been able to sneak in a bunch of surfing sessions. Not kayak surfing, but that other kind. I’ve been surfing about a dozen times over the years, so I’m still pretty much a beginner, but I’ve had some great rides on this trip. Here are a few pictures from a spot called “Sevens”:
The Dave and I hit the Neils wave yesterday afternoon. The level was at ~2.8 on the Vida gauge and it was sweet! The wave is big and forgiving at this level. You can do clean 360’s either way and hit blunts to the right. If you back surf, you don’t have to worry about catching your stern and getting flipped. Anyone would look like a rock star at this level.
Here’s a few pictures of Dave and one of a little buddy we found on the shore:
I scoped out 24/7 today while walking the dogs. It looked a bit too low in my opinion. In one of the pictures below you can see how the water is below the embankment (usually, you want the water to be about even with it).
Here’s a few pictures of the dogs too (I couldn’t resist):
Pete and I had planned on heading up to the McKenzie today to hit Neils. Well, when I went to pick him up, he was doubled over in pain. Apparently he had eaten some bad rice and beans earlier in the day. Pepto-bismol to the rescue!
Pete slammed down some pepto, and by the time we got up to the put-in, he was ready to go.
This is an aside, but before we got on the water a guy from the sheriff’s department stopped by to talk with us. He mentioned that the plans for a white water park in Eugene are moving forward and that we could see something in place within three years! Pete and I are very keen on this idea and would really like to help push this through. Stay tuned.
It was a bit chilly out today, but we ended up having a great session on the river. Here’s a few photos:
Last week at the Echo Hollow pool session I was using the side of pool to get myself up into a bow stall. It’s such a cool feeling balanced up in the air like that. I was able to slip away from the side of the pool and keep it balanced for 5 seconds or so. The key for me was to keep the paddle, power face down, and under water. That way when you push or pull on either side you get immediate feedback to keep your balance. Leaning forward makes you fall back and leaning back makes you fall forward. I’m excited to get out there and work on it some more. The goal is to eventually be able to initiate up into the bow stall without cheating. One step at a time.
Two weekends ago Matt Mixer and I went to Lake Creek. The drive over was uneventful. It was raining and cold (what’s new?). When we reached Mapleton, though, it started snowing. Matt called his wife to see if she had heard anything about snow storms on the news. She hadn’t, so we proceeded to have a fabulous time playing at Grassy Lawn.
It was snowing the whole time we were on the river, but it didn’t seem to be sticking, as far as we could tell. When we got off the river a guy pulled over and told us that the tunnel on Highway 126 was closed. He suggested that we take Stagecoach road (a one-lane gravel road that would allow us to bypass the tunnel back to the 126). Neither of us had taken Stagecoach before, but we gave it a shot. Matt’s two wheel drive Acura isn’t the best snow vehicle in the world, but we made it through to the 126. I have never seen the coast range so white before.
To make a long story short, we sat through a few delays, slipped around in Matt’s car, but eventually made it over the second pass and back into Eugene. That was a close one — I thought we were going to end up spending the night in Matt’s car!
Pete and I went to Lake Creek Yesterday and it was sweet, as always. We park-and-played Grassy Lawn and then went down to Mill Wave. The highlights of the day for me was a solid front loop at Grassy and some great blunts at Mill Wave. It was an awesome session and I’m wiped out.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but on my second to the last ride Yesterday, I swam. My roll has always been super solid (this is only the second swim of my entire kayaking career), but due to a mental let down (I freaked out) and exhaustion, it happened. Admittedly, the runout at the Mill Wave is a little gnarly, but that’s no excuse. I flushed off the top wave, tried to roll in the foam pile of the second wave (didn’t get any air), tried again to roll in the third wave/hole (didn’t get any air and my hip fell out of the boat), and then I pulled the spray skirt and swam to shore. I was able to get my boat and paddle to shore really fast (still within the long eddy) so it was pretty uneventful. Oh well, it happens. You move on. Next time (it’s not like you plan these things) my goal it to keep my composure and try rolling at least four or five times. Another thing I could’ve tried is the back-deck roll at the top — that might have prevented the whole ordeal.
24/7 is a little pour-over at a canal next to the Willamette River (right down the path from Knickerboker Bridge). It’s a great place to practice cartwheels. In the spring, when the Willamette is running a bit high, it is too low. When the river level drops in the summer, it starts to come in. At some point during late summer there is actually too much water flowing through it, and it’s not that great. I was hoping that it would come back in sometime this fall, before dropping down too low, and it has.
Last weekend I went down there to check it out. Some well intentioned souls had put wood into the slots next to the pour over (this can be quite helpful in the beginning of the summer when the level is not quite high enough) and the water level was too high. You can tell that it’s too high because there isn’t much of a foam pile at the bottom of the pour-over and the water is covering the cement at the bottom of the embankment. A couple of kayakers dropped by (sorry that I can’t remember your names), just after I had arrived, and suggested that we should lift the wood blocks out a bit. We did so, and I couldn’t believe how much it changed the feature. It went from being extremely mediocre to being pretty good. It’s still a tiny bit too high, but it’s definitely worth dropping by. Obviously, for this to make such a difference, this spot has a pretty narrow window where it’s really good.
I was stoked because I was getting four ends consistently. I went again with Pete, on Wednesday, and the same trick worked (lifting the blocks of wood out). While the rain has disappeared (hopefully, only a short term trend) it’s good to have this little spot to practice at. See you out there!
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