Day 6: Day off

My shoulder feels better this morning, but still not 100%. I am making a difficult decision to take the day off the river. Today the group is paddling the Rio General, which is supposed to be the biggest water river in Costa Rica. We had a wonderful breakfast at the resort and commenced our 3-hour drive to the next river. Along the way was a spot where we crossed the mountain range and if we looked to the right, we could see the Carribbean Sea. Not even 5 minutes further down the road, we could look left and see the Pacific. Incredible, and very rare that there is a place where you can do that.

Posted by Jenny

Day 5: Rio Pacuare Pt II

Injuries suck. The second day on the Pacuare started off with an amazing breakfast compliments of Jose, Luis and Rey, preceeded by a hike up the steep hills o the rainforest canton. We loaded up our raft and were on our way again.

There was a rapid called Upper and Lower Wukka (sp?), which we found out AFTER means “Indian Cemetery”. The lower part was very tricky and three people walked. he line from shore looked pretty simple to me; follow the tongue just to the right of a hole and then around the second munchy hole by running to the left of it next to a rock wall. Once I was up in the eddy alone, it wasn’t so easy to see the line! The ferry over was difficult and I had to stop and recatch the eddy to try a second time. I hit the first hole and stern-squirted my way into the second. I rolled up t the bottom of the rapid and literally did the whole thing upside down. How embarrassing.

There was another rapid that we didn’t scout, but followed a wave train down, climbed the biggest wave and did a boof stroke off the crest to fly over some rock. My boof was a little too far right and I landing into a seam, pulling off an outstanding mystery move. Me and my boat were completely submerged for at least 5 seconds. While I was down there, I got a rock hit right in the back by my shoulder blades. The muscles stiffened from that point up into my shoulders and into my arm. Every paddle stroke was painful. I kept going though, trying to float most of the rapids and forcing myself to avoid the playspots.

At one spot as we all waited in the eddy as Chad, Joey and Jose surfed, I was feeling pretty sick to my stomach and my shoulder was hurting more. I made the painful decision to ask Rey if I could ride the rest of the way in a raft. This was the most difficult part about running the river as I love boating so much and am absolutely TERRIFIED of rafts.

While Kapu, Fran and the bus were waiting for us at the take-out, construction crews dug up the take-out road. After we got off the river and headed back to the road, we realized that we were completely blocked in by a pile of rock and rubble! After speaking to the construction guys, it was amazing to watch how quickly the bulldozer was able to clear a path for us!

On the way to our hotel for the night, we realized that the bus wouldn’t fit under the bridge tressles. We ended up paying a coffee farmer who drove by to take our kayaks to the resort.

Never a dull moment!

Posted by Jenny

Day 4: Rio Pacuare

I am in heaven! I am laying on my bed in our room overlooking the jungle and Pacuare River. Outside my room is a steep creek that has cut a 10 foot wide path in the rock down to the river. Marzella is out on our porch in a hammock listening to the rain. On the other side of the river we can barely see the outline of howler monkeys high up in the jungle, jumping limb to limb in the treetops.

The Pacuare River is my favourite so far: clean water, fast rapids and steep jungles! We are doing a 2-day raft supported trip with a stop-over at this Costarican sanctuary.

No mishaps today. We ran rapids, saw toucans, orioles with yellow tails, snakes, and waterfalls. We ate a delicious lunch at the side o the river courtesy of our two rafters Reynaldo and Luis. My shoulders, back and arms are aching, but it’s the good kind of ache that says “Jenny, you just had a wonderfully productive day and are going to sleep like a baby tonight!”

Posted by Jenny

Day 3: Rio Reventazon

This morning was photo-op extrordinaire. The resort came alive with the sun and I spent the whole morning taking photos of butterflies, spiders, poison dart tree frogs and Costarican flora. It’s really neat coming into the resorts after sunset because you don’t find out where you are of what it really looks like until the next day.

Today we ran the Rio Reventazon near Turrialba. The river was an awesome class II big water boogie with one rapid called Bamboo (with an upper and lower section) that we needed to scout.

Lower Bamboo had a couple of spots to avoid; an undercut rock on the right, a hole centre, a big rock left and a second munchy hole below the first. There was a far left sneak line and the centre line just to the right of the holes but avoiding the rock.

I took a look at the centre line and no problems visualizing my line so I committed to it. I don’t have that fear of big water holes that others do. My line was ace and for good measure I turned upstream and tried to drop into the second hole. I caught it and immediately flip-flushed.

On the bus ride back we polished off a bottle of Crown Royal to celebrate Jose’s 28th birthday. Jose’s keen eye also noticed a 3-toed sloth on the powerline along the road, so we had to stop and save it (naturally). Unfortunately a soon as we poked it with a paddle, it started moving away from us. Come back sloth! Come back!

Original post by Jenny and software by Elliott Back

World Freestyle Kayaking Championships

The Opening Ceremonies were tonight. I don’t have any photos right now, but hopefully I’ll be able to get some from those who had cameras. It was kind of exciting, each country gathered together and then one by one we marched around and into the amplitheatre. The Canadian Team had to wait and we cheered on every other country as they went by. It was a little weird since we all knew each other and had paddled together, so we were yelling out people’s names and cheering each other on! Once the last country went by and into the amplitheatre, they announced the host country and we Canadians marched down in front of everyone waving our Canadian flags. Speeches came next, and then some ‘Canadian’ Entertainment (namely a bunch of people from Niagara Falls doing a song and dance in lumberjack outfits).

Billy fixed my motorcycle for me today and I was psyched to get back on it and take it for a spin, so I ended up taking Jeremy on it to WT and then back in the dark. I am still a bit uncomfortable riding at night (and with wet roads from an impromtu rainstorm), but we made it back safe and sound.

I have been doing my best at training for the squirt event. Sometimes I feel as if I’m a poser since I only got in a squirt boat a few weeks ago, I have been trying very hard to get as many moves as I can. One day we were out there and I just wasn’t having fun anymore, trying to sink my boat and remember all the movements to be able to do it. After a bit I took a break and then decided to just flop around and let my body feel and figure out the movements on its own instead of trying to remember step-by-step what I had to do to get the boat to do the things that I wanted it to. I still shriek when I am able to sink my boat and I laugh when I do cartwheels. It will be fun tomorrow, and a great experience even if I finish last.

I am thinking ahead to the 2009 World Championships, and what I need to do in order to be good enough to maybe make the K1 team or good enough to medal in squirt. It’s kind of exciting to think that in 2 years (which is reasonable if I continue at the same rate I have been) I could be able to throw moves and paddle at a level that I never thought I would attain.

Original post by Jenny and software by Elliott Back

Jenny Flops-A-Lot: Confessions of a Squirtboater

Me getting ready for the comp

Val Bertrand and Bronze winner Emma Runciman discussing strategy

I decided to watch the people doing their practice rides to get a feel for the competition, and sat on a tree jutting out into the water for a little while, just watching people’s rides. There were a lot of people there! Great Britain it seemed, had their entire freestyle team and friends and family there to cheer on their fellow competitors! The atmosphere was a fun and full of energy!

582 Local Lars Romeskie photographs well!

Photo: Me!

Billy and Carly enjoying the show

Photo: Me!

This was my first competition ever, and the pressure was on since it WAS the World Championships. I was in the second heat, and when it was my time to go, I had seen some pretty awesome rides! I decided to just go out and have a blast, not worrying about my score or placement since the majority of the girls had been doing this for 10 years (vice my 2 weeks). We each got three rides, best two counted. I decided due to my short repetoire and lack of skills that I would attempt a mystery move first, and if I didn’t get it, I could have a second go at it once I heard the 10 second buzzer. My rides were as good as I could have hoped, considering my experience. I plugged one deep mystery move up to my neck which I was pretty psyched about. I worked my cartwheels, got one awesome stern stall, but wasn’t able to stick my bow screw. It was all good though, I had a great time, and really enjoyed the experience!

Yes I can Squirt

Photo: Jeremy Laucks

Jenny Down-Time

Photo: Colin Moneypenny

In the end, Valerie Bertrand from Canada won the women’s gold in a nailbiting showdown between her and UK’s Claire O’Hara (who missed her mystery move at the end and finished with silver).

Jeremy and Brent were my two other squirting buddies, who had great rides. Jeremy in his homemade Maelstrom and Brent in a brand-new Ed-designed boat that he happened to show up with first thing this morning.

Jeremy in his comp ride

Photo: Me!

Ben White from the UK took the men’s gold by getting some awesome mystery moves that managed to beat out Coyo, the bouncing boater from Japan who was dominating just by his flatwater moves alone in a plastic boat!

I finished 9th out of the women’s class, Coop finished 11th in the men’s and Jeremy finished 7th, pretty close to the scores that made the cut! What a great competition. The energy on shore and on the water was incredible! At one point while I was out there I heard Dave Nieuwenhuis yell something like “Jenny Right-Side you Rock!” It was so much fun!

Devon Barker from the US Team (who finished 5th in the world) had a post-squirt party at Little Picky, a cute little cabin on the shore of the river. We spent some time around the bonfire, chatting and having a great time. Then Jeremy and I headed over to WT to check on scores and practice times for Jeremy’s OC-1 competition.

I have decided that in less than two years for the next Canadian Team Trials I want to have a new regime of moves and possibly a chance at medalling. It was so much fun, the people were great and supportive, and hey, there’s a chance it will be in Switzerland!

Original post by Jenny and software by Elliott Back

Upper Petawawa River

Thumbs up for the Upper Pet!

River: Upper Petawawa
Level: 3.18m on online Town Section gauge
Paddlers: Jeremy, Me

Hiking in with my homemade harness

The best part about running the river today with Jeremy and taking photos, was that this was the first time that I had ever looked at and chosen my own lines, and then run them solo. I would shoot photos of Jeremy, then he would take the camera from me and I’d jump into the boat and pick my line. Usually before this I would always just follow someone else down each rapid. Today I had to decide for myself where I needed to be and pick landmarks to determine the right line. It was time to step it up a notch!

Jeremy running the Flume

Me running the Flume

Another rapid we came across was a little canyon that came out of nowhere. There was a huge wave in the middle that Jeremy surfed, but also an enormous hole in front of it. This was my bad run for the day. It was hard to find the tongue through the top river-wide hole and once I did, it was too late. I punched through the hole, but got sucked back in after trying really hard to paddle out of the backwash. Once in, I did the only thing I knew to do, surf it toward the tongue and get out! The next part was a HUGE diagonal curler that went right into that nasty hole. The idea was to punch the curler. I punched it, endered and went right into the hole. I carped a few times, and finally got upright, but in the hole. I gasped a few breaths while being tooled in the hole. This time, I decided to get out of the hole a different way. There was no side surfing out of it this time as it was a frowny hole. I let the hole flip me over, laid on my back deck and let myself get washed out. I caught the eddy below and spent a minute belching from all that air I had gulped while in the hole!

Soon-to-be Jenny Beatdown

Photo: Jeremy Laucks

Jeremy sez: I want to surf that!

Photo: Me!

The last rapid just above the take-out was one I had looked at earlier in the day, but wasn’t sure if I was going to run it. It was a series of ledges, with holes. Basically the top ledge had one line that looked doable on the very river right side, the second ledge was doable anywhere from centre to right (which meant an immediate ferry over to the other side of the river), and then the third drop had a clear line also on the river right side. The middle section was oddly a corridor of whitewater between two walls of piled up rocks. Kind of random. I watched Jeremy run it, and still wasn’t sure if I could do it, as it mean precise lines and quick reactions. I finally agreed to do it with Jeremy, so there were no photos of this one!

It went fine and I don’t know what I was so aprehensive about. I made the first drop through, endered a bit, but got back on track and headed over to line up for the next two drops. What a great rapid, and a great run of the Upper Petawawa!

We ended the perfect paddling day with the discovery that my truck at the take-out had a flat tire that wasn’t there when I left it to run shuttle a few hours earlier.
The Hyundai comes fully equipped with a donut spare tire in the back! Awesome! Stupid Donut. Next on the to-do list. Buy an old wheel so I can have a full-sized spare. It drove well though.

I can’t wait to run this one again, it was definately a step up for me, at the high end of my abilities. I ran at least 3 rapids today that were bigger or more difficult than I had run before.

SYOTR!

Jen

Original post by Jenny and software by Elliott Back

I’m Getting Married…..

Luke likes his Kool-Aid: Oh Yeah!
Photo: Carly Harris

I have never surfed Corner Wave, but wanted to give it a try, knowing that I would likely miss the eddy and have to paddle down. Billy and Carly gave me some hints on how to get on, and how to catch the eddy and out I went!

Sandro throwing down!
Photo: Carly Harris

It’s true, I saw Billy Harris in person!

Photo: Carly Harris

This wave was unlike anything I had ever surfed before. It was so smooth and fast. I hopped out on it, carved back left and just started spinning! It was so easy! I think I got about three fast smooth spins before I flushed off. When I was backsurfing, I had to look up at the green of the wave. It was so steep that all I could see was a wall of water!

YaaaHooo!

Photo: Carly Harris

I am going to stop there, except to say that I surfed it 4 more times, all resulting in me screaming for joy and spinning my brains out! I also got in a lot of surfs at Right-Side, working my clean spins, and a few fun, fast Left-Side surfs!

Jenny CornerWave

Photo: Carly Harris

Original post by Jenny and software by Elliott Back

The Level is Dropping….

River: Ottawa
Level: 1.5 feet
Paddlers: Me, Sharky, Chris

Met up with Sharky after work and decided to run the river. The river was at a weird level with not much play, so we thought we’d brush up on our river-running skills. When we got to McKoys, we realized that the level was actually lower than we thought! Corner Wave was sweet and we stayed there for a while before reluctantly heading down the main channel. We managed to convince Chris to come along with us, and off we went.

We tried to catch Garb, Waikiki and Chopping Block on the fly and then hung out at Brain Douche for a little while. The level still needed to drop a little bit for whirlpool fun, but it was already too low for mystery move fun. I got one sweet whirlpool ride with about 3 rotations upside down in the vortex before popping out! My drytop was completely vaccuum-sealed against my arms!

Normans and Coliseum was big fun, and while Sharky went down Centre Slot, I chickened out at the last minute and did an awesome hero move over to Dog’s Leg, missing the hole by mere miliseconds! We practised rock splats and boofs and then arrived at Blacks.

I knew Right-Side Blacks was going to be better than it was on Sunday when I ran the river, but the level must have dropped lower than I thought! We stayed there until we were too tired to roll! It was right between a wave and a hole, and sometimes would green out into a wave and then a second later, crash into a steep looping hole. We worked on our loops there for quite some time!

Sweet day on the river for sure!

Original post by Jenny and software by Elliott Back

My Back…

Either I pulled a muscle between my ribs and my lungs, or I’m having a heart attack. Don’t worry I’m 100% sure it’s the muscle. And no, I won’t joke about that, my dad passed away almost 3 years ago of a massive heart attack.

It’s this feeling I’ve never experienced before. The pain in my back left me lying on my hardwood floor, kind of moaning.

But besides all that, I stepped it up another notch today.

I think the level was about 3.5 and Right-Side was incredible. I decided that nothing bad could happen to me in right-side and was throwing a flury of loops, windowshades to surf, carves, spins, whatever I could try that would stick. People were cheering from shore. I don’t care if my moves were sloppy, I was really testing the waters today so-to-speak. figuring out what I can do.

Laura, Barry and I ran the river after spending a few hours at Right-Side. The rest of the river was fun as usual, we got a few surfs in at Blacks but were so beat that we decided to call it a day.
Then I went home to lie on the floor and finally acknowledge the pain under my ribs.
Went to a friend’s birthday party, drank some wine and all of a sudden it felt a lot better. We’ll see tomorrow

Goodnight and SYOTR
Jen

Original post by Jenny and software by Elliott Back