Local kayak race

With thunderstorms and heavy downpours predicted for Sunday, I was undecided about participating in a local kayak race hosted by the Knysna Canoe Club until I saw the forecast on Sunday morning had turned in our favour. So, I headed in Knysna direction to the Goukamma River and arrived in overcast conditions with glimmers of blue sky and sunshine.

This is what it looked like about 20 minutes before the start.

Of course, within 10 mins of the start, the heavens opened, the thunder rumbled and the wind picked up. And then it calmed. And then it stormed. And then it calmed, and then it stormed. All in a 10km - 90-minute period. And it was fabulous. For me, Goukamma never disappoints.

Getting above the weir for the start. This is the first time that I've seen the weir exposed - I usually paddle right over the wall.

Lining up for the start. I was the only plastic kayak. Yay and three cheers for my Vagabond Marimba kayak. We paddled upstream above the weir for 1.5km. Just after the turnaround, the first storm hit. Back at the weir, I wavered and considered waiting for the rain to pass. Instead, I just carried on and the storm was done within a few minutes.

On the section below the Weir, we had wind and rain and clear. This was on the way back - maybe 2km from the end. Beautiful, still, bit of sun. Not even 10 minutes later this changed....

From the photo above to this one - in 10 mins. It was barely a drizzle when I got to the finish less than 10 mins later. Fortunately warm out and quite fun.

As a bonus, I was first K1 lady today. Hahaha - I did ask if I was the only one.

It turns out that I wasn't the only K1 lady, but a group of paddlers overshot the turnaround, putting in at least an extra two kays overall, so the other ladies were likely in that group. I didn't spot the turnaround either but I only did an extra 150m to 200m before turning around - a hundred metres on the return I did see the tag on a log.

I was the only paddler with a plastic kayak. Three cheers for my Vagabond Marimba. A few of our Social Paddling Group paddlers were keen to come but this iffy weather was definitely a deterrent for them and many other paddlers in the area.

Good experience and I'm glad that I went.

Paddling the Goukamma River

It is about time that I paddled the Goukamma River! 

I parked at Goukamma SANparks - great location - and paddled upstream from there. It is a good spot for an after-paddle picnic and there are ablution facilities for changing.

While the river lacks rapids, channels and islands, it does have meandering bends, pretty scenery and good birdlife.

Out on the water I saw many cormorants, darters plus Egyptian geese and ducks. I also saw a pied kingfisher and some or other birds of prey (at least three types). I always hope to see some of the brightly coloured kingfishers and I was treated on the return route when a half-collared kingfisher flashed his brilliant blue as he flew from one side of the river to the other - right in front of me.

For this scenic out-and-back route, I clocked around 16km.

Flat and still when I headed out. Had some headwind on the return but also protected in places.

Cormorant drying its wings in the sun.

Still and pretty.

End of the 'road' - as high up the Goukamma River as I could paddle.

Leftovers for breakfast on the water.

River Deck, near the N2, is a great spot on the water for brunch or lunch. There are a few accommodation locations and towards Buffelsbaai and the sea, there are options at Cape Nature to picnic, hike and overnight.

Lovely morning out. I'm glad that I got out to paddle this morning. Goukamma is about a 50min drive from George.

Paddling the Groot Brak River

 I needed an outing and this morning I decided to explore the Groot Brak River. Located about 30km from George, the river passes through the little town of Groot Brak. It is a pretty, mostly retirement-and-holiday location.

The river mouth is one of those mostly-closed estuaries. The opening of the mouth to the sea is humanly managed, especially after the Wolwedans Dam was built a short way upstream in the 90s. 

From what I've seen online, the building of the dam has been something of an environmental bugger-up because too little fresh water now reaches the mouth. That's not to only blame the dam. Other human-influenced activities that suck water from the river upstream of the estuary, like agriculture, alien vegetation on the banks and small farm dams, have contributed to the estuary's current problems. This, and the mouth being closed for too long, which results in higher levels of water in the estuary, which is not good for the fauna and flora that live there (and odd sewerage intrusions).

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed paddling there today and I was delighted by the abundance of birdlife.

I set off from the river mouth. There is a large and convenient parking area.

I didn't take many photos on the route upstream as I was paddling into the sun.

At almost 5km upstream, you get to this low-level bridge. 

The water here and in the estuary was crystal clear. What you see here is not reflections but the plants under the water.

The end of the 'road'. This was as far up as I could paddle.

I like close channels so I enjoyed this short section of river. Calm, peaceful and I had the company of a half-collared kingfisher.

A burst of colour from aloes in flower.

Lots of yellow-billed African ducks.

Grey herons (I saw many of them) and some cormorants.

Cormorants sitting on the old metal supports from a previous bridge. The other bridge in the photo is the one for the railway line. To the right, out of shot, is a road bridge and the highway bridges.

The home stretch and nine flamingoes! The house with the blue roof was spotted by Mark on my FB page - turns out that this is his aunt's house. Fancy that!

My bird tally included of grey herons (they seemed to be playing with me - flying up and down), Cape cormorants, darters, yellow-billed ducks, a pied kingfisher and a white egret-something. A real gem was a half-collared kingfisher who stuck with me for a while. I watched him dive and catch a fish too. Spotting two black-crowned night herons was a treat and then nine greater flamingos on the home stretch. A grey-headed gull and a few curious kelp gulls had a good gawk at me.

More than this, I'm super impressed that I only had to look up the grey-headed gull and the half-collared kingfisher in my bird book!

I'll do this paddle again. Soon.

Why I need to start a women's paddling group

 Yesterday evening, I joined the local canoe club, my new canoe club, for time trial on a private farm dam. 

I arrived early to test a new setup that I've done to my footrests for our rudder-pedal system. A husband-and-wife couple were already there in their car. As I don't know any of the local people, I have no idea who people are and at what level they're paddling.

On the dam, I saw them in a K2 looking very shakey on the water. Going around the top, I came up alongside them and asked if they were ok. They said it was their second time in the kayak.

Let's hold it right there and digest this.

• Two brand-new paddlers in a K2 together. The Knysna Racing Thor is not a kayak that I know. It is listed as being "very popular for beginner paddlers. Big, stable and very comfortable. This legend is ideal for larger beginner crews who want to take on big water". From the look of it, I don't think that it is as stable as the Accord K2, my favourite. I'd need to get into it to see.
• Him - significantly heavier - in the front, her - smaller than me - in the back. We usually put the heavier paddler in the back.
• No PFDs (I was the only paddler there wearing a lifejacket; when Celliers has paddled he has been the only one too). If you capsize, you've got 6.5m kayak full of water to guide and swim to the bank.

I know what it is like to teaspoon around a dam, wiggling and trying not to capsize. It isn't nice. Worse with waves and a side wind. And it is exactly this that results in hundreds of people being lost to the sport of paddling each year. 

I offered to them that once they were done, they were welcome to give my Marimba sit-on-top a try.

It started drizzling and I saw them get off the water. I got off to chat to them.

The wife seemed keen to give my Marimba a shot but the husband was not (and he prevented her from having a go). He is of the "We'll get it right eventually" camp. The problem is, it could take them weeks and weeks. They are paddling once a week. It will take them even longer. During this time, they are developing bad posture, bad form and bad habits that will be a nightmare to get out of them (I did tell them this). They have no skill, no technique and no confidence. And, if they stick with it, they'll go from paddling one unstable kayak to the next, thinking that this is what paddling is all about. 

Celliers wrote an excellent article for The Paddle Mag on this point. In the article he says, "If a paddler can’t put 100% of their pulling power into a forward stroke because of the need to use some energy to maintain their balance, the paddler is in the wrong boat".

Just as a baby and then toddler first crawls, stands, walks and then runs, so too can new paddlers take a step-by-step approach. In paddling you need to learn technique first.

In this whole situation there are a bunch of issues. New, keen paddlers who have been welcomed and given access to a kayak sans hand-holding or instruction (and I totally understand limited club resources - it is usually a struggle for clubs). No PFDs. Him overruling her. Closed-mindedness to trying another kayak and accepting my offer of assistance. I don't take it personally - they don't know me either.

What to do?

My solution would be to paddle the kayak with one of them. It helps to have a more experienced paddler to stabilise. But, I don't think he is going to 'release' his wife to paddle with me. 

I've had it in mind to start a women's paddling group. My friend Nicola has a Monday morning women's group in Cape Town. It totally rocks.

I saw a couple of women at the time trial last week (the first that I've seen). Two in a double (I didn't see which double) were slower than I was in a single plastic. I didn't see the others on the water. I did pick-up that the one was learning to paddle - paddling a K1 from the club trailer - and seemed to be challenged and possibly taking swims. She said something about "trying again next week". That made me sad for her because it is unnecessary to be in that position.

A women's group would offer a more supportive (and fun) paddling environment. It also removes interference (psychological or otherwise) from the faster, more experienced male paddlers who may be their partners / husbands / brothers. I've found all the paddlers that I've met to be very friendly but this 'interference' is a real thing (even if totally unintentional and unconscious like giving the woman an unsuitable kayak to paddle) that can inhibit the women in their lives and prevent them from finding their paddling preference and confidence. 

There are already too few women in paddling. We don't need to lose more of the keen ones.

(I've been in George for three months and already I can't help myself from organising something!)

Don't miss the boat (there may not be a next time). Come to our kayak race.

You have probably experienced the situation where you organise something, people are lax to RSVP (many don't even bother) and then your activity comes and goes. If too few people attend, you're unlikely to plan another... and that's when those who didn't come, didn't RSVP peak out about what a pity it is that there isn't another one and that they would really like to attend.

There is a BIG difference between liking to attend and actually attending.

The problem is that events and activities and projects don't often have the luxury of being repeated over and over and over in the hope that people wake up and rock up.

We've got a kayak race on 10 March, here in Parys. It is sure to be a lovely day for not only the race, but for hanging out and picnicing on the beautiful lawns of the Likkewaan Canoe Club. I know of a number of people who plan to enter but I have only received one official entry (for four people). Yes, I know there are still two weeks to go... I just get a bit nervous.

The focus of this event really is on any boat that floats. Bring whatever you have lying around and paddle it.

This event is a proof-of-concept. I'm organising this first one and possibly a second one. And then the plan is that once I've got the ball rolling, another guy will take over from me.

But if people don't rock up at the first one, how do we know they'll rock up at the second? Is it worth taking on the risk? And yet we know that this is something that people are interested in because we talk to people. This isn't a new idea for us.

There is always a lot of outrage when a good idea disappears. And it usually disappears for lack of support. To keep things around, you have to rock up.

If you miss this boat, there may not be a next one.

First local river trip of the season

I'm a bit behind in my posts...

Last weekend, I enjoyed a trip down our local stretch of the Vaal River. The water level has been low and on that Sunday morning it was even lower than the normal low.

In the past, I had paddled the fibreglass prototype of our Vagabond Kayaks Usutu whitewater creekboat on a river in KZN (earlier this year) and then a plastic pre-production Usutu on the whitewater park in Oklahoma.

For this trip, I had another pre-production Usutu -  a blue one. The Usutu is named after the river in Swaziland, which we paddled a number of times for the old Swazi Xtreme adventure race (and the Swazi Whitewater Festival). It was my first time taking the Usutu down our regular section of the Vaal.

That's me on the blue Usutu, Cindy on my pink Do It Now and Karen in her lime Soul sit-in. Photo by Graeme Addison. 

When the water level is low, all it really means is that the river is really rocky. There are parts where you can't squeeze a boat through, rapids are far smaller, water moves more slowly and even on flat water you can connect with a rock just below the surface.

I actually really enjoy the river when it is rocky because the scenery seems to improve with more features from the rocks along the banks and in the river itself. I also most enjoy looking for - and successfully negotiating - sneaky little gaps between rocks. As a bonus we saw two malachite kingfishers.

I paddled the Do It Now whitewater sit-on-top last summer (and my sit-in creekboat only later in the season). The Do It Now is a super kayak but the Usutu beats it in speed, better tracking, agility and responsiveness. Despite it being a sizeable craft, the Usutu doesn't feel big when you're on it. Its nose is a bit longer and pointier than that of the Do It Now, to punch through waves with ease. I found it easier to control for ferrying and catching eddies. I look forward to challenging my skills on more water later in the season ("rain, rain come again").

Trippin' the Vaal again

When the sky is blue with not a cloud in sight and friends say, "Do you want to trip?" there is only one response, "Yes!". And so we tripped the river again on Sunday - I think our 4th for the week. This time I remembered to take along a camera.

The river has been at a really great level for about two days - not as rocky as it was on Friday. Ruben and Kyla both had a small swim each; no swimming for me. Celliers took the photos.

Celliers is out on the river again this afternoon. I skipped to snooze on the couch after being up since 05h30 to go parkrunning!

Saturday evening - taking my mom out for her first time on a sit-on-top whitewater kayak. We stuck to flat water to get the feel for the kayak.

Me and my mom.

Ruben showing us how it is done.

Kyla taking a good line.

Me.

Graeme Addison - even after decades of kayaking, rafting and expeditioning, he still loves rivers. If you visit Parys and want to go rafting, look no further than Riverman. Graeme also offers fabulous trips on the Orange River. 

Corran Addison and his 3-year old son Kailix in his Soul double kayak. Kailix has a neat splash screen. Mom Christine is in the background.

What a beautiful day! Ruben, Kyla and me with Karen and Cameron in the background (Celliers took all of the photos).

'Tis the season for kayaking

The Vaal River has been up and down like a jack-in-the-box. 100 cumec one day, 40 cumec the next... High water or low water, we've been on the river. Tripping with kids and other people, car shuttles... it takes time so you need a few hours at a time to go play. Celliers can't remember being on the river this much since many years ago.

For the past three months I've been paddling a sit-on-top whitewater kayak. In November two years ago, Celliers taught me to roll a sit-in whitewater kayak. I had one session on the river a week later and then we had very, very low water for the rest of the summer. Last year we didn't paddle much.

Sit-on top whitewater kayaks have a lot going for them. If you fall out, you just climb back on. Easy-peasy. They're a great way to build confidence, learn skills, practice skills like ferry gliding, attainment (paddling upriver using eddies), edging and also surfing in rapids.

The big downside to sit-in kayaks is that if you fall over and pop out, then you have to swim to the side with your kayak full of water (at this stage it floats just below the surface), drag it out to empty it, get back in etc. This whole process can be quite exhausting and it wastes a lot of time. To paddle a sit-in, I totally recommend that you spend time on a sit-on-top, learn to roll a sit-in and then start tripping. You'll just enjoy it more.

Last Saturday we went to Gatsien, a great rapid with a good wave (at the right level), numerous eddies, the chute and options. Celliers worked with me on eddy-catching, ferrying and edging.

We had a friend visiting this week and so we took him down the river on Wednesday. He has paddled a little in the past but not for a long time. We put him on my sit-on-top and we dusted off my sit-in. It was time for me to put my skills to the test. The river was up at around 150 cumec. I had an excellent runs with no swims. Not even a wobble!

Ruben and Kyla and our friend Marinus took big swims going through Theatre, a lovely long rapid with great wave trains above Gatsien. I saw both Kyla and then Marinus go over - in the same place. They were ahead of me. I figured that Marinus could take care of himself so I paddled for Kyla. Celliers had turned to see her swimming but he hadn't seen Ruben go over a bit more downstream. Celliers went to help Kyla, I went to help Ruben - collecting Kyla's new river shoes, which had popped off her feet, in the big waves on the way to Ruben. It was quite exciting. As Celliers later said, "I was so relieved to see that you were not swimming too!". The kids had a bit of a shock - their longest and biggest swim ever. But they handled it well and after a few tears were back on their sit-on tops (same as mine, just smaller sizes) and paddling towards the take out. They rarely swim. The learning experience that came out of this for them is that you can NEVER become complacent on water. NEVER.

Yesterday we were all back on the river - it was really low at maybe 30-40 cumec. I practiced some rolls at the start and later too. I nailed them 100% of the time, improving my technique with each roll. I still have more practice to do until rolling becomes second nature. This was on flat water, which is much easier than rolling in current.

I had an excellent run with good lines. And then I swam at the bottom of the chute at Gatsien. I really shouldn't have fallen over. It was silly. Whatever. I fell over and found myself upsidedown in an awkward position, only one hand on my paddle (I need both hands on it to roll). I did a half-roll but realised I was really in a wonky position. I popped my spray skirt and swam, dragging my paddle and water-laden kayak to a nearby rock.

Fortunately there is this great rock shelf in the middle of river so I huffed and heaved and hauled my kayak up there to empty it. It is such a waste of time and energy to swim! I got back on the river above the rapid to run it again. Easy-peasy.

My rolls are looking good but my rolls in current need work. I aim to be back on the river later today to play at Gatsien. My objective is to capsize myself in the rapid so that I can practice rolling in the current. Again and again and again.

I'll ask Celliers to take some photos. It really is lovely out here on the river.

When in Parys... go kayaking!

This weekend was a treat with a visit from my dear friend Allison. This was her first chance to come and see and experience my new (almost two years!) home.

The water is low, at around 30 cumec, but this also makes it a very friendly level. Some bumpy rocks in places but with easy-to-negotiate rapids, especially for beginners. We put Allison on a sit-on-top whitewater kayak - the same as mine - and she did superbly on her first time on our Vaal River. She took a swim early on, which is never a bad thing because once a swim is done then there is no need to spend the rest of the trip in anticipation of one. She also swam on the last rapid - but only after unintentionally catching a good surf on the wave.

I had a good outing too - no swims bar one at Gatsien while surfing. I'm learning more techniques, like ferrying across the river using the current and also surfing in rapids. Both are good fun and I'm enjoying the benefit of improved skills.

Ruben is paddling like a star. Celliers took the photos and Estienne, who is training to be a river guide, came down with us for the fun of it. We put in at Otters Haunt and paddled about 10km downstream to take out at our friend's place. It was a beautiful day with sightings of two goliath herons, a grey heron and a likkewaan that swam across the river towards us.

On Wednesday at the paddling club Celliers is going to get me and Ruben into polobats - the canoe used for playing canoe polo. Last week he taught a young paddler to learn how to do handrolls (rolling the polobat using your hips and hands - no paddle) and this will be good practice for me and Ruben too (and another young paddler has asked him to teach her too). 

Next week or the week after I'll get back into my sit-in whitewater boat to practice rolls and I'll also spend more time with the sit-on-top playing and surfing at Gatsien. 

This is a summer for learning.

Allison taking a rapid beautifully.

Allison coming through in style.

Allison missed the line (to the right of where she is) and showed us how to negotiate a shelf. She did good and recovered from a near flip to make it downstream. 

Ruben and Celliers.

Estienne coming through.

Me. Having fun.

Me.

Me and Allison.

Ruben totally rocking.

Ruben doing so very well.

'Lazy Sunday' river paddle and run

Yesterday I had one of my best activity days in ages. While my running has been regular and consistent for many months, I haven't done much in the way of distance as I run with Rusty and I have been very short on time. To get in some distance, I decided to run home from the take-out at the end of our river paddle -  a perfect combo.

I haven't tripped the river since last summer, where I probably set a record for the number of swims down rapids (3!). The river has been up a little - at around 35 cumec - so it was a good level to run.

There was Celliers, me, Ruben (9), Kyla (12), Hugh, Eric (12) and Karen. Ruben, Celliers, Hugh and Eric have been on the water quite a bit recently and Ruben is paddling beautifully. He and Eric take turns leading through the rapids - very sweet. Karen regularly paddles on the river while Kyla has paddled less than me.

Well, 35 cumec is just lovely! No swims for any of us! Yay!

The river is looking magnificent with green-leafed weeping willows on the banks, birds twittering all over and everything looking bright and sparkly after the recent rains. I didn't take along a camera so I don't even have photos to show you.

We took a route down that I haven't taken before. The Vaal River around here has many islands and channels and not all of the channels allow passage. I really like the narrow channels with vegetation on either side. It is quite magical. The rapids were all great and I didn't even have any near swims. Clean runs that felt good.

When we got down to Gatsien ("See your ass") rapid, the last one before the take out, we hung around there to surf the wave. This is where we have local kayak rodeos because this rapid forms a really great wave. This was my first time surfing and I had a blast. I even did a bit of manoeuvering in the rapid and a few time got in and out without swimming. Of course, I did take two swims too - it is a good rapid to swim with little risk as you get washed out immediately.

I'm paddling a sit-on-top whitewater kayak, which suits my novice status. This run and the surfing has definitely added to my skills and confidence and I'll definitely do more of this before getting into my sit-in whitewater kayak. I also need to do a lot more rolling practice. With the sit-on-top I can take a swim and then climb on again. A sit-in is more of a mission. Nonetheless, a good skill to acquire and work on later in the season.

Off the water, I changed into my running gear and set off for home. The first two kilometres is dirt road and the rest is tar. With about 6km to go I phoned my mom. She was ready and waiting to bring Rusty to me so that I could run the last bit with my doggy - getting in her run for the day.

Dark clouds has been threatening and within a few minutes of my mom heading off we could fee a few drops. And then more drops. And then a downpour. Rusty handled it well and with 2km to home we took shelter under the roof of the Indian shop near the bridge. If it had just been me I would have kept running but I am cautious of putting Rusty off playing with me! I sent Celliers a message to say we were fine and that we'd head out again once the rain passed but he was already on his way to find out. Minutes later we were in the bakkie - Rusty looking very relieved.

So, a very good morning with a successful paddle and a lovely run. I aim for many repeats this summer.

See Lisa roll. Roll Lisa, roll.

I'm chuffed. On Saturday afternoon we headed to the Gatsien rapid on the Vaal River for my first river session in my Bazooka white water kayak. We had the kids with us on sit-on-tops plus two visiting German kayakers (Jan and Stephanie). We weren't the only ones out there. With water levels up, there was a fair party happening on the water.

Not where we were paddling... just a view of part of the river on my way out of town on Sunday afternoon.

Celliers started off showing me some paddle strokes and then we went across to an eddy so I could practice my rolls - especially as I only learned last weekend in a swimming pool.

BOOM - up I came. Yee-haa! I did it again. Yay!

Then we messed with some ferrying into the current. We started with a strong one and I had two swims - I came out at a funny angle and didn't even try to roll.

And then Celliers told me something really useful. He said that if I capsize in a rapid I'll be in a lot of turbulence.

"Just wait," he said. "It will get calmer and then roll. Don't even try in the current and turbulence."

A little while later I was playing in the main stream, crossing from one side to the other. I haven't quite got the hang of 'edging' the kayak - tilting the downstream side down (lifting the upstream side up). I flipped over.

I could feel the turbulence and I just waited, paddle in my hand.

Within seconds it was calm and I got my paddle into position but just as I started to roll I hit more turbulence. I waited - upside down in the water and folded over close to the boat.

It calmed again and in one stroke - BOOM - I was up. And there was cheering from the bank behind me.

Super, super cool.

It seems that in messing around at rapids there's a lot of bobbing and sitting on the water that happens. Really not good for my constitution. I felt a bit green. I've only ever raced down rivers so I've never been river-sick. Bobbing on the water isn't my thing. I'll need to take some anti-nausea meds for this - but maybe I'll adapt?

I'm not in town this weekend, unfortunately, but my full-time move happens in a week today. I'm itching to hit the water again.

I'm rollin'

There's a significant advantage to having the founder of Fluid Kayaks and designer of all Fluid's boats in your life. Your boat ownership ranking goes up and you have access to a fleet of his boats too. Although he's no longer involved in the running of the company, all of the kayaks produced by Fluid are his designs.

For xmas last year I asked Celliers to teach me how to roll. This is a white water kayaking skill where you're able to right yourself (in your kayak) should you capsize. The idea is not to end up upsidedown, but it happens. And if you can roll right-way-up again instead of swimming - all the better.

Finally, on Saturday, we went to a friend's house to use his pool and Celliers taught me how to roll. I've got a lovely, green Fluid Bazooka.

We started with basics, like capsizing and staying underwater to get the feel of being upside down in the kayak. And then popping the spraydeck to swim out. And then lots of hip-rolling drills holding on to the side of the pool. Then capsizing with the paddle in your hand and popping the spraydeck to swim and then starting to learn the paddle motion to provide resistance to use your hips to roll the kayak right-way-up.

There's only one problem.

I get really queasy! I don't have a strong sea constitution and while my tolerance lasted for a considerable time, all the rolling and bobbing on the water started to turn me green!

I had to get out a few times (fast!) to sit on the side of the pool. I couldn't even look at the kayak bobbing on the water!

Fortunately I don't get seasick paddling down a river, but if I am just sitting in the boat and bobbing... and especially if I'm bobbing and have to focus on something - like getting the spraydeck on... goodness. My tummy turns.

By the end of the session I'd done a number of rolls on my own but I wasn't up to getting on the river. So we had a picnic on the bank instead.

I'm keen for another - shorter session - on the pool. My constitution should be good enough to head down to the river to play there a bit. And then I'm in for a session on the river. The water is very low, but there are decent sections.

I'm really excited about improving my river skills and especially to learn a new paddle discipline - white water kayaking. Parys is such a wonderful lifestyle location for river fun.