Kayaking confidence

Whitewater kayaking is one of those things, like SCUBA diving, that you shouldn't do alone. When you're dealing with water, even in knee-deep flowing water, tragedies can happen. 

I've been paddling on-and-off for 20 years; more on in the last five years since I've been living in Parys. My paddling has been primarily flatwater or low-grade flowing water with some time spent on the commercial rafting section with its Class 2-3 rapids.

About four years ago, I learned to eskimo roll. With low water, we didn't paddle much that season. The next summer I took to a whitewater sit-on top as my roll wasn't 100% and I also didn't get in much practice. On the sit-on-top I did pretty well and started to practice the essentials of eddy catching and ferrying - but again I don't recall us paddling downriver very often - probably because we'd started Vagabond Kayaks and spent every waking hour working.

By the end of 2018 I was paddling our own whitewater sit-on-top and also taking my long Marimba down the river - Vaal and Orange. Late last year, I started paddling our whitewater creek boat, the Pungwe, working more regularly on rolls and paddle strokes. Celliers has been a good coach, guiding me through progressive skills.

We got in a number of good trips last summer, another in winter and I've had two trips in recent weeks.

Right now I'm still practicing eddy catching and ferrying - to get sharper and more accurate - as well as surfing in waves - a good way to hone skills.

I'm finally at the point where my confidence has developed to the point where I know that I can roll if I capsize and that I can handle water of varying levels without worry. This also makes me less of a liability for those with whom I paddle. And, of course, I know the rapids in our section of river pretty well now too.

With the river up for the first time in ages (up from maybe 15 cumec to 45 cumec), I was keen for a paddle and on Saturday afternoon I headed out with my friend Karen.

Karen below a sweet rapid.

We made it a smooth, quick paddle, getting on around 15h30 and home by 18h00 (with thanks to Graeme who picked us up).

Beautiful afternoon light on the river.

I enjoy teaching people how to paddle, and taking friends and clients out on flatwater and even Class 1 rapids (low risk, good fun), but I certainly don't have the whitewater experience yet to take other people down this section of river without another guide. I am pleased to be making progress off a solid skill foundation.

Paddling in winter

I've had two successful paddle outings recently. 

The first was a two-day trip on the Vaal River, almost from my doorstep, with Celliers. Our boats have been gathering dust and we've been a bit all-work, no-play for weeks. It was time to get out to celebrate our products.

I've never been on this section before so it was a revelation. I printed off Google Earth images so that I could follow along and really get a feel for our location - twists, turns and distances on rivers can be a blur. It was spectacular!

Day 1's section of about 15km was mostly flat sections with clumps of islands, channels and class 1 rapids. There was only one class 2. We stopped, got out, scouted, chose our lines and then hit the water. It was a piece of cake on my trusty Marimba.

Day 2's section of 13km was all flatwater but the hills of the Vredefort Dome area made up for the lack of excitement on the water with the move lovely scenery.

We had good sightings on both days of fish eagles and Goliath herons and even a big likkewaan (monitor lizard). 

We paddled for around 4hrs each day, enjoying the sights along the way. We camped on a small island in the late afternoon, setup and got to enjoy the last of the day's warmth. I'd packed a home-made hearty soup, which we heated and ate for dinner before dark. By 18h15, we were in our tent with plush sleeping bags, warm jackets, beanies, headlamps and books. Like this, you don't feel the cold.

We had a leisurely morning making tea, coffee and instant oats for breakfast before packing up camp and our kayaks. We were in no rush with only 13km ahead of flatwater and our pick-up at 2pm.

We had spectacular fish eagle sightings on this section and a lovely warmth. To our advantage, this trip was a few days before the real cold set in. 

Celliers last paddled this section more than 20 years ago. It was my first trip down here and I'll definitely be back. If you're looking for exercise, it can easily be done in a couple of hours. If you're looking to have a break, the two days is superb.

I made a 2:30 video with photos and two video clips.

 

My second paddle outing was on Sunday afternoon. 'Top Section' is a stretch of whitewater above town. The water level was up on Saturday but unfortunately it was down again on Sunday but we still decided to go anyway. I have only done Top Section three or four times and this was my first time taking the right-hand channel.

I paddled my Pungwe whitewater kayak. I got in quite a bit of paddling before lockdown so my skills have much improved and my roll is getting more solid in current. But in the cold winter water?

Before going down the weir (there is a 'slide'), I did a roll. I figured that it was worth a planned dunking to get it over with rather than a surprise dunking in a rapid. I was very pleased that the brain freeze wasn't as bad as I'd expected and that my dry top and spray deck had kept me warm and dry. This was good for my confidence - to know the bad is not really as bad as I'd imagined (which is usually the case!).

Start of the section - weird in the background. That's me in the blue kayak.

I did pop a Valoid before heading out. Generally going straight down river is no issue for my weak sea stomach but any kind of playing in rapids makes me queasy. I find the whole experience is better with my equilibrium chemically balanced so I'm getting in the habit of taking a tablet at least 30 mins before getting on the water when I paddle whitewater.

Gideon

On this outing it was me, Gideon, Celliers and Ruben. Gideon and Celliers have paddled this side a lot and there are loads of channels and options. At such low level, everything looks different and the paddle was very crunchy with lots of rocks. We had to get out only once when a channel was obstructed by rocks, we snuck under some low branches and I slithered my kayak over barely-covered rocks. 

It was stunning and I loved it. Looking forward to the next one.

Winter in all its glory.

Combating sea sickness (on rivers)

I don't have a very strong constitution when it comes to the sea - I feel queasy just at the thought of bobbing on the swell. When it comes to rivers, I'm fine going down, but my stomach can't handle too much in the way of catching eddies, ferrying and surfing. Watching that water flowing towards me, the deafening sound of the water, and the bobbing and weaving leaves me feeling very green after a short period of time.

These past weeks I've been working on my whitewater skills - paddle strokes, nailing a strong roll in current, eddy catching, ferrying and edging. I'm getting better but my tolerance for spending any duration on the water doing these skills is low.

Welcome Valoid!

I have successfully taken Valoid for paddling on the sea in the past and as I was intending to hit the Gatsien rapid for some drills, I headed to the pharmacy.

My session last Sunday left my head swirling for hours after getting off the water. My Valoid-assisted session on Thursday evening had me feeling quite normal on and off the water. I put in some better ferries in stronger current and even enjoyed a dash of surfing as I learn to feel the water.

As we have a factory of kayaks, we paddle a bunch of them. My personal kayak has been my green Marimba but now I'm proud to add one of our whitewater kayaks to my personal collection. On Thursday I climbed into my own beautiful blue Vagabond Pungwe. This paddle is also a new one - Celliers' new CEKR whitewater paddles (I've got one of his touring ones too). Beautiful paddles.

In my Vagabond Pungwe kayak.

I've still got a way to go until I feel really competent, but I am improving and it is rewarding to be able to do things now that I couldn't a month or two ago.