Patrick Swayze passed away today. Now he’ll really find out what that bright light is all about. May his soul travel fast and far up to God’s great heaven arriving safely a half hour before the devil knows he’s dead. Best wishes Patrick.
How to Become a Super Affiliate in 5 Easy Steps
I just watched a new video on Jeff’s blog.
And it rocks!
http://undergroundtraininglab.com/975/super-affiliate/?1052996
I can’t believe this…
In the video he tells you exactly which products he’s promoting… and how much money he’s making with them… and it’s a lot!
He literally hands you his best money-getting affiliate promotions on a silver platter.
Here’s your free…
“How To Become A Super Affiliate In 5 Easy Steps” video:
http://undergroundtraininglab.com/975/super-affiliate/?1052996
Enjoy!
P.S.
You don’t have to give your email to watch it or anything like that.
But I’m on this guy’s mailing list and he sends out great content and free software all the time.
Watch the video and if you like it…
Join his list.
You’ll love his stuff.
Here’s that free video:
http://undergroundtraininglab.com/975/super-affiliate/?1052996
Typhoons and Terrorists: My 9/11
Eight years ago on September 11th 2001 I was the Leading Chief Sonar Technician onboard USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54 homeported in Yokosuka, Japan.
Tuesday September 11th broke with a typhoon heading towards Tokyo Bay so our daily task was to secure the ship for the storm. Around noon someone made a decision to send everyone home except for the duty section. It was a quiet lazy afternoon at home waiting for the typhoon.
The naval station in Yokosuka is a tight harbor. It’s securely protected from Tokyo bay by two pennisulas, and Tokyo bay is protected from the Pacific Ocean by the Chiba pennisula.
Typhoons almost never hit Yokosuka, and this one wasn’t any different. We make all the preparations though for the excepting. It’s better to be ready for a typhoon that never hits than not be ready for the typhoon that does hit.
That evening at 6pm we got the all clear. The typhoon had passed, and everything was safe. No of new about the typhoon that was about to change our world forever. It was 5am in New York.
At 10pm I checked my email on yahoo before going to bed, and there was a news report that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. Scanning the report I had the impression that some silly idiot in a Cessna had accidentally flown into one of the towers. I shut my computer down and went to bed.
The Officer of the Deck called my home about 4:30am the next morning. It was the Chief Gunner’s Mate, and he told me that I should take the train into work because they weren’t letting cars on the base. I asked him if they were running a security exercise on the base. He said “yeah, you could say that.” I went back to sleep until 6am.
As I checked my email before going to the ship I was shocked by the headline on yahoo. “Twin Towers Destroyed. 10,000 Dead.” What had happened? I thought some hacker had made a bad joke. A quick check of the New York Time’s webpage confirmed that the World Trade Center’s twin towers had collapsed after two passenger jets had flown into them.
Work on the ship was almost at a standstill that day. We spent a lot of time watching the news reports and the endless clips of the towers collapse. The Chiefs all got together under the direction of Command Master Chief Joe Campa and began reworking duty sections, beefing up security on the ship and the pier, and making preparations for the unscheduled deployment that we all knew was coming. We were forward deployed just for this reason. Because of the USS Cole we had heard of Al Queda, and the Taliban. We knew that we were headed for the Indian Ocean and Afghanistan. The only question was when would we weigh anchor? When would the battle group deploy?
For me September 11th was about securing my ship for a typhoon one minute and preparing to go to war the next.
Autumn’s Coming
There’s a chill in the morning air whispering of autumn. 36 degrees the other morning and 48 degrees today. The morning chill is almost enough to warrant shoes instead of flip flops, and a sweater instead of short sleeves. Almost because I know that the morning sun will warm dawn’s early chill shortly. There are still a few days of summer remaining, a few more days of hot afternoons relaxing on the river, a few more days to run the McKenzie before winter gear is necessary. A few more days.
Summer time in Bend has been wonderful. This little spot nestled in the western slope of the Cascades is truly a small slice of Heaven on earth. There are so many fun events it’s difficult to choose between them. Kayaking has been the priority, although there was one weekend that I should have ditched work to go kayaking. Except that I had already committed to the work. As it turned out we didn’t need to get more video that day, and I could have gone kayaking instead? See ditching the video gig would’ve been ok, and I should have gone kayaking with my friends. No that’s not really true. It was only a couple of hours before the shoot that we decided we didn’t need any more footage so I wasn’t really off the hook for the day. Skipping the kayaking was the right thing to do.
The Deschutes River winds lazily through Bend, and during the summer it’s a popular tubing run. These days though it’s mostly queen size inflatable mattresses that people are using instead of inner tubes. Actually I don’t think I saw a single black rubber car inner tube on the river at all. They’re all fancy these days with cloth coverings, cup holders, and handles. Makes me think of the girl on the San Marcos River last summer “It’s got a gps” she said with a heavy Texas twang. The tube run on the Deschutes is much more serene than the San Marcos or Comal Rivers in Texas. The current moves quickly, but there aren’t any rapids or tube chutes for excitement. Hopefully we’ll get permits and funding to rebuild the Colorado Street dam into a little white water park. It can happen, all we need is 1.2 million dollars. Send donations to the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance BPTA.
The white water park won’t have as much power as the man made wave in Glennwood Springs, Colorado, but it’ll be lots of fun anyway. Besides our little white water park will replace the dangerous man eating dam at Colorado street.
Summer’s days are growing shorter and the throngs on the river dwindle down, and soon Alder Creek will have its end of the season sale. Autumn’s coming.
First Eskimo Roll Ever Today!
A good bombproof combat roll is an absolute necessity if you want to paddle whitewater bigger than class 3. Until you’ve learned one you’ll probably go swimming a lot in class 3 whitewater. That’s just the way it is. The water gets big and pushy and next thing you know you’re upside down in the soup. If you can’t roll up, then you’re going to punch out and swim it. This sucks. You get wet, your boat gets full of water, you might lose your paddle, and your friends have to come rescue you. Swimming is just one big inconvenience for everyone, and its much safer to stay in the boat anyway.
I’ve made a couple of runs on the McKenzie River in Central Oregon. The first time I swam 4 times. Twice unexpectedly, and twice when I was pushing it. The second trip I only swam once, and I was pushing lots of things pretty hard. Going for a swim on any of the rapids on this run isn’t a terrible experience. At worst you lose some time collecting your boat, your paddle, and your water bottle, and then you’re on your way again. On other runs this isn’t always the case. I met a kayaker today who went for a swim on a big rapid at high water on the Merced river. He struck a rock suffering a nasty puncture wound, and a hairline fracture of his pelvis. IT IS SAFER TO STAY IN THE BOAT! Did I mention that it was safer to stay in your boat and roll up?
I’ve been out to the pool at Juniper park to learn how to brace and roll, twice. Last time out I almost made it. The mechanics are pretty simple. Except that you’re upside down and under water. This is the difficult part. You have to ignore this fact if you want to roll. Time on the water trying to roll is what eventually gets you coming up successfully. Getting to the pool whenever I wanted to practice would be ideal, but the pool isn’t always available. The river is though, and today I borrowed a Jackson Rocker creek boat from Alder Creek and headed towards the little beach on the Deschutes river at Farewell Bend Park. The river is wide, the current is slow (I thought), and the bottom is flat and sandy. It’s a good place to practice your roll.
First thing I did when I got to the beach was to go out and get wet. The water’s pretty cool. Going for a swim before even getting in the boat prepared my body for the shock to come. I also wanted to scout out the best place to practice. The water needed to be deep enough, but not too deep. If I needed to punch out I didn’t want to have to swim very far before I could put my feet down. The river is really wide here. I was about 3/4 of the way across with the water being only about chest high. That’ll do. The place where I actually made my attempts was only about 4 feet deep.
Gearing up and shoving off I decided to paddle around a little bit to get a feel for Jackson’s Rocker. This kayak has been described as a cylinder with a cockpit. There aren’t really any edges on it which makes it quite stable. It spins easily without the worry of a hard edge accidentally flipping you over. Perfect for rolling practice I thought.
The current was moving faster than I had anticipated. Not a torrent, but this obviously wasn’t a swimming pool either. Paddling upstream of the beach a little ways I set up for my first attempt, and over I went. Upside down and underwater. Sweep the paddle, hip snap, keep your head down, uh-oh! Time to punch out. That first attempt was a little confusing, and the water’s cold, and the current is fast. So I emptied the boat and tried again. After paddling around some more and working up the courage again. Same results.
Twice over and twice swimming. Getting a little gun shy so I decided to paddle upstream to play in the rapids. That’s a good idea. Sneaking up the left bank I made it to the boulders and began eddy hopping across the river to the main flow. Love the way the Rocker is handling. This might be my new favorite boat. Once I peeled out into the main flow I turned sideways to paddle across the river. Where the Mamba would have been really tippy because of its edges, the Rocker was nice and stable. Caught some eddies on the far side of the river and headed downstream back to the beach, back to my practice ground water.
It took me some time to go over again. I paddled in circles, I did some extreme low bracing and sculling, I did some pivots, and tried to do a stern squirt. I did a lot of stuff while building up the courage to try another roll. In my head I was reviewing the mechanics of the roll. Tuck forward, paddle alongside the hull and in the air, sweep, hip snap, and that should do it. Over I went. Got the tuck, got the sweep, got the hip snap, and lifted my head enough to grab a mouthful of air. Then I was under again. Tried once more then punched out.
As I was draining the water out of the Rocker a family came up with several air mattresses, an inner tube, and a sea kayak. The Mom asked me if I was practicing my roll. My answer of course was yes.
She was encouraging and I launched out once more. It was beginning to seem as if the amount of time that I fooled around before flipping over was getting longer and longer. This time though, once I got back to my spot, I went over the sequence in my head and then flipped the boat over. At first when I tried to sweep the paddle wasn’t set up right and I felt it dive to the bottom. I set up again with both paddle blades out of the water alongside the capsized hull. Sweep, hip snap, and suddenly I was right side up. I’d done it! I had done a successful eskimo roll! What a rush. As I was coming up and realized that I’d made it I yelled out as loud as I could YEAH BABY! Everyone in Bend new that I’d done something amazing. I knew that I’d done something amazing.
The coolest thing was, that roll seemed effortless. It felt like it was easier rolling up from upside down than flipping over from right side up. How cool is THAT? The Mom that I’d been talking too didn’t see it, but the girls laying out across the river did. They thought it was cool. The Mom thought it was cool to, she just wanted to see it.
I tried again about half a dozen times. Each time I’d go over I try to roll, wouldn’t make it the first time. Still under I’d kip up enough to grab a mouthful of air and try again. So a few more times going swimming and I decided to call it a day. If you roll correctly it takes almost no effort. If you’re not doing it right you wear yourself out.
I’m totally stoked though. I did an eskimo roll. Now I have a roll. It’s not bomber, it’s not a combat roll, but it’s a beginning.
McKenzie River Kayaking 2nd Trip
Wednesday August 5th was my 2nd run down the McKenzie river in central Oregon. We ended up being a flotilla of 3 canoes and 6 kayaks. John and Christy in John’s We-No-Nah Rogue Tandem White Water Touring canoe, Ben and Celia in an Old Town tandem white water canoe, Zak in an Esquif Raven solo white water canoe. Ed and Toni Ford where there with their son and daughter Kyle, and Taylor. Ed has a Dagger Mamba 8.5. Toni was paddling a Liquidlogic Jefe Chico. Kyle was in a Jackson Punk Rocker, and Taylor paddled a little Wavesport. Finally Linda was paddling a Jackson 2Fun.
Once we were on the water the little flotilla reminded me of a Navy Task force. A couple of heavies, a cruiser, and a whole bunch of frigates and destroyers. Another way to look at it with all the different colors we looked like a bunch of skittles skipping around on the clear cold water of the McKenzie.
The Mamba is a very different boat from the Jackson 4Fun that I paddled on the last trip. Dagger says it’s a creekboat, but the kayakers I know say it’s a river runner. It’s got some fairly hard edges which help it to carve nicely. It can also catch one of those edges and flip you over if you’re not careful. Just something to think about in the current. It’s a pretty stable boat compared to the 4Fun. I found that it tracked much better, but still had wonderful maneuverability.
The first mile or so I was a bit skittish. Took me a while to push things over. To find the edge just where my boat would go over. On this trip I only went over once. As we went down river I was looking for opportunities to grab every eddy possible. In particular I was looking forward to the eddy at Fin Rock which sent me swimming on my last trip. Coming up to Fin Rock I knew that John would have Ben and Celia catch it, and just about everyone else would crowd into it. The Fin Rock eddy is BIG and has a very strong eddyline. This was what threw me over on the previous trip. Today I eddied out about 200 yards upstream to let everyone else have fun at Fin Rock. The little boulder I chose had its own powerful eddy behind it, and when I stuck the Mamba’s nose into it, it grabbed hold like nothing I’d experienced before. I was really locked in. Then when everything settled down at Fin Rock I carved out of my little eddy and headed in.
Things were still crowded in the Fin Rock eddy so I came in from downstream. No dramatic eddy turn this time. And no swimming. Taking the opportunity to rest up for a bit. John had Ben and Celia peel out, then he followed. Ed tried and went for a swim as the strong current grabbed the wrong edge of his Mamba. When I peeled out I leaned way downstream with a high brace. The current whipped the bow of my kayak around so fast that the stern hadn’t cleared the rock. The bump almost flipped me, and it would have if I hadn’t been so far over. I had so much fun that I decided to go back and do it again. What a rush. The second time I was prepared for the stern to bump. I think that was one of the things that caught Ed.
As we continued downstream leapfrogging past each other John and Christy leading Ben and Celia into eddies. Zak feeling out the edges of the Esquif’s envelope. Linda attempting to surf just about every standing wave on the river. The Ford clan spread out amongst everyone, and I was catching eddies. After that little boulder, and Fin Rock I was really into it. It was fun going in leaned out into the river with the Mamba carving into the eddy. Something else I was doing was paddling more aggressively across the current. It’s a bit tricky because you’ve got to watch your edges. There’s a balancing point, and I’m learning to find it.
Coming up was the one place where I went swimming on this trip. River right was a really big boulder with a smaller one just upstream and to the left. I thought to shoot through the slot between these two boulders and eddy out behind the big one. This looked like a good plan until I got into the slot and realized that the currents were extra squirrelly. Perhaps this wasn’t a good choice. In spite of a quick brace and a solid lean I ended upside down. This time instead of punching out right away I made an attempt to roll up. However the roll attempt went I didn’t make it up, so I ended up swimming out.
I lost my paddle, and my water bottle. Linda recovered both of these for me and I swam the boat to shore where I found out that the Mamba isn’t as easy to drain as the Jackson 4Fun. It holds more water. Linda loaned me a little carabiner to keep my water bottle in the boat, and we continued downstream to the boulder garden.
The last time John challenged me to catch 20 eddies in the boulder garden. This trip my goal was 50 eddies, and no swimming. I’m getting pretty good at catching eddies of all kinds. Little bitty ones formed by a fist sized rock sticking up out of the water. Eddies made by rocks just below the water. Eddies where a cluster of boulders makes a lot of swirling and upwelling currents.
To be fair I didn’t catch all the eddies that I aimed for. Some of them were a bit two far across the river and I was carried downstream by the current before I could get to them. One thing I had figured out though. I was much more aggressive paddling after my swim than before. I think I’ll just have to play around in the put in rapid until I go over next time. Get the swim done early and paddle hard the whole trip. By the end of the boulder garden I had managed to catch 40 eddies. I was short of my goal by 10, but I had been falling behind the main group so I had passed up quite a few. Next time I’ll get 50.
By this time all the kayakers had gone swimming except for Linda. She owned the river in her little Jackson 2Fun. Ed had gone swimming in the boulder garden and I waited in an eddy for him to drain his boat and get back on the river. While I was waiting my boat did a couple of unexpected stern squirts. This would happen when the stern of the boat would drift into the eddyline behind me. The current would roll over the stern deck pushing it down into the water and forward. Sort of like pinching a watermelon seed between your thumb and forefinger.
As my skills improve I’m sure that this stern squirting thing will be a lot of fun. Today it was a bit unsettling as I tried not to get thrown over.
Next rapid down was Screamer, marked by a home flying a big American Flag on the right river bank. The first wave has a nice size hole followed by a long wave train. The canoes were dropping in, and then the kayaks. I watched from the rear as all the colorful little skittles seemed to disappear. The mamba made nice work of the hole and the standing waves even if they did look HUGE! I remember last time in the 4Fun these waves didn’t seem all that fun, but that’s just me learning. Everyone made it through Screamer upright.
The next exciting thing happened just before our lunch break. Taylor flipped over and went swimming. Then while Toni was helping her she got caught under a tree branch and went over. Linda and I eddied out in a wicked swirling eddy just on the side of the river. I’m not even sure what was making the current work this way, but we managed to rescue Toni’s paddle. Toni and Taylor made to the riverbank safely and spent some time getting their boats drained. Linda peeled out, and made it to our lunch break. Then Taylor peeled out. She went into the current and ran the rapid like she’d been doing this for years. Now it was my turn. I peeled out, and almost immediately got pushed into another eddy just downstream. Toni followed, but she got a little nervous and ended up swimming again. Once again we tried and made it through the rapid just above our lunch break. Wow! I’ll remember this one for a long time.
The next two rapids before the take out went pretty easily. At Eagle Rock Zak went swimming because he tried to surf the wave. He almost made it, but forgot that he was in a canoe. I watched him try to brace with a paddle blade that wasn’t there just before going into the river. I paddled through the meat of Eagle Rock and Manny’s run with no trouble at all. The mamba just makes river running fun.
August Explodes with Excitement
The first weekend in August just exploded with tons of great events going on, and lots of excitement. Working with On The Go-Go I had the opportunity to go see Sugarland at the Les Schwab amphitheater, interview Kim Breedlove, the master luthier behind Breedlove Guitars, and finally cover a concert by Blues Legend Johnny Winter. What a weekend, and that was just work. For fun I went rafting down the Deschutes River with my friends from Bikram yoga, and got to go paddle boarding with surfing legend Jerry Lopez.
SugarLand at the Les Schwab Amphitheater
The Sugarland concert rocked. I don’t know how many people can attend the concerts at Bend’s Les Schwab amphitheater, but it looked like a sell out crowd. In addition to the jam packed venue there were crowds of people lining the opposite bank of the Deschutes river in the Old Mill district of Bend, and a number of rafts, canoes, and kayaks on the river. People were wearing all kinds of boots, belts, buckles, and hats with a western flavor in support of the award winning country duo. The equestrian scene is pretty big in Bend so there were lots of girls wearing english riding boots.
I was invited with my video camera not to capture the band, there was a CMT crew set up for that, but to be available to the promoters if there was an OLCC incident. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) has been causing a big stir recently with numerous local businesses and promoters complaining to city, county, and state officials about uneven, arbitrary, and malicious enforcement of code. There weren’t any incidents for me to video tape at this particular event. The concert rocked. If you enjoy country music, and have a chance to go see Sugarland, don’t miss it.
Breedlove Festival
Each year Breedlove guitars hosts a three day festival featuring some of the finest acoustic guitars made in North America. I had the pleasure of catching Kim Breedlove and Bill Keale onstage and later doing an interview with Kim. Boy I really blew the interview. After their performance onstage I approached Kim about doing an interview, and he said that would be fine with him. Could I wait about an hour. That was pretty simple since there was a lot to see at the Breedlove factory. I was inside checking out the guitars and shooting some video when it began to rain outside. This was a pretty heavy storm that took down the power for a bit. Peter Newport, president of Breedlove Guitars, moved everyone outside inside. Onstage performing at the time was The California Guitar Trio. Outside maybe 1/4 of the seats available were filled. Inside it was a packed house in a very intimate setting. I’ve caught it all on video. However I didn’t manage my power very well which is how I screwed up the interview with Kim Breedlove. When he came over I was down to my last 5 minutes of tape and the end of the battery. Figured that I had enough tape and battery to get the interview, but I figured wrong. I only had enough tape. The battery died just as we were getting started. I’m sorry Kim. I hope you’ll let me do it again sometime.
Rafting Big Eddy
Sunday came around and I went rafting down the Deschutes River with a bunch of my friends from Bikram yoga. We had a great day on the river with Michael Harris, the studio owner, promising a free month of yoga to the person who could hold standing bow pulling pose on the bow of a raft the longest. Sounded like a fun thing to try. I can tell you that trying to balance on the bow of a raft is tricky on two feet. Trying to balance on one foot while getting into and holding one of the most difficult postures is very tricky. In several attempts I managed to hold for about 7 seconds. A good effort, but not the winner. A 17 year old girl in my raft managed to get into and hold the posture for about 12 seconds before going into the river. Anyway it was a lot of fun watching everyone trying. The next day in class my balance was really dialed in. Moving, bouncing raft… difficult to balance on. Solid, steady, unmoving studio floor… no problem.
The major rapid on this run is called Big Eddy. It’s a class 3 plus primarily because of the narrow river and lava rock that the currents push into. Not particularly difficult in a raft. I really want to have a solid combat roll before I try it in a hardshell kayak. Can’t wait to try though.
Paddleboarding with Jerry Lopez
Monday morning after a great weekend I went to yoga at 9:00AM. My teacher that morning, Molly, asked me if I was going to go paddleboarding after class. Paddleboarding is becoming a very popular sport around Oregon and it involves a very large surfboard and a very long paddle. The last time I tried was during the Alder Creek Paddlefest in April, and I went swimming. It’s a tricky thing to learn. My plan had been to go to yoga then go do laundry. I had a pile to dirty clothes to wash, and was trying to figure out when I’d get it done so my first thought was to skip the paddleboarding. Then she said that Jerry was going out with us. Jerry Lopez?
When I was in high school I was really excited about surfing. Kind of odd for a kid in Louisiana miles and miles away from any kind of surf let alone the amazing barrels at pipeline. Still I was into surfing and Jerry Lopez was a big name. He was riding waves at Pipeline that were insane. Now he lives in Bend, Oregon and I had a chance to meet him.
Jerry is a very cool laid back kind of guy. He’s really good on a paddleboard, and knows how to teach really well. We paddled up river to Bill Healy bridge (1.3 miles upstream from Alder Creek) I was surprised at what a workout this was for my core muscles and my legs. We had a group of about 7 boards and had a lot of fun. It won’t take the place of kayaking for me, but I’ll probably do some more paddleboarding when I get the chance. It’s a great way to enjoy flatwater.
Blues Legend Johnny Winter
Monday evening and it was time to go to the Tower Theater to listen to Blues Legend Johnny Winter. During the sound check the guys were having a hard time with the boominess of the drums and bass. The Tower is a finicky room when it comes to sound, and the local sound guy Jonah is a genius at figuring out how to set the mix. Too bad Johnny’s sound guy didn’t listen to him. The concert was fun. They played to a packed house, and really raised the roof. Still Johnny was drowned out in the drums and bass. You can tell that Winter has really lived a hard life. The members of his band help him on and off stage, and he prefers to use lightweight guitars, but the guy still slams out a great performance. I listened to several songs before my ears gave up on the sound. What a way to finish a great weekend.
Chef Jose Andres at the 21st Sagebrush Classic
Every year for the last 21 years the Deschutes Brewery has hosted a golf tournament called the Sagebrush Classic. What began as a little scramble golf tournament for the customers of their downtown Pub in Bend, Oregon quickly turned into one of the big social events of the summer.
I had the pleasure of attending as part of On the Go-Go’s staff to shoot video of the event.
Here internationally acclaimed Spanish Chef Jose Andres deconstructs his Not your everyday Capresse
salad for us with some tongue in cheek commentary from Italian Chef Roberto Donna. Both of these Chef’s were great fun to talk to, were great on camera, and provided us with some amazing food.
Both Chefs run a number of critically acclaimed restaurants in the the Washington, D.C. area, and perhaps someday I’ll have the opportunity to visit them. Meanwhile I’ll just have to enjoy the memories of this year’s Sagebrush Classic.
Blackstrap at Alder Creek’s Pickin & Paddlin Wednesdays
In June Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe Shop hosted the first Pickin & Paddlin
Wednesday event with local Bend Band Blackstrap. All afternoon folks came out to try out different kinds of canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards. Lots of fun on the water, but that was only a prelude to the evening’s entertainment.
Blackstrap set up center stage on the back lawn at Alder Creek and gave a lively performance of some downhome, homegrown, Central Oregon Bluegrass. By the end of the evening everyone was on the grass dancing.
Pickin & Paddlin Wednesdays are great fun for the whole family. Next up in July are The Sweet Harlots and in August The Moon Mountain Ramblers Y’all come out to Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe shop and pass a good time.
Alder Creek hosted the Spring Paddle Fest in April, and is owned by Geoff Frank, and is a primary supporter of the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance.
Brace and Roll part 2
Last Tuesday’s trip on the McKenzie River was great motivation to get back into the pool and work on my roll.
There was a big class. We had six boats in the water not counting Christina Russell’s boat. She was teaching. There was a family of four. Mom, Dad, brother and sister all learning how to roll. There was a bartender from Bend who had just purchased his first whitewater boat, and there was me.
We began the class by just working on low and high braces, and hip snaps. After Tuesday on the McKenzie I was really pretty good at this part of the class. Maybe too good, I got a little cocky and went over while doing a high brace. My gut reaction was to grab the loop on the skirt punching out into a wet exit. That is exactly what I did everytime I went swimming last Tuesday. Just as I was about to pull the skirt I had another idea. There were six people in kayaks around me all paying attention, and we had just seen a video demonstrating eskimo rescues.
I let go of the loop and began patting the sides of my boat to signal that I could use some help. Christina put the bow of her LiquidLogic Biscuit 45 against the side of my boat and I was able to pull myself upright.
This was a great set up for the remainder of the class. Geoff Frank came in to help and Christina demonstrated a roll several times while Geoff gave commentary on the process. He told us what to look for while Christina was turning turtle then popping right back up. She makes this look so easy. Of course she’s been kayaking for 10 years. Watching Christina demonstrate the roll was very helpful. I was seeing some things that weren’t obvious from the video. Like exactly how she was sweeping her paddle to facilitate the hip snap.
We broke off into groups with Christina working with the family, and Geoff working with me and Cody. I watched as Geoff had Cody flip over. He held Cody’s shoulders and walked him through the mechanics of the paddle sweep and hip snap. Then he let Cody go all the way over while he guided the paddle through the sweep. I could see Cody pulling everything together, and gaining confidence each time.
When it was my turn everything seemed very disconnected while. Geoff said that I had a good hip snap and it was just a matter of time. At first putting everything together is very confusing. I’m upside down, under water, my paddle needs to go where? Don’t forget to tuck forward. The hip snap is the key. Keep your head down, it comes up last. With Geoff’s guidance I was learning how all of this worked together. Then Geoff suggested that I give it a try on my own, and if I didn’t make it to set up again and he would guide the paddle. A few times like this coming close each time was really helping me gain confidence.
The last time over I ended up punching out so it was time to let Cody work with Geoff some more while I emptied the water out of my boat. Once I was back in I let Geoff know that I was going to try on my own, and if I didn’t get it I’d just punch out. Punching out was becoming very easy.
First time over, set up, and I almost made it. Grabbed a mouthful of air, and I tried again, twice before punching out. Got the boat emptied and tried again with the same results. Geoff told me that I was lifting my head up first which was preventing me from coming up. Deciding that I had made good progress today I tried once more then called it a day.
I’m feeling much more comfortable in the boat, and I’m sure that a good roll is just within my grasp. Next time on the river I’ll be sure to try to roll up when I go over instead of just punching out. I can hardly wait until next time.