Double Dipping on the Deerfield

Today I ran the Dryway and Fife Brook back-to-back.

It proved to be a very tiring day, mostly because after I put in on Fife, I sprinted to catch up with the AMC group, led by Kimo Lindon, that I was safety boating for.

But the details on the Dryway run first.

Without Casey holding my hand, I had to pick my own lines. I also promised the ad hoc messageboard group that I did not have to stop to scout Dragon's Tooth. The result: six combat rolls compared with one in July. One of these rolls was in the runout of the Tooth, which was quickly followed by another flip and voluntary, non-combat swim in the pool between the Tooth and Labyrinth.

There is something to be said for these swims where I know the river well enough to know that I can make it to shore without swimming any rapids. There is more to be said however, for the fact that a roll takes less time to get to air than pulling the skirt, pushing out and resurfacing does. Furthermore, rolling spares the others the difficulty of bumping my boat to shore and the lengthy boat emptying process.

Labyrinth ended midway through the rapid this day, so I did not have a chance to redeem myself on the drop where I had a similar swim in July.

Because of the staggered release schedule (10 AM Dryway; noon Fife), I was able to do the double dip and catch up to the AMC group, whom I wasn't scheduled to safety boat for until the next day. But I decided to surprise them and caught up with them just as they were leaving the railroad bridge after lunch. (I quickly ate mine during a stop farther down.)

It was a pretty uneventful trip, with no rescues. Because of the legal issues involved and the fact that I hadn't signed the AMC release form, Kimo and I agreed that I was not a part of his group; I was just "following" them. (Maybe I shouldn't post that on the internet?)

When we got to the Gap, one of the people on Kimo's trip agreed to film me going through the Gap. Here it is:


9-13-08 Gap Run from Andy Stuart on Vimeo.

Pretty lousy place to start the ferry, as the intended destination, the river right eddy, doesn't even enter the picture. I had to contend with the extra flow (1000 or 1200, I'm not sure, but a lot higher than the usual 750) and the trashy eddy line, which was further complicated by the extra flow coming off the river left ledge. (BTW, there is a sieve between the rock that forms this ledge and the one slightly farther upstream and center that marks the river left side of the main tongue at the top. If you are running the easy and popular boof line on river left, be sure to stay very close to the left shore to avoid this potential trouble spot.) Going over the two rocks was not a new experience for me; I had done it earlier in the summer too thanks to the high flows of most of the season. It does make for a more interesting video to see me going over the two rocks.

I ran into Ed Vassar at the Gap, who was there running the Gap continuously. He said he was planning to run the Quaboag the next day. Although I was signed up to safety boat for Kimo, I couldn't resist the chance to run the Quaboag. When I missed meeting up with Kimo's group for dinner, I left word that I was headed home instead of camping and headed for the Quaboag the next morning from home.

2008 Season Recap--Summer

My first Fife Brook trip of the season was May 10, which I am calling summer because it was warm and we were on a "summer" run. Nicole Vassar led the trip with multiple co-leaders, not including myself. It was a good run. I did some practice combat rolls successfully to get in the swing of things and build confidence. (I guess "practice combat roll" is a bit of an oxymoron.) I choose a difficult line for the Gap, eddying out left at the top and attempting to ferry to the river right eddy. I made the ferry, but missed the eddy and quickly did a 180 to run the right line. The right line is much trickier than the straight-shot boof line on the left and eddying out left and then running left is also easier than the right side. I think the right side is more fun because of the dance you have to do around rocks and holes. You can also catch a few eddies mid-drop from the right line.

We also had a great barbecue after the run with hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and ketchup taste tests.

The next highlight was a trip on the Dead the last weekend of June. I rode up to The Forks with Charlie Sweet, an open boater. This trip is an annual openboat trip at more open-boat-friendly release levels of 1800 (sat) and 1300 (sun). (This makes no sense to me; shouldn't the low level be on day 1 as a warm up?)

Maine had a ton of snow last winter. It was the snowiest winter in 126 years in places, I heard. When this snowpack melted, rainfall came, keeping water high for a long time. I saw pictures linked to a post on NPMB of people running the Kennebec at 12,800, with water coming down the spillway. For our trip, the release was a little higher than usual because the dam operator at Flagstaff Lake did not subtract out the flow of Spencer Stream in calculating the release level. As a result, the flow was more like 2050 cfs. I felt much better in the genuine class III rapids than in 2007 and hit a roll in the middle of Upper Poplar, which was the only flip of the day.

On July 13, I ran the Dryway at 1000, with help from Paddle Head, aka Casey, who showed me the easiest lines. I did a roll in a flushy eddy after rear-ending a rock. I did not flip again until the last drop of Labyrinth. I would have liked to have been further left, where the main flow is, but flipped and rolled Piscataquog style (360), proving that you can have too much hip snap. I washed through the waves/holes at the bottom, tried another roll and then decided to swim because I knew I was in the flat water. It was a good run altogether.

The first weekend of August, Paul Satwicz and I ran Fife Brook together. We were planning to run the Dryway, but we couldn't find any companions probably because the downriver race that day kept many away and I wasn't comfortable leading him down it myself having only run it once myself. It was a good time. At the Gap, Paul did not follow me as directed. The result was that when I eddied out at the bottom, I could still see Paul sitting in an eddy above it. I knew what was coming, as he ran the middle, flipping and rolling up at the bottom. After this, he said he was glad we hadn't done the Dryway, although in my opinion, there isn't a single rapid on the Dryway where the line is less discernible than the Gap.

I didn't paddle any more until the weekend after Labor Day. I was scheduled to go on the annual overnight trip to the Magalloway, but the trip was reduced to a day on the Lower Millers because we didn't want to experience Tropical Storm Hannah in tents. The Lower Millers was great. The rapids are much bigger than they look from route 2, solid class III the whole way. It was a beautiful day too and I finally got the last of the endorsements I need for a class III rating from the AMC, which was a long time coming.

We walked the Funnel, which made Dragon's Tooth look tame at this level (4.8). I thought that there was a possible sneak route on river left, but with our group of four, there was no way anybody was running it that day.

2008 Kayaking Season Recap--Spring

There is no doubt that 2008 has been a banner year in the number of days I have paddled, the progress I've made, the comfort level I've achieved and the responsibilities I have been given on AMC trips.

In late March, I received word that I had been recommended to be a co-leader for AMC trips. After a meeting with other recommendees led by Amy Wong, I was certified to co-lead trips. I have yet to serve as one, however.

The season kicked off on April 12. I was set to meet ChuckS from the message board at the Searsburg Dryway on the Deerfield in Vermont. This dryway has no scheduled releases and only runs during periods of high runoff from snowpack (and New England had tons of snow last winter) or floods. This is a continuous class III run normally, but extremely high flows make it a IV. The water is incredibly clear, and the rocks in the riverbed were easy to spot from the road through the shallow, quick water. On this day, the flow was very high. I later found out it was 2500 cfs, which is 500 cfs more than the level Bruce Lessels says is too high in the guidebook. Not knowing the exact flow and not being sure I wouldn't be upside down in the shallow, continuous, rocky rapids, I opted to pass. ChuckS and his friend(s) ran it and later reported that it was great.

I instead embarked on a photo safari working my way down the Deerfield basin, snapping photos of the West Branch, regular (Monroe Bridge) Dryway, and Fife Brook sections. Some of these photos can be found on the corresponding AW page; and the rest can be found on my photo page.

After the Deerfield tour, I went to the Wave-o-Saurus and got some more photos and videos. I also got some surfs in.

Two weeks later, Paul and Nick Satwicz (see photo above) and I went to the West. Nick is Paul's youngest child, a senior in high school at the moment, I believe. Paul and I ran the upper while Nick did homework in the car and then we all ran the lower. It was Nick's first time in a whitewater kayak on a river and he acquitted himself quite well, even pulling off a roll with limited practice.

The next weekend, I ran the Quaboag for the first time with Randy, Glenn, Dustin, Lauren and others from NPMB. It was a good day and I got a lot of confidence from running the trickier drops. I also got some good videos at Quaboag Drop, the abrupt 4' ledge in the middle of the gorge section.

Here are the videos:


Running the Gorilla Line at Quaboag Drop from Andy Stuart on Vimeo.


Randy sneaking left at Quaboag Drop from Andy Stuart on Vimeo.

Fife Brook

I did not get to paddle for three weeks, so I decided it was imperative that I get out, even though all I could do was Fife Brook. Luckily, they were releasing 850 cfs instead of the usual 750, so some of the features were bigger and I didn't run aground in the middle of the river once.

It was a nice group, 6 kayaks and 2 open boats. Tony, from two earlier Fife Brook trips this year was there. We spent entirely too much time at Hangover Helper; sometime, I will run it straight through, catch no eddies and tell the group I'll wait for them at the first playspot. It was not the warmest morning, so I wanted to avoid any flips and therefore did very few ferries. Two of the others showed me how to double pump, which is one way of initiating a cartwheel by slicing your bow under. I could do it a little but it did make me flip. I still wasn't in the mood to do a lot of ferries at Hangover Helper though.

Finally we went down. When we got to the first playspot, we found it to be fairly washed out. It looked like there would actually be more surf in the microeddy used to catch the wave than on the wave itself because a lot of water was going over the rock that forms the microeddy. Looks were deceiving however. I got one decent ride on what was left of the wave and none on the "eddy." We decided to leave pretty quickly.

The rapid above the railroad bridge had noticeably bigger water and there was some play to be had. The big hole right before the bridge was a little more like a wave at this level and also better to surf on. It did not tend to want to spit you right out as much as normal and you could surf on top of the foam pile without going all the way into the hole.

We had lunch under the bridge, and after we left I got some very long rides on the waves just past the bridge. The next section was tolerable with the extra water, deeper and faster, but nothing more than class I-.

When we got to the rock garden, me and another demonstrated some stern squirts for someone else in the group at the first big boulder (known as Squirt Rock). On my second squirt, I flipped and rolled, but had floated past the eddy by the time I got up. I pulled into the first eddy on the side I could find, which was a ways down, and I had to wait there a while for the rest of the group to finish squirting. The rest of the rock garden was fun; I found a few chutes between boulders to go through.

The wave at Miami Beach was bigger than normal, but it was also harder to get to because of the increased flow. The current seemed to speed up in the last boat length before reaching the wave, which caused me to miss it twice. When I finally got onto it, it flipped me after about 5 seconds--a good 5 seconds. I missed two roll attempts before making it.

After Miami Beach, I ran the right channel and the two open boats followed me. It was nice for a change and had some biggish waves despite being shallow.

I decided I wasn't in the mood to run the Gap because I wasn't up for the scary ride that is too short to enjoy. I watched Tony and two others go through. They ran the right-hand side clean, which wasn't as bony as usual because of the extra water.

It was nice to get out after three weekend off and the extra water was definitely a plus despite the first playspot being washed out. I was also very happy to have hit all four of my rolls, an improvement over last time, perhaps helped by some flatwater practice at Squam Lake the previous weekend.

Fife Brook

It was time for another Fife Brook run this past weekend, the main objective being to run the Gap clean in my boat.

I got there late because of a slow start and because I stopped en route because I was sleepy. I got there 20 minutes late, but Bryan, the trip leader, was 20 minutes late. As a result, we had a really late start and had to hurry so as not to run out of water.

At Hangover Helper, I ran the boof into the midriver eddy at the bottom of the drop near the big river left eddy. I practiced my new ferrying technique and didn't flip on any.

I got my best rides of the year at the first playspot, using techniques I learned at the course to catch the microeddy and then the wave.

I missed the big catch-on-the-fly wave at the start of Freight Train. We didn't spend much time under the bridge, opting for lunch at a less rocky place near the Bridge to Nowhere. I did do a couple good squirts here and got some more good surfing on the small waves below the bridge.

After lunch, we went through the rock garden fast, which made me happy, and we didn't even stop at Miami Beach. Before I knew it, we were at the Gap. Bryan, Tony and I ran the Gap. Bryan took a very complicated, difficult and technical route, and I convinced Tony to run the left side with me, boofing into the first eddy.

I got through with no trouble, but blew a ferry in the wave train below the Gap, resulting in a swim. I was unhappy about this, so I decided to continue down to the picnic area to practice some rolls in the flatwater. I hit the first two but then I swam again. I don't know what happened to my roll at the end of the day. I hope I was just tired from rushing down Fife Brook. I might do some extra flatwater practice if I get a chance.

Fife Brook and a Dryway Preview

This past weekend, I went out to the Deerfield for two days of paddling, Saturday on Fife Brook with an AMC trip and Sunday on the Dryway on a cataraft with Patrick from the Northeast Paddlers' Message Board.

It was pouring for the drive out on Saturday morning, further complicated by the fact that from Acton to Leominster Route 2 has tire-width depressions that fill with water where you want your wheels to be forcing you to drive towards the middle or outside of your lane.

It was still soggy at the meeting place, where the nine kayakers and no open boaters got together, but by the time we put in the rain had stopped. Andy Novick, the intermediate course instructor which I found out on Friday that I had been accepted into, was part of the group. There were a few other familiar faces, including Rick from the Middleboro pool sessions (who is also in the intermediate course) and Doug from the beginner class.

We spent a lot of time at Hangover Helper as Andy instructed Doug and some others on ferries and got used to the playboat he was demoing. I got a couple rolls in after some stern squirts. Despite the rain, it wasn't too cold, so I wasn't unhappy about going under here, unlike last time.

We finally moved down the river after Shahan, Kathy, a co-leader for this trip and I attempted to get everyone to follow us downstream.

At the next playspot, I got a few good rides on the wave, and had more success after I started aiming for the rock that forms the tiny midriver eddy that accesses the wave instead of the eddy itself. We also had lunch here as it was already 1 pm.

At the top of Freight Train, I caught the wave that Tony and I had missed last time on the fly (the only way to get to it) but it flipped me over pretty quickly. I rolled, but I was down the river at that point and couldn't get back to it.

At the railroad bridge, I tried to surf some more in the big hole there, finally getting flipped over by it but it spit me right out just like the other times. I did a few more stern squirts, practiced some ferries and tried to talk people into going off the ropeswing under the bridge in their boats to no avail.

I caught the surfing waves just below the railroad bridge, which I thought would be the last action until the rock garden. However, the water was so high with all the rain that it was not boring at all and there were some waves.

In the rock garden, I got way ahead of the group as usual. Kathy and I were ahead of the group for most of the trip because we both tend to paddle in the pools when others just drift. (There should be more people like us). Shortly into the rock garden, I tried to do a stern squirt from a midriver eddy and flipped, washing into the current. I rolled and went down a ways and had to wait a long time for the group in an eddy because they had all pulled into an eddy between where I had flipped and where I ended up stopping to remove some layers because the sun had come out.

In the remainder of the rock garden, it was apparent that the water was high because some of the rocks were covered and there was one place right at the end where a really nice wave had formed. There were midriver eddies on both sides, but it looked like it might be a little hard to catch because it was near the top of the eddies and the current was strong. I was able to get onto it though, but quickly flushed out after trying to carve and then flipped, which I was not happy about because I did not think I should have flipped upon resuming my ferry.

I got a few surfs shortly below at Miami Beach, but again flushed out when I tried to carve. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if the waves were too angular and/or didn't have enough of a backwash to hold me there. The one I carved on the Sacandaga was actually more of a hole.

After the rapid below the island, it was on through the shallow part above the Gap, which was still really bony and got me hung up on rocks a couple times. A few people, including me, decided to run the Gap. I was supposed to follow Rick and we were going to run the tongue at the top, pull into the river left eddy and then go down the left side. I ended up going ahead of Rick and flipped over trying to pull into the highly aerated and swirly eddy. I missed a roll, and went through all three holes upside down in my boat, denting my helmet in the third one. I missed another two roll attempts at the bottom, but did get breaths (which is why I missed) before finally hitting one way below the drop in the rock garden below it. I was not pleased with this Gap run.

It was still a good day though, even though I have emphasized some areas I thought could have gone better. I thought my ferries were very good, particularly the one where I got to the wave at the bottom of the rock garden and the ones at Miami Beach.

On Sunday, I took a look at the whole Dryway with Patrick on his old cataraft, aka, floating strainer. It didn't look too bad. The main areas of concern for me in terms of running it in my kayak are the river wide hole at the bottom of Split Hair and the numerous pourovers in Labyrinth. Dragon's Tooth, which is the biggest rapid on the Dryway, didn't look too bad. The line is straight forward, and there are only two real moves to make, the first of which looks easy. There also appears to be a wider margin for error in terms of where exactly you must be there than there is in the Gap.

Patrick and I got done pretty quickly and after lamenting to him about my Gap run on Sunday, he suggested that I demo a creek boat and run it. I thought that was a good idea, so I went down to the Gap and got a Dagger Nomad. I paddled it between the bridge and the picnic area to get used to it a bit. I could roll it easily but noticed that it didn't turn as well as my Vision. I waited for the people from my group on Sunday to come down so I could run it with them, but the AMC beginners' class got down first, so I ran it with Artemis and Adrian. This time, I took the left side all the way, boofing into the eddy that flipped me instead of turning into it. I ran the left side clean, despite crashing into Adrian after I peeled out. (He didn't flip either). It felt great to finally run the Gap clean, even though it was with an easier boat for doing so. Maybe the boof line will make it easier to run it in my boat as well.

First Fife Brook Run of 2006

I signed up for a Fife Brook club trip this weekend with the AMC. With all of the rain on Wednesday, there was some doubt about whether or not the water would be too high for it.

The leader was Harland, the same leader as on the W. Branch Farmington trip last fall, so I was expecting an open-boat-heavy crowd. There were a lot of open boaters-six-but almost as many kayakers, five. We decided to go in two groups, determined by type of boat.

The kayakers consisted of myself, Conrad, Tony, a middle-age woman whose name I forget and her daughter who couldn't have been more than 11. (A future pro boater).

It was a cold morning, autumn-like, so the temperature did not make me want to do any practice rolls. Sure enough though, I blew a ferry at Hangover Helper and rolled right away (first attempt).

We got to the first playspot (Carbis Bend) and I got some good surfs on my initial rides. I did not stay on as well after the first three though. I stayed upright the whole time here.

We headed on down and Tony and I just missed what looked like a great surf wave at the top of Freight Train. I forgot about the big hole right before the railroad bridge and punched it. Then I tried to surf it a couple of times, but it spit me right out each time without flipping me. While the others were eating lunch, I did some stern squirts under the bridge, all but one of which resulted in a roll.

After lunch, we headed down and I did one more squirt and roll. We hit the few small surfable waves before the long, flat, shallow, boring stretch before the rock garden.

The rock garden had never been one of my favorite rapids on Fife Brook because I think people catch too many eddies there and go too slow as a result. This is still true of course--I opened up a big lead on the field during this portion--but I found that the rock garden has many good sidesurfing spots. I got two good sidesurfs, but I didn't keep my upstream edge up enough on the second one and got turned over, hitting the rock that was forming the hole. I couldn't locate any new scratches on my helmet though.

We came to Miami Beach, but I didn't manage to stay on the wave at all. I did stay upright though. The trip around the island and through the squirrelly spot where the channels come back together was uneventful.

After another long, flat, shallow, boring stretch (these are the reason some people hate Fife Brook), we reached the takeout above The Gap. I was unable to find anyone willing to run it, either from my group or another group of kayakers, some of whom I had met on the West. So I had to wait for the open boaters to come down, which took forever.

In the meantime, Tony decided he wanted to run it and found a stray kayaker named Alan who wanted to run it too. When the open boaters got there, we scouted it and they decided not to run it either. I was disappointed because I wanted to go down it following someone experienced, but we decided to run it anyway. One of the open boaters lowered his boat into The Gap with a rope to catch us/our boats if we swam.

After much deliberation, we decided to run a line just right of center, the idea being to just miss the holes to the right. The order was Tony, me, Alan. We got through the lead-in unscathed, unlike my attempt last fall, and proceeded down the initial tongue. I saw Tony go over in the first or second hole because he was too far left. I was too far left too and I believe I went over in the same spot. I was able to roll before the third hole, which impressed Alan a lot, but I was facing upstream when I came up and got flipped right back over by the bottom hole. I rolled again in the pool at the bottom, as did Tony. Alan stayed up the whole time, so the open boater did not get any rescue business.

I convinced Alan to go past the takeout with me down to the place where the railroad tracks cross the road, a portion I had not run since the first day of the beginner course last summer. We got a couple of extra surfs, including at least one sidesurf by me.

It was a fabulous day overall, no swims, each roll was on the first attempt and plenty of surfing.

Playboating Course

Yesterday, I accomplished one of my goals for the season, taking a playboating course. This course was at Zoar, with Jim, the instructor, and one other student, Jaime.

In the morning, we went to a flatwater portion of the Deerfield and learned some moves, most of which involved turning sharply while doing a turning stroke and submerging either end of the kayak. Some of these moves were difficult and some were easy.

After this, we went back to Zoar to eat lunch at watch a playboating video with Jim braking down the paddlers' moves. I found it hard to see which way the boaters were leaning and paddling (front or back sweep) because of the extremely frothy water they were in.

After this, we went to try out our new knowledge on whitewater. With the recent floods, there was water spilling into the Dryway despite there not being a release and that is where Jim decided to take us. I was worried that I was not up to doing the Dryway yet, but he said that we would only be doing the first part before the really hard rapids and that having seen us paddle in the morning, he knew we could handle it.

I was pretty nervous in the car and until we got to the put-in, where I saw the first rapid and it didn't look too bad.

It wasn't too bad. The current was a bit too much for me to contend with at some of the waves he wanted us to practice on, causing me to flip before getting on them and roll after washing past the access eddy. We spent a lot of time at one medium-small wave and I got a lot of rides on it including one really long one. The lessons of the morning helped me to stay on and move around on it without flipping. At the very end, I found a hole and did a long sidesurf, which we covered in the morning, which was very good. I did not flip.

We took out just above the start of the serious stuff (Split Hair Rapid). It was a good day and I'm looking forward to practicing these moves some more on subsequent trips.

Deerfield, part 4 (The Gap!)

I felt back in command on Fife Brook once again today. The level was much lower than the previous trip with beautiful sunny weather. I had one really good surf at the first wave below Hangover Helper, which I saved at the end with a hard right-hand brace. This wave was noticeably smaller than two weeks ago. I had no flips until the tricky spot below the island, where I went over where the currents come back together. I was not shaken by this happening and I had already decided to run the Gap.

When we got to the take out just above the Gap, it was determined by the group that only I and one other would be running it. The other person was an older guy whose young son was with us today and whose name I forget. I told him it would be my first time running it and would be following him. Meanwhile, he helped his son to put away his gear and bring it up to the road. So I sat in my boat on the shore for what seemed like ten minutes but was probably only three, my state of calm slowly eroding. Finally he came back down and I took a deep breath and sighed and we peeled out.

In the lead-in waves, he took an interesting route around a big one. Trying to follow his line exactly, I did the same; it was a semi-circle about halfway up the wave, left to right. As soon as I got on to the downstream side of the wave, I flipped over. I set up quickly and rolled--my first combat roll at a very opportune time. I was stil moving towards river right and ended up hitting a rock above the Gap. For some reason, I tried to brace instead of grabbing the rock and I went back over. I was upright for about 3 seconds, long enough to hear someone say "Great roll." I decided not to try another roll here, following advice I had heard at the beginner's class which was just to stay in the boat if you flipped in The Gap and wet exit at the bottom. After looking at many pictures, I realized I was much farther from the heart of The Gap than I thought I was, giving me time to try some more rolls.

All and all, it was a good trip and I was very pleased to get my first combat roll, however brief the benefits.

Deerfield, part 3

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I drove out to Western Mass. to meet up with an AMC group to camp out that night and paddle Fife Brook the next day. It's about an hour and 45 minute ride on Route 2, which is a terrible road going from a divided highway to a 4-lane undivided road with lights, to a divided highway, to a "super-two," to a country road. Then it is part of Interstate 91 for 3 miles before turning into a rural 2-lane highway with good scenery. I am going to time the way home and then take the Mass Pike and I-91 next time to see if it is quicker, which it might be since it's 65 the whole way and no lights.

Anyway, I met up with the group at the campground and we went to dinner at a nice restaurant in the surprisingly nice town of Shelbrune Falls, tucked away on a bend in the Deerfield a mile off Route 2.

When I woke up, it had just started raining, and this continued all day. Of course, this is an all-weather sport, so we just went right about our business. This was the highest level the Deerfield at, 900 cfs release plus the rain. I swam twice in my new boat's maiden voyage, no rolls, once shortly after peeling out before Freight Train and the other time while trying to surf at Miami Beach, which is the last rapid before the island. The level was so high today that we were able to run the right channel at the island, which is usually too bony to run, so the left is the normal route. I think the left side is a little easier, especially at the end where the two currents reconverge.

I did not feel as comfortable with my boat as I had on the previous Fife Brook run in the rented boat. I think I needed one trip to get used to the smaller boat. I was thinking of running the Gap, but I'm gonna wait until next time so I'm more used to the new boat. This boat has an extra balance point on its sides, which I discovered right away at Hangover Helper, when I went about a third of the way over. I was disappointed I did not get a roll. I need some practice. I'm going up to Squam Lake with my family next weekend, so I'll bring the boat for some practice sessions.

It was a good day, as I met some new people, some of whom were canoers--although the preferred and technical term is "open boaters". I got some good surfing in as well, which was good as usual.

Deerfield, part 2 and an acquisition

It's been a month and a half since I've been out on the river, but I did take the pond rolling course. I got lots of good instruction and practice and I feel pretty good about my ability to roll now. I am aware, however, that people often have difficulty rolling in whitewater (referred to as a "combat roll") because back in June a guy watching people go through The Gap told me he was having trouble rolling in the river despite being 100% in flatwater. We'll see how it goes today; I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to try. This is a reunion of my beginner trip as well as the other 3 beginner trips, which took place earlier in the summer. We will be doing the same section as the beginner trip, the Deerfield (Fife Brook Section).

I am also planning on stopping at Zoar Outdoor, a kayaking store near the river to check out boats. This would be a good weekend to buy a boat, on account of the fact that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has waived the 5% sales tax this weekend. We'll see how today goes.

Ron and I carpooled once again, seeing some familiar faces at the take-out, the usual gathering place for the run. Ken Green was there, as were a couple of other students from the beginner course, and so was Rob Stiles who ran the roll course.

Once everybody arrived, we headed up to the put-in just above Hangover Helper. Once again, we did some ferries across the swift current and waves at Hangover Helper. I utilized a narrow mid-river eddy to get out into the strong current and I did not flip once on the ferries. I tried a roll in the big eddy on river left, losing hold of my paddle going under and having to swim. I never actually got a roll attempt out of it, so I wasn't too unhappy about not rolling.

After spending what I thought was way too much time at Hangover Helper ferrying, we finally went downriver. I was catching lots of surfing waves none too small, having a great time.

At the first playspot, I got out of my boat and got my water bottle out of the back of my boat. In the course of digging around for the water, I pulled my sandwich container out from the back and noticed that it got completely soaked. I wrung it out and ate it right there, before the others ate their lunch. I got a couple of surfs on the wave at this playspot after I downed the sandwich--lots of fun.

We went down the river, with me successfully negotiating Freight Train rapid, the bottom of which is the usual lunch spot. There is a railroad bridge here, hence the name of the rapid. Since I had already had lunch, I had time to practice ferrying and peeling out of eddies here. There is also a rope swing underneath the bridge, which I went off a few times. Rob went off the rope swing in his boat, which was actually rather anticlimactic as he only dropped a couple of feet into the water and landed upright.

As the others got back in their boats after eating, I started surfing on the waves right under the bridge. I did not know it, but these waves are quite squirrelly, meaning they sometimes vanish or move laterally across the river. This happened while I was surfing on it, flipping me instantly as the others began to head downriver. I almost rolled, bringing my head up a split second too soon, resulting in a short swim. I was actually happy I swam because it gave me another chance to go surf there again. (I still didn't know these were squirrelly waves). I got a good long surf, then flipped peeling out (my fault). I missed my roll attempt again, not as close as before and swam again. Someone told me swims when you're trying to surf don't count, which made me feel better.

The rest of the way down, I continued to surf at every opportunity. I felt very comfortable with my eddy turns and ferries, for the first time feeling like I really knew what I was doing. I narrowly avoided flipping when Ken and I collided near a fierce mid-river eddy line below the Island, where the two channels come back together. This is the last rapid before The Gap and the toughest rapid (excluding The Gap) on Fife Brook, in my opinion.

After we took out, I drove down to Zoar Outdoor to try out a boat. Ron and I were a little early in the morning, so we stopped there and I sat in a playboat called the Vision 44. I had decided earlier that a playboat as opposed to a river runner because I had enjoyed surfing waves so much. The Vision 44 felt perfect--exactly the right size for me. I also liked the fact that the knees did not come up very high, meaning there is less resistance dragging below the water when attempting rolls.

After we took out, I took the demo Vision 44 down to the Deerfield, in a flat but moving section below the run. I took it out in the current and flipped on purpose and rolled right back up. It sure did roll easy, just as I expected. I fooled around a little more, then went back to Zoar, sold on the Vision 44 and ready to make the purchase. The one I had sat in this morning was the only one they had left, so the orange one became mine for two and a half weeks' wages.

So all and all, I had a great time on the river. The two swims did not count, and I was able to roll my new boat. I can't wait to take the new boat out and learn some playboating moves with it (although the latter will probably have to wait until next summer).

Deerfield

The last two days, the AMC course hit the river. Saturday, we did a very short run on the Deerfield with lots of drills. Lots of eddy turns, which was mostly review for me. The others got their swims in right away. We did a lot of S-turns in between mid-river eddies, then ferried back across to the first eddy and went up and did the S-turn again. When the water came up (this section is dam-controlled), we went downstream, catching every eddy available. I finally flipped on a wave, much like I did on the Spokane. I'm glad I got mine in because at the very end there were two people who hadn't flipped and they were forced to by the instructors. The very last thing we did was surfing on a wave, which required crossing a fairly strong eddy line. I got on the wave, which was a blast and I was proud of myself for not flipping getting out of the eddy. With all the drills, we only did about a half a mile of river all day.

Sunday, we did the whole section, with plenty of drills along the way. The first rapid was called Hangover Helper. The water gets squeezed into the middle by rocks, so the current was very strong--perfect for ferrying drills and beginner carnage. Fortunately the rocks that squeeze the current form big eddies on either side so you have a big target to swim into if you flip--in theory. I flipped going across and managed to swim all the way past both eddies and had to work quite hard swimming against/across the current to get to shore. I need a roll!

The rest of the day was fun, with numerous surfing opportunites. It's really fun to have the water rush under you while you just sit on top of the wave not moving. There are all kinds of tricks that you can do on top of waves or in holes, but they are way above my level right now.

I was very tired at the end of the day when we took out just above a big rapid called Zoar Gap, or just "The Gap." It was lots of fun to watch people go through this rapid including our instructors and one of the students (who had a roll-a ringer). A very good weekend with much less anxiety than the Spokane.