The remainder of the 2006 season did not produce any particular highlights. After the bad Dryway experience I ran the West in the Fall with Paul Satwicz, a lifelong neighbor, family friend and member of the same church. He stopped boating ~1982 when he started having kids, minus the occasional trip to Cohasset. He made his first roll in 20 years on the West and it was a good time despite the rain. I ran the New Boston gorge in mid-October at the minimal release level. I rolled five times and my helmet acquired dents each time. After the fifth--a particularly hard hit--I decided enough was enough and took out. I did run Bear Trap later in the day, which was a great time. (And no dents). My last run of 2006 was the Green River, starting in Vermont and finishing in Massachusetts near Greenfield. The water was too low to justify its class III rating, but the scenery in this remote valley is unbelievable. I'd highly recommend it just for the scenery, especially in the Fall.
2007 was not as active as 2006. There were some lowlights, particularly when I had to abort my 2400 cfs Dead run at the gravel pit due to two swims and at least one roll. There were, of course, a few Fife Brook runs and I ran the Gap clean every time but one and did not take the easy line once. The highlight was the fall West release where I felt really good and began to consider running the Dryway again.
At the West, I also traded in my Vision 44 for a larger boat (at a profit!) because I felt that the Vision was making harder water too difficult for me. The new boat is a used liquidlogic CR 125, which is 7" longer and much beefier than the Vision and still theoretically able to perform playboating maneuvers, which the Vision was built for (not that I could do any of them).
The last run of the 2007 season was my first run of the Lower Ash in the southwest corner of New Hampshire. Now, the west-flowing tributaries of the Connecticut River between the confluence of the West in Brattleboro, VT and the MA/CT border, namely the Ashuelot, Millers and Quaboag, do not exactly have the best reputations regarding water quality. I found the Ash to be quite opaque and dark and it just didn't feel right on your skin (I know this because I rolled once; no swims). The good news is it did not smell. As far as the whitewater was concerned, there were plenty of good rapids. It was running at a medium level, so there were no class IV's, but some very nice III's. It was a great way to cure my now yearly November syndrome, which characterized by a burning desire to get one more run in before there is ice in the rivers.
Showing posts with label Vision 44. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vision 44. Show all posts
9/10/2008
12/02/2005
Pictures
A couple of photos, of me with the boat when I got it and rolling practice at Squam Lake. (That's a successful roll).
8/13/2005
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).
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).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
