Wet Season Part II: the Fearful One

It had been over a month since my little incident with the siphon on the Mac Mac, my body had sufficiently healed but I wasn't so sure if my mind was still in it. Of course there is only one way to find this out. Bags and boats packed I headed back to the Lowveld, this time on my own. It was a week before the first annual Induna Extreme Festival; enough time to get my mind back in the game. My good friend Christiaan Van Rheede Van Oudtshoorn (thankfully also known as "Oudts") graciously put me up for my time spent there. He was the chief organiser for the event and we spent the next few days trawling the river for strainers.

The first day we hit the popular U2 section of the Sabie, the section playing host to the event. This section holds some great action with big rapids, long slides and Decent drops. While I must admit that I was very conservative on the river that day, I did enjoy myself and only portaged one rapid ' known as "Hugh Twice" because it nearly killed Hugh Du Preez twice (or so I'm told) and is the longest and one of the most dangerous rapids on the river so who could blame me for portaging it on day one?

Dewalt on the big slide

Pacing through a rapid called "The Hot Gates"

Scott Running the infamous double drop with the big slide in the backround

Oudts styling the second half of "Hugh Twice"

Scott running siphon falls

Scott showing off the new Medium Solo

Day two, we planned to run the U1 section of the Sabie in the late afternoon after Oudts finished work. Not a bad idea, seeing as the section is only 7km long. The plan was to be on the water by 16:30 and at the take out by 17:45. It's funny how different things actually turn out. We only left the Induna headquarters at 16:55 and were at the put in by 17:10. Not so bad right? Well our next delay came when our shuttle vehicle could not make it back up the hill. For the next 45min we pushed and pulled at the truck until it finally made it up the 200m muddy track. On the water by 18:00, that gave us roughly an hour of light left. There were four of us and we all new the section well enough to bomb down most of the rapids blind. We could make it. In hind sight it was one of the best things for my confidence to bomb down solid class IV with a time limit. All was going well, when we hit a particularly nasty rapid. Of course there was no time to take a pictures (But I've provided some images of a previous trip with Craig, bare in mind that the water this time round was nearly a foot higher). Gerhard, an Induna employee and a very promising paddler took an unfortunate swim below this rapid and above a nasty natural weir.

Craig shooting the fast and nasty one in 2006

With our time hampered a bit by the swim we carried on. We reached a blind rise, something I couldn't remember from previous trips. Gerhard walked, Jaco and Oudts decided to run it and if I had known what lurked below I would have walked too. The two described the line and then dropped over, leaving me alone in the eddy. Thankfully, as I rounded the corner the memories came rushing back and I knew what to do; I also remembered that if I stuffed this up I would disappear over an unrunnable 50ft drop. My line was good. We then proceeded to take the long portage around the 50ft waterfall.

Scott running the bottom drop of the forgotten rapid (2006)

Scott on the drop below the unrunnable 50fter

There is a set of cascades, of which the first is unrunnable. It was well into dusk and it was obvious we wouldn't have time to run any of them bar the last one, which needed to be run blind. The portage took longer than any of us wanted and by the time the Gerhard joined us in the pool below the final drop it was dark. Thankfully, all the major rapids were behind us; however, there are far scarier things active at night on African rivers ' Hippos!!! In single file we paddled as fast as we could, not saying a word and just listening, for 3km or so. It was one of the scariest times I've experienced on a river, fearing that every bump in the river is going to rise up and bite you in half or that every rustle in the bush will result in a charge. Thankfully we made it to the take out safely; nevertheless, the next time I paddle the Sabie (a.k.a Fearful One in the Shangaan language) I will make enough time in case of any hold ups.

In the next part of "What a Wet Season": Bombing down all the rapids of the U2, chainsaws and strainers followed by the carnage fulled Induna Extreme Festival.

Happy Paddling,
Scotty R
scotty@lifebywater.com

Wet Season part 1: A siphon experience!!!

2008 has been a fantastic season for paddlers in South Africa; we had such an abundance of rain that for the first time in many years it was actually difficult deciding where to go and paddle.

For me two places stand out, the lowveld in Mpumalanga and the Maclear region in the former Transkei.

Enjoying the grandeur of the Transkei

The rain began pelting down back in December and levels in the lowveld were ideal. With a car stacked full of boats myself, Luke Longridge and close friend/shuttle bunny/cameraman, Dave Schneider made our way north. First on the agenda was the newly discovered Dante's Inferno, a massive cataract dropping 85ft in just over 30m. The double drop known as "Double Delight" still needed to be run and was up for the taking. For a full account of our day at Dante's click here (http://www.lifebywater.com/kayak/news/eilands.html).

Leaving Dante's Inferno

Next stop was Induna adventures where we aimed to brave all the upper Sabie sections and the seldom run Mac Mac river, fate or the river gods would intervene here, but more on that later. Upon arrival the first thing we did was check the water levels and it was immediately clear that we needed to run the Mac Mac.

Completely rain dependent with a small catchment means the Mac Mac river only runs for a few weeks of the year. The river is choc full of awesome rapids, big slides and nasty little surprises such as undercuts and siphons. The first section after the put-in is a nice easy warm up with class II to III+ rapids, there are one or two bigger ones which require scouting. We reached the first bridge where a nice straight forward rapid greeted us, however; this leads into a massive slide/waterfall, called Venus falls, that is unrunnable. After taking a scenic portage around we were back on the river. Below this the river is similar in character to the above rapids except for a nasty slide which holds a hidden rock at the bottom, Luke found out about this one first hand but no real damage was done to his ankles. Below this is another bridge with a nifty little drop starting from right under it. There is a nasty under cut on the right and a precise right hand boof is required to avoid it. From this point the gradient really picks up and there are a series of massive slides which follow very closely to one another. The problem here is not all of them are runnable and it goes something like this: slide #1- runnable, Slide#2- unrunnable, slide#3 runnable, drop/slide#4 - runnable, slide#5 unrunnable. So be very careful when you reach this section and make sure you scout properly. We had our own bit of drama here when Luke ran the third slide and decided to hop out his boat (right above the fourth drop) to set up safety for me. As it turned out the water was slightly deeper in the eddy than he thought and he soon found himself swimming right at the lip of the next drop. I managed to get a throw bag to him in time but there was little we could do to save his poor Fluid solo from disappearing over the drop and then continue down the 5th unrunnable slide. Fearing this could be the end of our trip we embarked on what seemed to be a feeble search for the lost/damaged kayak. After half an hour we stumbled across it in a side channel half submerged in a strainer. The boat had suffered a major dent in the stern but nothing more; so credit must go to Fluid kayaks for making such a sturdy boat that can withstand the punishment of an unrunnable and very breakable rapid.

Luke on slide #3

Little did we know but this was only a small bit of drama compared to what lay ahead of us. We reached the fourth bridge and we were faced with a rather mean looking rapid with a "so called" clean 3m drop into a pool. Luke was sceptical and I was confident (I should have taken cue from him). The technical rapid was similar to the slot machine rapid on the Thrombi section of the Umzimkulu river with a longer lead in. I eddied out above the drop and lined up. The line was good until I hit a rock at the last possible second and fell onto the cushion wave side ways. I knew instantly I was in trouble, I spun to face up stream and the bow of my boat was facing the sky. Then I disappeared into the siphon.

Gone in a matter of seconds

It is the most helpless feeling imaginable and I can only compare it to being forced through a meat grinder. I was stuck, fortunately I had an air pocket and I managed a big breath before being pushed further down. It was so tight that I couldn't have reached my deck to pull out. So let the powers-at-be take over and relaxed my body; I pulled my knees out of my thigh hooks and the boat began to move. It was eventually pulled right off of me and the cockpit rim tore my calf muscle on the way out. The water started funnelling me after the boat and I thought I was just getting pushed under the boulder because it was getting tighter and tighter. Then suddenly I was out in open water and I surfaced to Luke's screaming and a welcome throw bag.

In total all I lost was my helmet and an elbow pad, but luckily had everything else (including my life). Unfortunately though, that little incident terminated our trip and the Sabie was left for another day.

Stayed tuned because a month later, with a healed leg and battered confidence, I returned to the lowveld. There are lots of pictures and more awesome stories from that trip and from a region that is quite possibly the best kayaking area in the whole country - the Transkei.

Happy Paddling,
Scotty R
scotty@lifebywater.com

Element Gallery 2nd May 2008

On the 2nd of May I managed to take my new Fluid Element out to Nahoon reef for its second paddle EVER! The surf was good and the kayak was even better.

It manages to hold its line better than any boat I have ever paddled in the sea, but as soon you go for a spin it releases effortlessly. To initiate moves one has to carve hard to get release soon as you lift off it goes BIG.

This was also the first time I could test the new GOYA kayaking PFD and Reefs titanium wetsuit. More information on the jacket and the wetsuit will follow soon. To sum it up briefly, the PFD was very comfortable and secure and the value of kayaking in the new flexible neoprene wetsuit is very promising. I can't wait to share more.

Check out the gallery of the day. All the Photos were taken by Phillipa Reinders on a Fluid Synergy being paddled by Kelvin Rivett.

Good lines
Craig Rivett
lifebywater@gmail.com

The Beginners Guide To The Eskimo Roll

Personally this is the Eskimo role that I teach people, I find it the easiest for people to grasp. However, I do not personally use this technique. I find to too slow to set up, but it is a basic move for learning any kayaking move. When learning to Eskimo role it is by far the easiest to learn in a creek kayak like the Fluid Solo or any other boat with a round hull and a low centre of gravity.

The key to the Eskimo role is getting your centre of gravity above the boat with the least resistance.

All this role involves is 3 basic moves, the setup, the reach and the pull.

1. For a right hander, this would involve putting your right fist where your left knee is and your left fist just behind your seat inline with seam of your kayak. This causes your paddle to sit horizontal close to the surface of the water. This position protects your face from rocks that could be under the water and helps get you orientated and ready.
   
   

2. The Setup. This move gets the paddle in position to grab the water forcing the kayak to role over. Again for a right hander, this involves moving your right hand out making the paddle sit perpendicular to the kayak. The trick here is to keep the paddle as close to the surface is possible.

   
   

3. The reach. This is the part that will make or break the Eskimo role. When your paddle is perpendicular to the kayak you must pull your right hand across your body, moving the right fist over your head to the right hip. The two most important things to remember when doing this is to make sure that your head is the LAST thing to come out of the water and that you pushes their left knee away from them.
   The head coming out the water last forces the centre of gravity to slide across the boat lifting it to the surface.
   > This is very tempting for a beginner to do because of your need to take a breath, you must fight this instinct. At the same time as you pull, flick your knee away from you; this makes the hull lift up allowing the kayak to flip. If you do not keep your head in the water or snap the hips (kick the knee down), it is close to impossible to role.

   
   Look how the boat has lifted up because of the kick down of the leg. Also note how the head is still in the water.

   
   The centre of gravity is pulled over the kayak.

   Tips. When teaching someone how to Eskimo role I always find it easier to teach them in a pool and often get them to wear goggles. This makes it much easier for the kayaker to keep orientation.

   Recap.

   1. The setup
      Get paddle parallel to kayak to get orientation.
   2. The reach.
      Get paddle perpendicular to the kayak on the surface.

      Always remember that every one misses roles sometime so don’t panic and always stay calm. More times than most you have time to set up and role again. The most important thing to remember when kayaking in general is to Stay Calm at all times.

      Good lines
      Craig Rivett
      lifebywater@gmail.com

   3. The pull.
      Keep head in water until the end
      Kick set up side leg, DOWN.
      Head is the last thing to surface.
      Smile
4. The Pull.

PUNCHING THE BIG ONE!

Firstly there is not a definitive technique to doing this. It really depends on the hole, your kayak and you as a paddler. To be honest there is also some luck involved in many cases.

There are a number of ways I have found to punching a hole, the three I will speak about are the:

1. 'coward role'
2. 'balls to the wall'
3. 'plug'

For all the punching moves you have to look for a weak spot in the hole. Generally the weakest points in a hole are where a diagonal is hitting the hole or where there is a green window.

A window

The window doesn't have to extend the whole way up the hole. It just has to make the foam pile smaller.

A diagonal

The diagonal hits the hole with a lot of speed. If you ride the back of the diagonal you can use this fast flowing water to pull your through the foam.

The coward role is actually a very brave move to use because you tend not to have any control and really rely heavily on luck. This involves getting enough speed before the hole and rolling over just before the hole. The aim here is to catch an undercurrent with your body to pull you through the hole. When on the other side all one has to do is Eskimo role up.

The one problem with this move is that 1stly you have zero control about where you hit the hole and when you roll over your body acts as a break slowing you down making you a very likely candidate for a beating.

The 'balls to the wall' involves trying to get over the hole by lifting ones bow and dropping ones stern. You have to aim for a diagonal or better yet a window to make this one work. When doing this move you have to hit the hole as fast as possible. When you hit the hole, throw your weight forward while putting your paddle on the far side of the foam pile to grab the exiting water. This should pull you over the hole.

One of the scariest feelings on the river is when you get the 'balls to the wall' move wrong because you stop on the hole and slowly you start sliding backwards towards the meat. All you can do at that point is HOLD ON.

The plug is probable the move I use the most when trying to get through a huge hole.
This is attempting to drive your bow down with lots of speed to catch the under current and pull you through. Paddle as fast as possible and as you get within a meter of the hole take a hard stroke and throw your weight forward. You want to use a diagonal here to get some speed in the water.

Get speed

Tuck, and hold on!!!

Using the diagonal

Get your Line

Place the stroke and GET SPEED

Tuck!

Punching big holes is fun but remember that there is always chance you are going to get stopped and beaten. When you practice this technique use a hole with nothing dangerous behind it so if you swim you should be ok.

Good lines
Craig Rivett
lifebywater@gmail.com