Shavas Gorge and Novice Trips

30 Jan 11 - 0.4 on the marker at lower bridge
Novice Run
Sunday saw an early start, commencing with a Novice run from Main to Old Rd - Wayne guided Carrie and Ben, with Troy and David going along to work out the cobwebs. Level was higher than Friday. They portaged "Three Gaps" and most portaged the island as well. Meanwhile, Ken, Mike and I drove around to the Old Rd and reintroduced Sarah and Lisa to the basics on a flat section. Both ran the drop above Old Rd bridge - very well done!

Ben and the ladies headed off, and we loaded up to go run St Pauls. As soon as loading was finished Wayne made an executive decision to run the section below the Old Rd bridge - thanks for making us load up mate!

Shavas Gorge Run

We left at around 11, and Kenny and Mike had instructions to drive 5km down a previously Googled road, to where the river comes close, and to wait there. We took a two-way radio and GPS so we could work out when we were close to the take-out and get hold of Ken.

The first section went well, with a really nice wave. David and Troy portaged the first big drop and, after long deliberation, Wayne and I opted for a chicken run down the centre. River right had a very wide and serious keeper hole, while left was not much better. The chicken run had good potential to drift into one of these holes, so we needed to be careful. Wayne got it spot on, while I almost managed to end up in the left hole - with a cry of "Oh F@ck!"; and the drop has been thusly named.

Not much further the river narrowed into a gorge about 500m long. We scouted it thoroughly and noticed the start was a big drop, pretty much river wide, with two playable waves lower down, and a few holes dotted about. We started extreme left, then worked our way right.

Just above the prime play wave Dave dropped into a hole while the rest of us were in a small eddy discussing the play wave.  Troy looked up and asked where David was - nowhere to be seen. Obviously he was swimming so we all tore off after him, managing to push him out of the current a hundred meters or so later. Wayne set off after the kayak and promptly got himself pinned up against a tree near the bank - upside down. Troy and I raced in to help, but he managed to pop out and stand in the shallows, so I set off after the boat, while Troy took a swim in sympathy with Wayne and David.

Wayne hauled himself into the offending tree, as the banks were pure slick granite, and managed to seal-launch from the tree. I rescued David's boat and walked back up to see how the others were doing - all OK and David swam across to his boat.

After the gorge the surrounding land flattened out and we expected much calmer fare, but no such luck. Three big drops followed, the first (just after the gorge) we portaged (four very retentive holes, one below the other to make sure you got a workout). The second I scouted and sent Wayne and David through. When Wayne saw it he mouthed "F@cksakes!" but it was too late - and this drop is thusly named. There was a twist in the stopper wave that flipped them both, and me when I ran it later. David settled for another swim and Wayne managed a rescue without mishap while I pointed Troy at a chicken run, opting to run the big drop myself as a matter of principle (can't very well send your mates down and not run it yourself).

The third was a river-wide drop, like a weir, with a nasty river-wide hole below. Except for one tongue. Wayne insisted I bank-scout but I opted to run it with his guidance and a partial eddy-scout - well done Wayne - very straightforward. Troy followed me and so did Wayne. David missed the line and had swim number 3.

We were now well past the planned egress point, but we'd spoken to Ken on the radio and he assured us he was waiting by the river. From the poor signal we estimated he would be about 1.5 to 3km further down. A few small drops later and we arrived at a horizon line with much spray. Thank goodness the Landy was right there. This is a very big drop with some serious holes, nasty eddies and pinning options.

David was knackered, but we all enjoyed the day immensely. Mike is now clued up on driving, and Kenny enjoyed the beers with us afterwards, as usual.

Click here for photos (only a few at the end). We need a waterproof camera chaps! I think you should all club in for an early birthday pressy to Jan!

Cobweb Loosening Run - Shavas

28 Jan 11

Novice section

Friday afternoon, Wayne, Aiden (Wayne's son), Kenny and I headed to the Shavas. Due to time constraints Wayne and I ran the novice section from Main Rd to Old Rd. River was pretty high, so there were good waves and a few gnarly spots, including the bend just after the island wave being difficult to turn right on - resulting in a push into the trees straight ahead (which we managed to avoid). A very nice playable wave above the old road bridge, second wave from the drop. The drop below the bridge is too shallow.

Saturday Wayne had an issue on the farm, so the planned trip was canceled. Andy and Ben both visited the river, with Andy running the drop above main road bridge. The water was even higher and the wave was washed out. 

Nyagui Trips - Riverbend to Mukore

23 Jan 11 - About 20cm over the pumphouse weir
David C, Wayne M and I returned the "killing fields" on the Nyagui, at Mukore farm. We spent a fair amount of time looking for the upper pumphouse put-in on Riverbend farm, and after a few missed turns and interesting 4x4 moments eventually put in just below it. The first couple of km's were mild and allowed David to work cobwebs out, before a fairly straightforward run through the "fields". Lots of stoppers and holes all the way down, but the water was about a foot lower over the weir than last week, so not as intimidating. The wave at Z-rapid was working as well as ever and we spent at least an hour (or two) there, with David having a go in a short boat too.

Click here for video footage. More footage to be uploaded - if you search for "janhartzim" or "Nyagui" you'll find it all.

Shavas Novice Run

22 Jan 11

Just a short run on the mild section between the main and old roads. Other than my paddle drifting off while exiting the boat to show the line to Carrie, nothing particularly exciting happened. Carrie W has some paddling experience and quickly caught on and got comfortable on the river - except that Ben's boat was way too big for her.

Troy Donates his Boat to the Nyagui

16 Jan 11 - About 50cm over the pumphouse weir
On Sunday Troy and I decided to try the Nyagui at Riverbend farm. After a late start we arrived to a swollen river - the short section we normally run from the pump-house to the wave was full of keeper holes and we didn't feel confident enough to get rid of cobwebs on this section. With some reluctance we talked ourselves into running the sort section from the wave to Vespids (below Merlin's Rock).

This is normally a grade 2 run, but it was up to 3+ with some keeper holes and one or two pinning options. Troy kicked off with a reasonable run, and then took a swim while surfing a nice little wave. An easy rescue and off we went on the last section, which I thoroughly scouted first.

Troy asked me to show him the way, which proved to be a problem in hindsight. After 20 seconds I saw his paddle bolting down the river and decided he might be in trouble, so I jumped out and raced up the bank. Troy popped up on the bank a few seconds later - in one piece, but sans boat. I set off after the boat, catching up with Kenny about 500 meters later. Kenny informed me that the boat had taken the hard line down Vespids a few minutes earlier, so I chased after it (skirting Vespids using a chicken run river right.)

Many hours later, having run the section to the weir twice, with Troy, Kenny and Beanie scouring the bank, we issued reward notices and stopped at the bottle store for refreshments, before trekking home.

So Troy is in the market for new boat, and the rivers are pumping! [The boat has since been returned by a kind fellow named Isaac]

Shavas Novice Trip - Main Rd to Old Rd

15 Jan 11

On Saturday morning Ben Burr and I did a beginners trip to the Shavanhove bridge. I ran Ben through the basics and he was soon ferry gliding and eddying like a pro. He also practiced his wet exit and Eskimo rescue.

After an hour or so we decided to do a short run on the section between the bridges.  We drove up the river from the old road to the island rapid, which Ben ran 3 times, the last time on his own while I captured him on video.

River level was good but not high enough for the St Pauls to main Rd section. I managed to play on a small wave at the main road bridge, and the wave at the island was also working nicely.