Failure on Two Fronts

5 Feb 11 - Well below the marker at the Shavas old rd bridge

Troy, Nick M, Val (novice) and I experienced two large failures on today's trip. In the first case we had decided to form a new cult, just because it seems to be the done thing these days (why have an ordinary club or association when you can have a cult?!) Naturally, it had to be a kayaking cult, and would require a charismatic leader with a fetish for young girls. We would all have to prostrate ourselves before the leader and call him “Great Kayaking Master Guru” and invoke his blessings before trips and events.

By the end of today's trip, on the novice section of the Shavas, we'd given up on ever finding a suitable leader, so the idea died a stillborn death.

The second failure came about when we attempted to name the last drop on the novice section. So far we have a name for “The Three Sisters” - the first challenge on the novice section, as well as for the “Island Rapid”.  “The Three Sisters” has three channels – the one on the left is a siphon, the middle one requires the paddler to bounce of two rocks while the right option has a rock in the middle of the best line, which adds a degree of difficulty at most levels. “The Island" has a nice wave halfway down, with only the tiniest of eddies, but it also has a sting in the tail at higher levels – you need to make a hard right at the end to avoid ending up in a boulder garden sprinkled with trees and pinning opportunities.

The last drop is just above the old road bridge. We decided to paddle it backwards and name it “Backwards Rapid” but that could be a problem as there is a mild pinning opportunity at the bottom, which is easy to avoid, unless you're going backwards. So we decided that if one of us could surf the wave long enough to open a can of amber liquid and take a sip, we would name the rapid after said amber liquid. But even though we managed to get onto the wave several times (which in itself is a feat) we failed to get comfortable long enough to open the can.

Besides these failures it was a very pleasant day on the river, with Nick M working out a few cobwebs and Troy practicing his rolling in anticipation of tomorrow's trip. Val enjoyed herself and mastered some of the basics of safe kayaking, including a wet exit while rearranging the rocks with her head protection. A cloudburst at the takeout failed to dampen our spirits and the beautiful sunset made the cold beers on the way home all the more enjoyable.