22 May 11 - Low Water
Wayne and I enjoyed a morning on the river. The usual wave (hole) was too small, so we ventured upstream to look for alternatives. We found a nice abseil site for the river festival and spent a bit of time looking at how we could divert water for a slalom course, before finding a shallow but retentive hole, which resulted in about an hour of extended play.
That's it for the Nyagui this year I think, except for novice runs. Time to settle down and plan next season, including Canoe Polo, Slalom, Dusi/Fish marathons and the Nyagui River Festival (Jan/Feb 2012).
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Monday, 16 May 2011
Nyagui Mukore Section - Novices and Surfing
15 May 11 - Low, but the wave was still working, and not too shallow.
Ben B gathered a group of adventure racers, some with extreme hangovers, and we set off after 11am. We lit a braai fire and conducted a safety briefing soon after arrival, and put the novices (Kevin, Brendan, Leigh and Jeeps) through the basics. They all wanted to get on with it, so we were soon on the river, with much swimming undertaken by all.
Everyone showed great progress and soon they were surfing the wave (usually followed by a swim) and ferry-gliding like pros.
After a late lunch it was decided to run a short section of the river, with mainly grade 2 and 2+ drops. We warmed up with a bit of canoe polo and then we were straight into the first drop, which ended in a bit of carnage, with boats sucked back into the hole and Kevin rearranging the rocks on the bottom of the river with his nose. Welcome to the club Kevin!
The drive back to town seemed longer than usual, probably because I thought this was the last trip for the year, and we arrived after dark. A fun day was had by all!
Ben B gathered a group of adventure racers, some with extreme hangovers, and we set off after 11am. We lit a braai fire and conducted a safety briefing soon after arrival, and put the novices (Kevin, Brendan, Leigh and Jeeps) through the basics. They all wanted to get on with it, so we were soon on the river, with much swimming undertaken by all.
Everyone showed great progress and soon they were surfing the wave (usually followed by a swim) and ferry-gliding like pros.
After a late lunch it was decided to run a short section of the river, with mainly grade 2 and 2+ drops. We warmed up with a bit of canoe polo and then we were straight into the first drop, which ended in a bit of carnage, with boats sucked back into the hole and Kevin rearranging the rocks on the bottom of the river with his nose. Welcome to the club Kevin!
The drive back to town seemed longer than usual, probably because I thought this was the last trip for the year, and we arrived after dark. A fun day was had by all!
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Mazowe: Sunungukai Camp to Hippo Pools
14 May 11 - 5cm over Hippo Pools Weir
Robin and Hugh put a curse on us! I arrived at the start of the trip without board-shorts and rashie. David loaned me a T-shirt and Ken parted with his board-shorts (he had trousers on) before we set off on what should have been a gentle meander down a very different Mazowe at low level. We ran the first big rapid effortlessly, taking note of all the boulders which cause so much drama at higher levels.
The first surf-wave wasn't great, but even more disappointingly, the Castle Rock Twins were sitting high and dry - not even their toes were in the water. So we pressed on and I almost ran the second big rapid, having failed to recognise the approach at this low level. The first part of the rapid has a few kicks and twists, with a smiling, retentive hole just below, so we all opted for a short portage, with Tom opting to walk the second drop as well. The approach to the second drop was pretty boney which deflected Andy, Dave and I off the planned line, but we all managed to recover, David in his usual inimitable style.
At the island the river split and became pretty shallow. We were forced to portage and opted to put back in on the previously un-run right channel. I scouted a 2m drop and Andy once again led the way, over a small pourover. Dave followed and I ran it badly, ending up with a bruise on my ribs. Tom portaged.
From there the river was pretty slow moving, so we had to work hard for the last 4 or 5 km's, which meant the group was pretty tired by the finish. The last 2km's after the dried up Mufurudzi were particularly unpleasant, with a steady head-wind to add to the challenge of looking for the grumpy hippo.
We'd spotted 2 hippos in the pool after the first wave (near the start of the trip), and saw another 3 in the pool at the main camp, giving them a wide berth. The weir was too low to run and we trudged wearily back to the Landy, where Ken loaded up (after buying fresh fish from the locals) and we set of for the 2-hour drive home. Conversation was muted as some snuck in a quick forty winks.
Jan, Dave, Tom, Andy and the Fluid Fleet
Robin and Hugh put a curse on us! I arrived at the start of the trip without board-shorts and rashie. David loaned me a T-shirt and Ken parted with his board-shorts (he had trousers on) before we set off on what should have been a gentle meander down a very different Mazowe at low level. We ran the first big rapid effortlessly, taking note of all the boulders which cause so much drama at higher levels.
The first surf-wave wasn't great, but even more disappointingly, the Castle Rock Twins were sitting high and dry - not even their toes were in the water. So we pressed on and I almost ran the second big rapid, having failed to recognise the approach at this low level. The first part of the rapid has a few kicks and twists, with a smiling, retentive hole just below, so we all opted for a short portage, with Tom opting to walk the second drop as well. The approach to the second drop was pretty boney which deflected Andy, Dave and I off the planned line, but we all managed to recover, David in his usual inimitable style.
At the island the river split and became pretty shallow. We were forced to portage and opted to put back in on the previously un-run right channel. I scouted a 2m drop and Andy once again led the way, over a small pourover. Dave followed and I ran it badly, ending up with a bruise on my ribs. Tom portaged.
From there the river was pretty slow moving, so we had to work hard for the last 4 or 5 km's, which meant the group was pretty tired by the finish. The last 2km's after the dried up Mufurudzi were particularly unpleasant, with a steady head-wind to add to the challenge of looking for the grumpy hippo.
We'd spotted 2 hippos in the pool after the first wave (near the start of the trip), and saw another 3 in the pool at the main camp, giving them a wide berth. The weir was too low to run and we trudged wearily back to the Landy, where Ken loaded up (after buying fresh fish from the locals) and we set of for the 2-hour drive home. Conversation was muted as some snuck in a quick forty winks.
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