Season 2010 wrap up!!

Well, the 2010 season has come to an end!
Spent the day out at Sewer wave with the guys from CDB and my buddy Gerard with his new surf board trying to dodge 30 sq ft deadly chunks of ice! That means get the f*ck off the wave..FAST! hahaha
Overall it was an awesome day and I learned a few things about carving and being where you want to be on the wave and not the other way around.

Heres a little sum up of this season :

-June 25-26-27 I did my Level I & II course on the Rouge and ran my first rapids and did my first roll.

-Mid july I bought my gear and my first boat, a Riot Booster 60 only to find out I had lost my roll...

-End of July I got back my roll and practiced ferries and catching eddies EVERY single day @ Champlain.

-Beginning of August I ran the Main Channel on the Ottawa for the first time. Went through Phil's hole fine but swam at Butchers Knife. Learned why its called Butchers knife on those slicky rocks in shallow water. I also learned that a Bootie beer doesnt taste half as good as beer in a glass.

-Mid August I did my first 20 second surf at Lower JJ's wave in Deschenes and ran the Quyon falls a hundred times! I then sold my Booster thinking I was done for the year.

-September, I ran the Main Channel again with no swims and broke the outfitting in Christian's boat right after my first surf on Babyface. Then I didnt paddle until November as I was working my ass off to get me some cold weather gear and a new boat.

-November, I got myself a drytop and drypants and a 08 Jackson Superstar with a AT4 Play paddle and went and ran the Lower Madawaska River for my first cold weather paddle..I also learned about Brainfreezes. Went to Valleyfield whitewater park, did the sweet seal launch twice and got chundered in a hole. Fun times!

-December has been real great for me. Good Water levels and progressing more than ever. Staying on a wave for minutes at a time, sidesurfs, spins, surfing without a paddle and gaining confidence. By far the best month of my season! Summed it up by this beautiful day and stayed upright the whole time!

Now whats in store for me in 2011???
Im starting off by getting hammered with good friends tonight and resting tomorrow! Sunday I am heading out to Sewer wave to paddle again and im going to try a surfboard! Videos to come! Then I might lay low until spring and head out to Sewer when its really warm out. I'll be endurance training out in the cold, learn how to edit videos and outfit my new loaner kayak Richard gave me so that I can teach friends and bring them along! Ill be buying a creekboat anytime now and thats what ill be focusing on come spring. The Moose River, Mississipi River, Beaver Creek and a few other ones in QC are the ones I have in mind for now. This year is going to be all about learning and be in total control of my boats. Ill be spending all my weekends on the Ottawa River as I will be renting a camp spot down there from May till October.

Anyways im getting tired of writing and youre probably getting tired of reading. See you all in 2011 and have a Happy New Year! All the Best to you guys!

Who Needs a Paddle Anyways!???

 Gerard with his surfboard!!

Third time's not the charm!

So last Tuesday, I saw on Facebook that Brandon Fasan, a buddy of mine and an awesome paddler, was looking for a buddy to go paddle with and so was I. He headed out to Sewer Wave to check out what it looked like and the ice accumulated and the low levels made the wave almost non-existant so we cancelled our paddling session. Or so I thought. An hour later I get a call from Brandon telling me to hurry up and get my a$$ to HogsBack Falls as the levels were awesome! I had been there 2 times before already to scout this 15-20 footer but the levels were too high for my liking as even Joel Kowalski was there with friends and seemed to struggle in the run out. I tell myself : "Today is the Day. They say third time's the charm. Im gonna huck Hogsback this time!!". So I get there and watch Brandon do a first run to show me the lines. He runs the spout, pencils out and rolls back up..paddles channel right and flips at the bottom of the double drop and eddies out at the take out. Not bad for a first run! The spout itself is not scary as there is little to no towback. What makes it intimidating for me is the cold water and the ice forming a slight undercut on canyon walls. Im not too worried about the hole and wouldnt mind getting caught and having to surf my way out or even a swim in warmer conditions. But with my two piece drysuit, a swim in these conditions would be really awful if not life threatening. So unsure if id run it or not, I let Brandon do his thing and run the falls with style a few more times and watched the lines he took. It was getting cold and we decided to gather the bystanding photographers' emails and headed home. So in the end, I bailed out again and felt defeated, regreted not running the falls later that evening and it bothered me alot and still does a bit. Im going to be awaiting hotter temperatures of the spring, the ice melt, and a few more paddlers before I head out there with my boat again. Will keep you all posted when that happens.

Jee

Well that was easy and convenient!

Good Morning Future Followers of my blog,

Here I am this morning, listening to my Ray Lamontagne CD and eager to leave work early for some surfs at Sewer Wave and then going home to watch Hucking Huge's "Haymaker" movie with friends. I really dont feel like working as the only thing on my mind right now is the 5 days off that awaits me and the beautiful warm weather were getting over the weekend and the water levels rising, making Sewer Wave at a surfable level. Therefore, I decided to create a blog instead of annoying over 400 people on facebook with my whitewater adventures. The ones who enjoy them will be able to follow this blog from now on. It features links to water levels, local shops, forums, CUKC Website. As well as my Youtube Channel, Vimeo Channel and a Picture of the Week feature. So id like to take a second to welcome you all to my blog and thank you for following me!

Jee