So January 8th 2011 was the first CUKC Pool Session of 2011.
Decided to head out there with my new GoPro Hero HD.
Set the camera to take pictures every 5 seconds for 2 hours.
After a thousand pictures.. We drank a few beers and played around for a few hours and came up with this!
Enjoy!!
Heres a little Video Adam made with his GoPro for everyone to see how light and mneuvrable the Jackson Carbon Kevlar Allstar is! Hes in part the reason why im proegressing and learning so much!
Well, Since ive sold my playboat to buy the new Jackson Villain L, I havent been boating at all besides CUKC Pool session last Saturday! Tried out the new boat and the 2010 All-Star, witch is a bit too small for me. Im looking into getting a 2010 Superstar and there are two Jackson kayak riders that are selling theirs to get the lastest Jackson Playboat, The Rockstar. A bit on the expensive side so I might wait. There water levels are real high this week and Champlain Waves are "in" but with temperatures averaging in the -30 c, kayaking isnt an option so no hurry.
I am heading out to a cottage at Tremblant next weekend and there are some really nice Class V creeks about a minute from our cottage and some continuous 3km class III+ Whitewater I might go scout! If I can find a nice park and huck spot ill run a few laps on the waterfall as I am bringin my kayak. We thought itd be fun to kayak down a snowy hill!
The whitewater Grand Prix is also coming up April 30th and I will definately head down to check out the Freestyle and Big Wave contest! Heres the website with all the riders for this year! http://whitewatergrandprix.com/
Picked up my Villain L Creeker and brought it to Carleton U for a try tonight! One word : Awesome! I got a feeling im gonna have alot of fun! Very different than a playboat! But it rolls so easily!! Wow!
Made my day better as we didnt get to paddle NY today and Sewer Wave either as it was all iced up and a freezing cold snowstorm! We ended up drinking beer at Brandons and watching "DreamResult", a kayak movie!
Adam let me use his 2010 All star at the pool and Wow! What a difference from my old boat! It spins easier, it cartwheels better...I can Bowstall now! I have a feeling I will learn 10 x faster in the new version Superstar! Cant wait to find one!
Well Im all excited now and I wanna go stare at my new boat for a few hours.
Well..today is Friday! It was my day off of work and did a bit of boating! Tomorrow, Im waking up early to head to NY state for some playboating with the new All Star! Route 3 Wave and Hole Brothers in Watertown!
Today I sold my 08 superstar! Im taking the money to buy a 2010 Villain L as I mentionned previously! Im picking it up earlier than anticipiated! Tomorrow! Now this is gonna be a tough choice getting a playboat! Between the Rockstar L, Superstar or Project X!
So I went out today with Gerard and I swam!
I caught an edge and banged my head below the wave pretty hard... then again on the other rock behind...and again.....and then my knee got out of the brace and tried rolling and failed miserably. Pulled the skirt and swam to shore. Luckily Gerard was already swimming to come grab me!... Had my top, semi drypants and my wetsuit under.. it was cold but not that much..again i didnt swim for long..
So I went out paddling at Sewer Wave in -20 weather last Sunday! Had a blast on the wave and even had more fun trying to take off the iced up gear. Adam tried out my Superstar on the wave and had a hard time doing simple tricks...The rocker profile is very different and theres way less volume at the front... Its crazy how different the 2008 and the 2010 models are and it showed me how limited I will be in my learning with this boat. Ive decided to put it up for sale in hopes to get a 2010 model by spring time.
I also met with Mike McKay this week. He is a pro paddler, part of the Jackson Kayak Team and Co-Founder of Currents and Hell or High Water Festival on the Petawawa, in order to buy his Jackson Villain L Creekboat. He used it on the Romaine River in northern QC and on the Moose in upstate NY and the boat was featured in the "Better than you imagined" movie. Its basically brand new! He is asking half the price of what it is worth so I couldnt pass on this and I committed to buying it. Ill be meeting with him at the Petawawa Townhall next week as the paddling community is gathering to show our discontent with the new hydro project that might be affecting the Pet River. Im glad that I will be part of the HOHW Fest this year as it might be one of the last if they go ahead with the hydro project. Here is the boat in question!
As for paddling this week, I am down with a Nasty cold and im going to keep quiet. I will surely head out to the CUKC Pool Session as Adam is lending me his 2010 All Star, the smaller version of the Superstar, So I can decide if I want to lose the extra 20 pounds and paddle the Allstar or stay safe and get the Superstar. My guess is : if I want to perform and grow as a paddler, I definately should lose the 20 pounds and get in better shape.. at over 215 right now, I am not in the best shape I have been or in my healthy zone for my age either. In the next weeks that are left of the winter months, I will be staying home, training my A$$ off and saving money to pay off for my gear. I want this summer to be all about paddling and not have to worry about anything else.
As for the place I wish I was paddling this week, that would be the Elk river in BC. After watching Adam's 2010 recap video, it made me just want to forget about work and responsabilities and drive out west.
Look at 9:45 in the following video for my buddy Brandon Fasan's beatdown.. The Towback of that hole was 10 feet large..A swim there wouldve been the end of him. Luckily enough.. Adam got gim out with a towrope. Thats why, kids, I am getting a Creekboat...you shouldnt be running sh*t like that in a playboat!
So for the first time in 2011, I went to the Carleton University Kayak Club Pool Session.
It was awesome, asides from wearing a drytop cause I got tattooed 2 days ago. Warm water is a treat!
I had been trying to do bowstalls and cartwheels forover 2 months with my Jackson Superstar and never managed to pull it off. But tonight, witht the help of my buddy Adam Chappell, I managed to find out how to throw them down!! I can FINALLY Cartwheel! I can also Roll Back up without a paddle! Thats Usefull!!!! Heres a few pics and a video of my first Cartwheel with a right size boat!
What a nice way to finish your holidays by throwing yourself off an icy waterfall at -10 celsius weather!
Richard and I were both off work today so we decided to head 30 minutes out of town to our little park n huck spot @ Quyon Falls. Water was at its highest point so far this year and the shorelines and the river downstream were iced up pretty good so we had safety set up below just in case something did happen. After losing at rock paper scissors to see who would run them first..I got ready and fired off. Didnt place my boofstroke properly as it was the first waterfall I ran in 4 months and ended up right in the meat. My skirt imploded and I braced my a$$ off and tried to make it to shore without a swim! Awesome day!
Hey guys! Theres not much to say but HOLY AWESOMENESS!!! 3 different waves to surf... Surfers sharing the wave with kayakers, 4 kayakers surfing diffferent waves...Me learning slowly how to blunt! Throwing ends!! Anyways! Ill let the pics do the talking!
