1000 Feet of Fun

Last week I saw this posting on the message board:

“Early morning play at Old Stone Bridge Sat.(10/26)
Some of us are planning to play in the 3.5knt ebb current at Old Stone Bridge. We are going to meet at 9am and launching by 9:30.
Max flow is at 10:15.
We'll likely be off the water by noon.
The idea is to push skills, so be prepared to do rescues.”

Some of the replies were:

“OK - I'll get up early.”
and
“Espresso and adrenalin - a good combination.
I hope there are less people fishing this week.”

And the results were:

“This was an amazing paddle.
Thanks to Eric and Tim for organizing this.
Thanks to Paul for saving my life.”
and
“Yes, it was lots of fun, wasn't it? I think the real value in something like that is being able to hang out and spend extended time in conditions that you would just try to get past on a regular trip. The adrenaline ebbs away and you can relax and really observe the interactions between yourself, the boat and the water, find ways to work with the forces of the current, waves and wind instead of just (trying to) muscle your way through. And you can push yourself more, too, knowing everyone's just itching to get in some rough-water rescue practice!

I think everyone who wants to paddle this winter should spend some time at Old Stone Bridge. Paul was able to use his experience in the rescue situation the very next day, and when Tony and I ran into current going around Jamestown on Monday, my comfort and confidence levels were much greater because of the few hours I spent on Saturday.

It would be great to have some more women come next time!”


So how can I compete with that???

We never got further than 1000 feet from the launch point and we were done in less than 2 hours. But we had more fun, excitement, and opportunity to test our skills than we do in almost any other situation.

We started with some loosen up paddling right in front of the beach. Some just paddled about, others rolled, and others sculled. (I tried to scull and ended up rolling!) Then we headed into the melee. The tide was a 5.6 foot tide in an area that is exciting with the normal 3.8 foot tide. The restriction of the old stone bridge’s jetties accelerated the water locally and set up standing waves. This day, unlike two weeks earlier, the wind was opposing the flow and the waves were standing up constantly. The location of the waves shifted around especially in front of areas where there was upwelling water. They varied from about 18 inches to 3 feet right by the “Evil Can”.

A few paddlers went over, this was expected and encouraged as this was a time to practice and test your skills. The conditions were extreme enough that E went over trying to get to a rescue and we had two paddlers in the water at once.

I took the opportunity to paddle through the waves at various angles and hold position in some of the worst water. But I was especially entertained by some of the great surfing I could do. The waves and my hull were well suited to each other and I accelerated off numerous waves and had a couple of long fast rides. Four times by the evil can I found myself bracing in panic to stay upright.

One area I chose to avoid was the whirlpools. There were areas where about a five foot circle would form into a whirlpool. The middle 18 inches would suck down about 15 inches deep! T and E both poked their boats into these and managed to survive.

Not every one who paddles with us should join in on something like the stone bridge paddle. But what everyone should do is participate in the post paddle practices that often happen in the last 15 minutes before we quit. (Or T’s Wed evening practice sessions.) This is the time to gain confidence in bracing, rescues, and less frequently used strokes. It’s these skills that keep us out of trouble when the conditions get dicey.