The rest of the Feather

One of the great things about rivers is that they keep flowing until they either hit the ocean or we use up all their water (the second happening more frequently than desirable...).  In so doing they can pass through very different geologies and geographies and can have many different natures.  The Feather river starts high up in California's Sierra Nevada and contains some of the best whitewater to be found on the planet.  The Middle Fork in particular has over 35 miles of class IV/V undisturbed by roads or man, cutting through the granite goodness of California's young mountains.  Ultimately it escapes the mountains and lands in Oroville Lake, a man made reservoir created to help water our crops and control flooding.  Below the dam the river becomes a mellow float with the occasional class I riffle before joining the smooth flowing Sacramento River on its way to San Francisco Bay.  This section starts in the town of Oroville and is currently on track to become California's first truly man made whitewater park.

As you follow the river and head out of town you enter the Oroville Wildlife Management Area.  And this is exactly the path we took over the weekend.  The sun finally broke through after weeks of clouds and valley fog and blessed our merry little band with clear skies but chilly air (California chilly = 45F).  We put in at a beautiful riverside park in town and floated (paddled, really, since there wasn't a lot of current) through the wildlife area, taking out just before it ended and the farmlands began.  While some of the bird life was undoubtedly scared off by the duck hunters (we were a little afraid ourselves after seeing the poor aim and control of a pair shooting from a canoe) there were still several of the largest white egrets I have ever seen to mark our progress.

It was a great mix of people, from those who had never kayaked on a river (some who had barely kayaked at all), to those had years of rough water ocean paddling experience.  Some nervous about the rapids, some disappointed there weren't more.  Everyone was in sea kayaks (except for the couple in the open canoe) and the long boats helped make the miles go by a little quicker.  It was interesting for me to be sea kayaking flat water on the same river that remains one of the best whitewater multi-day trips I have ever done.  That particular trip has become legendary for being such a large group and making it to the takeout just as darkness fell (and other adventures).  But the common theme that ultimately made both trips so enjoyable was the people to share it with.  That's the true beauty of kayaking - who it brings together, not where you happen to be.  More PICTURES HERE.

Dogma - it's not just a movie

So there's a right way and a wrong way to do most anything.  Actually, there is normally more than one right way (and more than one wrong way for that matter).  Too many times I hear people talking in absolutes - "my way is the one true way".  And not just in politics - it happens in kayaking too.  While there are points in technique, group management, etc. that are universally agreed upon there are also some points that are open for debate.  The key thing for most people to understand is that many things are situational and the more 'right' ways you know how to do something the better off you will be.  Don't just learn one thing because your friend does it that way or some supposedly famous kayaker does it that way.  Learn to think and evaluate for yourself.

One particular area this comes up is in regards to sea kayak rescues.  The T rescue in particular has lots of little details in its execution that are open to interpretation.  So when teaching the T rescue I focus on the things that are necessary and then get people to understand their options, each of which has advantages and disadvantages.  Some would say that it is best to just teach one specific variation to keep it simple for students.  The problem is that there are too many details - I've seen too many real life rescues that where people have enough trouble remembering the big points so trying to get them to memorize the little ones is unrealistic.  It's only us instructors that really sweat the details - most folks just want to get back in the boat.

So here are the big points (and the little ones) to the T rescue:
1.  After the wet exit the swimmer needs to hold onto their boat and gear.
(flipping the boat over makes it easier for the rescuer to grab but more susceptible to the wind)
2.  The rescuer needs to get to the bow of the empty boat and hold on with both hand.
(the swimmer can hold onto their own boat - simplest - or they can transfer to the rescuers where it is easier to keep track of them - but takes more time and movement)
3.  The empty boat needs to be drug up the rescuer's boat to drain any water.
(an upright boat is easier to drag up your own but then must be flipped to drain; an upside down boat will drain automatically as it is brought up)
4.  The boats should end up bow to stern and the rescuer must lean onto the empty boat to stabilize it.
(the rescuer can grab the coaming - it's always there - or the deck lines - if they exist - which are more out of the way during the re-entry)
5.  The swimmer needs to get onto the back deck of their boat, belly down, facing the stern.
(the swimmer can give their paddle to the rescuer, making it easier to get up, or they can hold onto it to make sure they do not lose it)

(they can 'climb' up - simpler - or they can use the heel hook which is easier for most swimmers but puts more torque on the rescuer)
6.  The swimmer slides their feet and legs into the cockpit then rotates towards their rescuer into an upright, seated position.

During one rough water rescue class I saw two students practicing their T rescue.  The swimmer flipped his boat over and lost his grip on it (another disadvantage).  But luckily the wave action took him right to the stern of his boat.  At the same time the rescuer moved in and a surge put the bow of the empty boat right in his lap.  They were in perfect position to proceed to drain the boat.  But because they had been taught (by a world famous instructor) to transfer the swimmer to the bow of the rescuer's boat they took considerable time to rotate the boats together, have the swimmer move around to make the transfer and then return to their T position.  It was a complete waste of time and made things much more difficult than necessary.  They were following dogma.  They should have been thinking.

When it rains...

the river levels rise!  Unfortunately we've had a little too much rain recently and most of the rivers are a little too high.  And with only a couple days off this week with a bunch of other stuff to take care off I wasn't interested in doing a full day of big water paddling and lots of driving.  So I rounded up a couple other locals and we headed to the lower American river right here in town.  It's dam controlled but they've been releasing huge amounts to make room in the lakes above for the huge amounts of rain water coming in to them.  Normally the lower runs between 1,000 and 5,000 cfs throughout the year.  Today it was at 21,000 cfs (we just missed 31,000 by a couple days...).

We took our sea kayaks since this isn't really a whitewater river.  Normally it's fairly flat with a couple class I rapids.  Today there were  several nice class II waves and lots of swirly water.  The only problem is that with the water moving so swiftly there was little opportunity to get back to any of the fun waves once you washed off.  But it still made for a fun and quick trip and it's always interesting to see rivers at different levels.  Here are a few more pictures from the day.

Off-Season Training

OK, in California there is no real off season.  We can (and do) paddle year round.  But the pace does slow down in the winter and is more dependent upon the storms that come through.  Early Fall is great weather on the coast and early Spring is when the rivers start running so I paddle the least November through January.  I like to take that time to get some rest and recover from the previous year's adventures and to do some training to help prepare for the following year's opportunities.  So I thought I would share a little of my training philosophy on what it takes to be 'in shape' for paddling.

The first thing you need in any training program is a goal.  It doesn't have to be very specific but you need to know what you are trying to accomplish.  Are you trying to get faster?  go further?  recover from an injury?  Are you preparing for an expedition?  long hikes in?  a local race?  Or do you just want to be able to paddle more often without getting tired or injured?  With a goal in mind you can customize your training to achieve that goal most efficiently.  Fitness is different than strength, endurance different than power, injury prevention different than health.

Personally, I do a wide variety of paddling and need a bit of everything.  But I tend to focus my off season training on building strength (mainly endurance) and fitness (cardio).  Strength training can be done with weights in the gym or with simple exercises and equipment at home.  For kayaking there are some obvious areas to work on:  shoulders, core, back - and some not so obvious:  chest and legs.  It's very important to strengthen the muscles you don't use when paddling.  This prevents your body from getting unbalanced - the muscles you build up when paddling will be much stronger than others and this will ultimately lead more stress on the weaker muscles.  I also focus on endurance training vs. power lifting:  I go with high reps and push muscles to exhaustion.  Unless you are a sprint paddler you don't really need to bulk up - it's more about making the muscle mass you have more durable.

And while strength training does help with injury prevention (or recovery) I think the best thing for that is stretching.  Flexibility is key to allowing your body to use proper technique and to absorb forces when out of position.  During the paddling season I don't have the energy to do separate strength training so I focus mostly on stretching - yoga is probably the best thing you can do to stay healthy and paddling.  The older you get the more important this becomes.

The other training I do is cardio.  I have bad knees so I don't run; I hate biking in the cold and rain; so my cardio is generally done in a boat.  Anything that gets your heart rate up for a steady period of time will work.  And if the focus is endurance you need at least 30 minutes of hard paddling to get any benefit.  An hour or two is even better.  Works great for both whitewater and sea kayaking.  But I will also get in my polo kayak and do some sprinting and interval training.  I find this really helps for situations where I have to push all out for a matter of seconds - must make ferries or fighting a tide race. 

And the overall key to any training program:  consistency.  Your body improves when it is subject to repetitive stresses with time in between to recover.  If you have too much time between the stress sessions then your body reverts back to what it was.  It needs routine workouts and each time you need to push a little harder - an extra rep, a slightly longer distance or shorter time - to make your body improve.  Even small efforts of 30 minutes twice a week will show improvements, but if you skip a week or ten days then you will lose the gains you have just made.

So if you can't get out there and paddle at least get ready for when you can.  If you are out there paddling, use the opportunity to prepare for even more paddling when the weather turns and the options abound.

How important is boat fit?

We met under the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge to do some playing amongst the rocks around the Marin headlands.  There were four of us and four different boats with a plan to switch throughout the day to see who liked what the best.  There was a steady rain but little wind and even though our timing was a little off from the current we had no problem getting out the Gate.  And immediately we were met with surge- even inside the protection of Pt. Bonita the forecasted 10 ft., 13 second swells were creating some fun action. We played our way out to Pt. Diablo and landed on a steep little beach for the first boat swap.

The swap put me into the new P&H Delphin - a boat I'd been wanting to try for a while.  It was the longest boat we had with us at 15'5" and was designed with rock gardens in mind.  My skirt was rather large for the boat and I mentioned to Sean I would just have to avoid getting dumped on by a wave (see the 2:35 mark in the video to see how I jinxed myself).  Sean ended up in a boat that didn't fit so well and as we pulled away from the beach he mentioned that he didn't think he would be able to stay in it if a wave took him for a ride.

In no time we rounded Pt. Bonita and I followed Sean in amongst the rocks, close to the point, and faster than you can say double jinx a big set came in and washed over our protective rocks.  Sean and I both turned into the broken wave and drove forward.  My long boat with a pointy and buoyant bow pierced the wave and I rode over the top.  I looked to my right and saw a complete lack of Sean and his rounded bow little boat.  I looked back and saw the wave wildly throwing the boat around and Sean popping up next to it - he had been sucked out of the boat.  I looked back outside in time to see an even bigger wave coming in and charged forward yet again - this time launching my boat completely into the air as I topped the wave.

I paddled towards Sean who was swimming away from the rocks (and his boat) and he told me to get clear - even while swimming he was looking out for my welfare.  He swam around the point into calmer waters and the rest of us met him there.  He climbed onto my back deck and with a little help from Bill and Tony we headed to the nearest beach.  Once there Sean climbed ashore while we went back to see if we could salvage the boat.  But the boat was nowhere in site - either trapped in the rocks or at the bottom somewhere.  Without a boat Sean walked the three miles back to the vehicles while we paddled.  He beat us back and we were all in relatively good spirits (Sean just felt terrible about losing someone else's boat).

 While losing a boat is never fun it was also never too scary.  Sean was comfortable with the swim and was not in much danger.  If he had been in a boat that had a proper cockpit that was outfitted for him he would have been able to stay in the boat, roll up after the wave passed and paddled out of the impact zone.  With just three paddlers at this point we chose to stick together getting the swimmer safely to shore.  If we left someone to watch the boat it would have left one boater alone somewhere.  It was easy enough to get him to shore and he had quick access to the road which lead back to our launch site.  The boat had float bags backing up the bulkheads and hatches so we were expecting it would still be floating when we got back to it.  So I think our response was correct and losing a boat isn't such a bad thing in the realm of possible outcomes.  Prevention was the key and proper boat fit was the lacking element.  Lesson learned.

Sean's recounting of events is on the California Canoe & Kayak staff blog.

Video below - you definitely want to watch this in full screen HD.