First Paddling to Riley's Lock/Seneca Creek Aqueduct

About two months ago I started planning a fall paddling tour for people at the office to join. And today (Saturday) is the day. (Yep. Me. Setting up a social event. Never done that. ha ha. Paddling really takes over me.)

The wind is at NE 9 mph and the temperature is 68'F high. Mostly cloudy with a bit of sun.

After Brian, my instructor from CKAPCO, introduced everyone to a kayak and the basics of paddling. We took off from Algonkian Regional Park heading toward east to Riley's Lock on Maryland side. It felt a bit strange when Brian told me to lead, I am still a newbie paddler! He told me to look for a flag (which...um...wasn't there today) at the golf course, which is the landmark on Virginia side that tells us to cross the river. Another landmark is a stone bridge with two arches (the third one was blown off) across Seneca Creek.

We parked our kayaks near the launch ramp at Seneca Creek Aqueduct and walked along C&O canal to the Seneca stone cutting mill, which provided the red sandstone for the Smithsonian Castle, to have lunch. Unfortunately the building is not well maintained even though it is a part of history.

The fact that Miss Sandy (a hurricane) will wipe out all the fall color with her 50 mph wind gust in a couple days makes me appreciate a simple good day much more. And just like the old says "if you wait for a perfect day, you will never get anything done." So just do it whatever you have in mind.

I am quite sure that this will be my last paddling of the year but my instructor says no way. So we'll see. :)

And even though it is the last one it is definitely one of the best. We have nice weather, beautiful cloud, fall foliage at peak, everyone is smiling, everyone is curious about how to maneuver the boat, willing to learn and try, my favorite instructor leading tour and everyone respects him as I do. I couldn't ask for more. Who knows I might get some new paddling buddies next spring!

Check out the rest of the photos from the trip below or just click this link to my Shutterfly page.

Until next paddling.

Click here to view these pictures larger

My First Whitewater Kayaking, Violette's Lock-Pennyfield Lock, Maryland

Honestly, I don't know where to start writing about the lesson I took today, an EZ whitewater class with CKAPCO. There were so many things to talk about from this 5-hour class. I could possibly write 3 blogs out of it.

The class took place at Violette's Lock and ended at Pennyfield Lock, Maryland. This water trail is quite pretty and unique. You can also find a flatwater and a whitewater on the same trail. Hard to believe it is so close to the city. We got 3 students today. The other two students were a couple from Richmond and wanted to take this class specifically with Mike. (And I decided to take it partly just because it's a Friday 13.) 

After getting all dressed up and drilling some essential skills on a fairly flatwater area which I totally enjoyed, the real moving water was right in front of me.

Umm...it's really moving.

New vocabulary and important skills I learnt

Ferry -  Basically you can't paddle straight against the stream. You need to angle your boat while paddling and edging otherwise you will end up paddling like a hamster on a wheel and going nowhere...the same way I paddled to Chain Bridge for the first time. (Looks like I need to give Chain Bridge another try.)

Eddy - It's the reverse current formed behind an obstacle which is basically your rest area during whitewater paddling. And you need it.

Eddy Turn - An important skill to get to an eddy. I ended up paddling upstream a lot because I didn't make a turn in time. You need to know where is the eddy line, when to initiate the turn, when to change your edging and when to apply the counter-turn.

Umm...who says it's easy ?


Experience to share

I like when the boat is passing through the rapids (...well...as long as I don't capsize I guess. : P). It's like driving on a hilly road.

Every student capsized. I capsized once when I was about to finish one of my eddy turns. It was at the most unexpected moment in my opinion. I was almost there to stop...then I flipped. Just like that. So I had to pull my boat up to a rock which was slightly steep to drain the water and launch it back to the water from there. So I was on a kayak on a rock. And, of course, it was photographed as a record.

Oh, don't forget to put a skeg up before dragging the boat on a hard surface.

Image from My 365 Day 195

I managed to surf a kayak on a rapid once after failing to do so about half dozen times. It's a part of the lesson. Basically you paddle upstream toward a small rapid and try to stay on it by using forward and rudder strokes to keep the boat straight against the stream. It's pretty much like playing a game with the water.

Always have a spare paddle in your group. Another student lost her paddle when she capsized in the middle of rapids. We're glad she's ok. After searching for the paddle for a while Mike decided to tow her boat which we shouldn't do on a whitewater but we had no choice.  Half way into the towing he decided to tow my boat instead since it had a skeg so I got a free ride. Yeah~. (Please note this is not included in the package or the lesson.)

My free ride. 

(^_______^)

Ok...I promise I stop babbling soon. At this point I think I prefer paddling on a flatwater...or probably until I master my eddy turn. :)

If you want to know what it's like, just give it a try. (Umm...not by yourself.) The most important part is that make sure you know your real paddling skill and your limit. Mike told me stories of his students and it's amazed how many people think paddling on whitewater is something to fool around. Ignorance doesn't do any good when you paddle especially on a whitewater. (Actually it doesn't do any good anywhere.)

Once you get the feel of the moving water, how to handle your boat, your paddle, your body, and how they all work together, all these will come to you naturally. Some of you might get these faster than others. I am physically slow by nature. I failed my eddy turn about a dozen times before I could relate it to the practice at the beginning of the class. I still hear "No wimpy stroke!" and "Good forward stroke!" in my head pretty clearly which is very helpful actually. Sometimes it is much easier to have somebody tell me what to do when I can't think straight. (Good job, Mike.)

Photo of "Kayak Master"
taken by me, the baby grasshopper.

Anyway, until next paddling. Stay tuned on the photos from Great Falls Race 2012 where wimpy strokes only mean troubles.

Have a great weekend!

Check out some more photos from here.

Another Kayak Lesson at Lake Audubon, Reston, VA

Lake Audubon

I took another kayak class with CKAPCO again today. It's a lesson stepping up from a beginner class. There were about 6 students but we got 3 instructors! The ratio was awesome because when we broke into small groups to practice every two students got one instructor. If you did something wrong, it could be corrected right away.

We got into the physics of a kayak and paddling in the beginning then did a lot of reviewing and refining several strokes. The fun part was combining edging with series of regular strokes to make the boat do whatever you wanted. I loved when the boat just glided through the water most. (Loved paddling in number 8 pattern too!) I learnt this from the previous class so it felt nice to revisit this again.

The boats used in the class. (I used the yellow one.)

More boats used in the class.

The leftover boats.

The highlight was probably the rolling. It was fun to be in the water but it's really a tough lesson for me. Getting myself into the upside-down kayak was very difficult. In order to roll I needed to get back into the upside-down boat completely. I couldn't do it. I ended up with wet exits (getting out of the boat completely) and climbed back onto it twice instead. I found out later that my feet needed to brace against the footrest to make it easier to push myself into the boat. Then kept my thighs against the cockpit and then I should be able to snap the hip to roll myself back up.

Oh, well that's easy to say.

A photo of my boat (and me somewhere underneath) taken by my instructor

My 365 Day 154

Practice Practice Practice (I can hear my instructor's voice in my head. And Mike, you'd better not post that photo of me in the water! : P)

Anyway, it's a great day to be on the water. Got educated along with some good sore, bruises on my thighs, sun tan patterns on both feet (since my water shoes have gaps between the straps) and was completely wet from head to toe. Now I am so ready to go to bed. (It's 7 pm.) 

You can use kayaks as an owning.

The Lunch Table.

Lake Audubon in Fall (You can check out more photos from my photo page from last year.)

If you're interested in paddling here, you need to bring your own boat. There is no boat rental at this lake due to staff shortage which is unfortunate because it's a beautiful lake and Lake Anne is getting a little bit too small for me. :) The boat ramp is on Twin Branches Road near the swimming pool.

Next week my friend is taking me to Swallow Falls, Maryland, where there is a man-made whitewater facility.  I've never had a whitewater lesson nor ever wanted to do. (I am pretty slow if you must know.) But I am going to give it a try. Brrr. I'll let you know how it goes.

Until then. :)

Kayak Stroke Recap and Refinement

I don't know who invented all these strokes for us to learn. They definitely had plenty of time to play around! (kidding!)

Today another student and I took a kayak class with Brian from Ckapco again...(which made 3 crazy people paddling in a rain at 55'F temperature.) We recapped Sculling Draw, Draw, Sweep, Reverse (all the way), Low Brace, High Brace, Bow Rudder, Draw in Motion, Sideslip (Hanging Draw) and Stern Rudder....then the new part we learnt was mixing them up.

Eww...like it's not confusing enough already.

Image from My 365 Project - Day 113 


Like in order to make a U-turn I usually just use Sweep Stroke 3-4 times or use Forward Stroke and Reverse Stroke on each side of the boat. But there are other ways accomplish this. For example today (as shown on the image) we went forward first, then used a wide sweep stroke w/ edging, then while holding edging on the sweep side*, used Bow Rudder on the opposite side (I found my hat was in a way quite often), held the edging until the boat almost completed the turn and then used Reverse Sweep Stroke to complete**.

Oh my...@_@! It sounds confusing, doesn't it ? But do you notice that I use only 2 strokes to accomplish a U-turn ?

Mixing them together definitely forces you to observe how a boat works and how your paddling is as every little move really makes a change even just by pushing one butt cheek down while moving you can see the difference.

Now paddling is more like an art than labor to me. :) And looks like there is a lot of practice to do.

Until next paddling~

*, ** correction on 4/23/2012 (I colored the edging on the third image wrong and put the reverse sweep on the wrong side. I am so sorry!)

The Potamac River, Washington DC

What a lovely day to start paddling for this year (and checked off one place from my wish list of 2012!) I am very sore at the moment. Don't worry! It's good sore. This is as bad as lap swimming except I can breathe through my nose.

Not much to say. Just hope you enjoy the photos. Nothing can describe the experience. It's almost like a dream. (Maybe because I had to wake up at 6:30 on Sunday. ha ha.) If you want to paddle on the Potomac but you are still a newbie like me or don't know exactly where to go, don't know how to read the wind or the current, the river traffic pattern, how to cross a river, check out Ckapco. Mike can arrange something for you. It feels much better to have an experienced paddler with you out there.

Here is our paddling route. It's a 3-hour trip. We took off from Columbia Island Marina, went up north through the channel before hitting the Potomac River.


Starting from Columbia Island Marina




The landmarks


Raft up!


I told you. It's a gorgeous day!



Francis Scott Key Bridge


There were 3-4 more kayaks and canoes on the river today.


Kennedy Center


Look at the sky! I mean Watergate Hotel!


C&O / Rock Creek (My most favorite. It's so very cool!)


C&O Canal - Lock 1




Heading out to the Potomac


And during the first half of the route I used Jackson Journey kayak before switched the boat.

Until next paddling!