Last week there was sunshine. In the UK. Even in depths of North Wales! Well, what better time to get out and put the new FX PFD to the test?
I’m so impressed with this buoyancy aid, the freedom of movement is incredible and the amount you can fit in the pocket while it stays out of the way blows my mind! OK, that’s perhaps a little dramatic… but seriously, it’s like Mary Poppins designed this!
It’s proper safe too (and not just cos it keeps to the first rule of safety: Look Cool), the shoulder straps are sewn right down to the waist making them integral to the whole system and less likely to fail when you really need them. Most other manufacturers just sow to the top seam, even on their top spec “rescue” buoyancy aids!
And all that for just £74.95! That’s less than a tank of petrol these days…
I’m looking forward to a summer of fun and adventures in mine. Where will you take yours?
Soča Katarakt from above.
A quick wrap up: I have been in the White Salmon, Washington State, for ten days now and I have yet to see a single cloud. I hit a big jackpot this time. Well, I have been on a roll for quite some time now I guess. I spent a winter in Slovenia, which had one of the longest coldest and snowiest winters in a long time. I spent a lot of the time skiing, but in the end I just couldn’t wait for the kayaking season to start. Prospects were just amazing and when that one rainy and warmer day came in March, the season started big straight away. My first run of the season was the elusive Učja creek, which felt like a gift from above. Ever since then Soča has been running on high flows and I presume it will continue to run high well into June. If you’re around the place, now it is time to go!
I have been so lucky to live in Bovec for the last two years, but it felt like a time for a change. To make it short, me and my girlfriend moved out and we are moving to Squamish for the summer. It has been amazingly hard to move in the middle of the great season, so I really wanted to do as much paddling in Slovenia as possible, before I left. Everyone who has ever done the Soča knows how magical that place can be. Of course it is a lot more than just a place that I was leaving. All my kayaking buddies and other friends made it that much harder.
Slovenian Times from François Hemidy on Vimeo.
Except for an annual SRT course where I teach, I was lucky to be able to go kayak once or twice almost every day. I am posting some pictures from the last week I spent in that amazing valley. Thanks to Fabian A. Bonnano and Francois Hemidy for the photos. Thanks to Francois for a great video memoir of that week as well. He really caught the atmosphere of it and I’m so happy to have such a good reminder of how things were that perfect springtime. Thanks to all the friends for all great time we spent together. You know who you are.
Weather on our yearly SRT course was cold, windy and rainy. Stikine drysuit made it quite bearable.
Vertical descent in a canyon of Soča.
Now… I guess I really am still on a roll. I’m doing laps on the Little White Salmon and White Salmon rivers and I met so many good people. Thanks especially to Max Blackburn for taking care of me. This place is amazing and really helps me do the transition with a smile on my face.
Thanks to Fabian and Francois for great video and photo work – and some great times we had together.
The Soča Broken Bridge – start of the Katarakt section.
Photos by Fabian A. Bonanno and Andraž Krpič.
Video by Francois Hemidy.
Before this weekend had even started, we knew it was going to be epic. We were going to be down two members of our squad leaving us with only 5 to train with on Saturday, and 5 on a raft usually means lots of going around in circles. We needed a 6th paddler, and with Coach Dave not wanting to get his hair wet ( 
) our friend Kim from one of the youth teams stepped up and valiantly filled the place! We had the first warm, sunny training day we had had for months on the Saturday morning and we were all ready to soak up the sun!!
One of the Youth Men’s teams joined us for some team development and we put them through their paces as we did 2 endurance sets down the Dee from Horse Shoe falls to Trevor.
Trust me it WAS sunny.
Showing the Youth team how to warm up properly (and look like an idiot in public – a very important skill!)
The sun disappeared quickly but our determination didn’t. With Sunday came rain and lots of it, but also some lovely new presents from Palm!!
Nerys models our lovely new Wairoa Neo-flex Tops, Energy Strides and BEAUTIFUL rash vests, whilst Rosie does her best impression of a crazy person!!
Winter had definitely returned but we were so warm in our fab new bits of gear. Check out the tight leg wear!! It is compulsory for rafting by the way, and we love it
Quote of the weekend from Nerys ‘I love these strides they fit so well its like rafting in my leggings!’ – she wasn’t even paid to say that!
Maybe we were a bit too warm… Coach Dave had us doing 4 sets of stepped sprints again against the wind and the rain in the morning on the Conwy. This time we had only 5 of us so we rotated around the raft and into the rest position. Even with only 4 paddling at one time we felt powerful and balanced. All our training must be paying off.
Stepped sprints – 60 seconds feels like a really long time when you are giving everything!
In the afternoon we did some ‘corners’ work as a 4 by working on Slalom moves at The Brenin. But we couldn’t resist a few Ninja shots first!
Sunshine in North Wales? NEVER! it is better when it rains because you don’t get to over heat….and the hot chocolate afterwards tastes so much better!
Thanks Palm for the AMAZING new neoprene. Watch this space for a full review soon!!
Missing 2 but still loving the training.
And now…what you have been waiting for, we ask Miss Suzie Jackson one of the middle ‘engines’ on the team to answer some questions:
Suzie sits Middle Left or Right and paddles like a soldier! You should know that her chimp is called Lucy and she IS NOT TIRED!! (this is what Suze shouts when we are racing endurance – the affect is amazing – ZOOM!!)
So Suzie, you are one of 2 new members, what’s it been like so far?
It has been absolutely amazing. It has been hard work learning everything pretty much from scratch but the current girls in the team did such a good job at welcoming us newbies that I have enjoyed every minute so far!
Coming from a team sport such as rugby to rafting, what can that experience offer? Are there any similarities or is it completely different?
I played rugby for a few years at University which instilled a strong team work ethic in me, however up until I joined the team I was concentrating on triathlon. The dedication of time and effort that goes into training well for a triathlon has been good experience and prepared me (partly!) for the training regime required to be part of our rafting team.
Before joining the team had you had any previous white water experience?
Neither sports mentioned above prepared me for the white water element of rafting! I had to start from scratch on that one, luckily in my position (middle) I am not in charge on the lines we choose!
Phew, that’s a relief 
what is your most memorable rafting experience?
I think my most memorable rafting experience is the class 5 section of the Devils Streams in Czech Republic. It was the hardest section of river I had ever paddled, it was amazing, I absolutely loved it.
And what is your most memorable moment with the team?
This is a tough one, we have had quite few. I think mine is either Nezza doing a GB bikini run over a long row of rafts at the European Champs last year or on a more serious note the downriver race in that same competition. I was so proud of our performance and how much we had developed as a team. I was an emotional day for me!
What is the best and worst thing about being in an all girls team?
Best thing – It doesnt matter if you forget your shampoo (or in Bry’s case a towel!)
Worst thing – Getting into the bathroom!!
Awesome thanks Suzie!!
Next Month you will hear from another Middle person (there are 3 all together), Georgie Preston! And coming up in May we have our Training camp in the Alps!! BRING ON THE SUNSHINE! See you on the river – or hopefully we will be going so fast you will only see a blur…
Words Fran Kohn
Pics: Deb Cook
The first ever Younguns event took place on the Tryweryn this past weekend,
Taking up where the youth freestyle series left off, Younguns still maintains the original elements from the series; An extraordinary amount of young paddlers getting out on the water and having fun !
The Tryweryn is the longest venue the tour visits with an abundance of rapids and small features it allows the junior rippers to get a good experience of river running and down river moves.
The competition took place in the renowned “worlds hole” above the chipper. A deep but flushy hole proved to be both fun and challenging for the kids, some big moves where thrown, some flushes where had but all the competitors finished with a smile on their face.
Check out the video below,
See you on the water,
Bren
I haven’t spent a lot of time in my creek boat lately, but I have another awesome season coming up! It will be hard to beat last years season, but with a 2 month roady around New Zealand, an epic Mexico expedition and holiday in Vanuatu, I’m on the right track!.
Vanuatu has been great! It has been very interesting coming tot his country. Arriving in Vanuatu made me think of Africa, lots of jungle, humid, markets, dirt roads with heaps of taxi busses, warm weather and friendly locals who are very keen on making some money out of us.
We have done heaps of snorkeling, spending almost 3+ hours in the water each day. The water is beautiful blue and crystal clear, full of fish and sea life. One of the highlights in the water was to see a fully-grown grey reef shark on only 3 meters distance!!! Our accommodation came with glass bottom kayaks, which were awesome to take out for a short paddle over the km of reefs Vanuatu has to offer!
Only a couple more days before I’m flying back to Europe and start the Northern hemisphere season. Bring on the endless summer!
A ‘boof’ according to the New Zealand Whitewater Guide by Graham Charles is an onomatopeia for the sweet sound a boat makes after clearing a nasty drop. Boofing can be a bit tricky to start with but once you get the hang of it you can have a lot of fun launching your kayak through the air and skimming out instead of practising rodeo in the bottom of recirculating drops. I don’t claim to be a boofing zen master or anything like that, I just wanted to share a few simple tips that helped me a lot when I was first learning.
Approach: as you near the drop wait till you see the edge you want to boof from then lean forward and plant your paddle in the lip. Rail towards the side you are boofing on, keeping your paddle vertical for maximum power. Timing is more important than speed and I find it easier to button off paddling a meter or so before the lip in order to place the paddle in the best spot rather than charging in at full tilt and trying to line up your boof stroke at the last minute.
Remember as you boof you will probably turn the nose of the kayak away from the side you are boofing so you can compensate by having your nose turned slightly towards the side you are boofing on.
As you pass over the lip of the drop pull hard on your blade using not just your arms but your whole body and thrust your hips forward.
Now look for your landing spot, when you land you want to be leaning forward. This protects your back by putting it in a stronger position for impact. It is good to have your weight forward as you land because it decreases the likelihood of being back looped into the drop and also puts you in a strong stable position for your next paddle stroke.
