5 Simple Steps Towards Surfing a Whale - Mark Wilson

     
     Shamu is our resident (inflatable) surfing orca whale here at Keenerville. And to be honest it's almost as much fun to surf the whale as it is to surf a kayak. The following steps will teach you exactly how to surf a whale on the Ottawa River.

Step 1: Assemble a team: Surfing an orca whale is no easy job and requires a few buddies to help out. It's important that you pick out people who can paddle hard and want to have fun. Also you may want to consider picking someone who knows how to guide a raft.

Step 2: Get your gear: Some gear you will need is your PFD, helmet and some good footwear. You'll need a raft and as many raft paddles as you have team members. And of course you'll need that trusty surfing whale.

Step 3: Location: It's important to pick a great playspot that isn't a super long paddle away because (as we discovered) rafting in flatwater isn't super fun. We picked Horseshoe Hole because it's just out the door of Keenerville.

Step 4: Surf the raft: You first want to surf the wave in the raft. Have everybody paddle hard or you'll miss it. This is when you want to have the whale surfer all set up at the front of the raft.

Step 5: Surf the whale: As soon as you get the raft surfing, it's time for the whale surfing to begin. As soon as possible, you want to jump off the raft, put the whale between your legs as if you're riding a bike, and surf that whale.

     If you're lucky (Example: Lorenzo) you'll catch a “killer” surf (Get it? “killer” surf, “killer” whale). However, if you aren't lucky (Example: myself) you'll likely get run over by the raft. Which is not much fun while you're riding an orca whale.

     We are lucky at the Keener program to have a whale like Shamu around. Surfing whales is a whole lot more fun and less weird than you would think and hopefully these steps help get you on your way to having your very own whale surfing adventures.