When I came to keeners something that I was looking forward to was not having to worry about rocks. In Ireland it's near impossible to go from the put in to the takeout without hitting a rock. Even at a play spot there never seems to be enough water to have continuous water levels for the entire session. Which normally means tagging rocks every time you plug. So when I arrived in keenerville and saw Initiation rapid right beside us and was told "under no circumstances run that rapid it's too shallow" Then later running butchers knife we were told; stay left to avoid the rocks. Despite this I have yet to hit a rock while running running a rapid, surfing a wave or being beat down in a whirlpool. So I have come to the conclusion that after spending too much time paddling on the Ottawa even the best kayakers become so afraid of rocks that even seal launching becomes too terrifying to even attempt. You can tell these people apart from the rest by their carbon boats. Stephen is a great example of these paddlers. Despite being a decent paddler I have not seen him once seal launch into the water. On the other hand I have only been on the Ottawa one week and have seal launched every day. In conclusion even though Stephen has paddled all over the world he has become desensitised to rocks. Next time he runs the river I would advise him to find the biggest gnarliest rock on the river and sprint full speed straight into it. Alternatively he could come to Ireland and enjoy our rock hugging lifestyle.
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