The Challenges and Frustrations of the Bow Stall

There is one move that almost every keener is trying to get: the bow stall.

The bow stall is probably the easiest trick to try, but it is incredibly hard to master. A bow stall is when you balance with the bow of your boat under water, and the stern vertically in the air.

While staying up is a challenge on it’s own, the piece that most of us are working on is the double pump. The double pump is the method that you use to get the boat vertical.

I’ll explain the basic idea.

Start paddling to get some momentum, then take a hard forward stroke at the same time you get on edge. This should lift your bow into the air. You then slam your bow back under you as you take a powerful reverse stroke, trying to keep both paddle blades in the water.

The idea is fairly simple, but that only makes it more frustrating when you exhibit one of the seemingly millions of ways that you can either land on your head, or just end up looking stupid in front of all of your friends.

The bow stall can look pretty cool, and there are lots of cool tricks you can do with it, but if you ask most of us about our bow stall, all you’ll get for an answer is a look of frustration and an “It’s going ok.”

Why is That Guy Pouring Ketchup in his Ear?

At Keeners we are on the river every day. It is very easy to get ear infections when you are in the warm water all the time. Because of this, it is very common to see people pouring liquid from a ketchup bottle into their ear. It is a strange sight, but it has good reason. Ear infections are a quick easy way to be off of the river for a day or more. To prevent these nasty little infections, just follow these simple steps:

1.     Find the red ketchup bottle with EAR MIX written on it.

- Don't worry. It doesn't actually have Ketchup in it. Inside is a magic mix of White Vinegar, Rubbing Alcohol, and Hydrogen Peroxide. The vinegar neutralizes, the alcohol dries out the water, and the hydrogen peroxide adds some fizz.... 

2.     Tilt your head sideways.

3.     Pour the ear mix into your ear.

4.     Let it fizz in your ear for a while.

5.     Repeat with the other side.

At first it may seem silly and uncomfortable to use the ear mix, and many first time Keeners “forget,” but they soon learn that an ear infection is way worse than a couple seconds with the ketchup bottle every day.

Brook Leigh

Brook's Relationship with Little Trickle

Flipping over on the reactionary at Little Trickle

Over the last three days I have run the Little Trickle Rapid three times. The first time that I ran the rapid was less than awesome. Even though it isn't the biggest rapid, It was my first whitewater in over a year and I was a little rusty. I flipped and swam on the very first wave. It wasn't exactly the best way to start Keeners. The next day, we ran the same line.yI improved a little, and made it down to a hole at the bottom. I flipped, but stayed in my boat.  Today, I finally made it down the entire rapid. I was pretty proud of myself. I hope that during the next week I can keep on improving and have another success story for next week.