How to Stylishly Beater Garb by Katie Jackson

     When nailing the big tricks on Garb gets boring, trying to link those tricks with beatering can be an exciting challenge and a great way to switch up your normal training routine. I recently began delving into stylish beatering by attempting to link window shades at the NOC hole. This advanced move proved trickier than expected when I realized switching seamlessly from one side surf to another doesn’t always work when you’re disoriented from rolling. Never less, it was perfect training for the bigger, faster water at Garb. Having previously wave boated but never surfed Garb, I was in the perfect position to stylishly beater.

     One may not simply beater, one must do so stylishly. Some people began their sessions by flipping during the ferry out, then attempting to catch the wave. This is a great trick to add some anticipation for the crowd- they have no clue if you’ll catch the wave or not! I personally prefer to start my ride like I know what I’m doing by catching the wave first. Once on the wave, I spend some time floundering my way to a position of control so that I may beater properly. I take an acceleration stroke on the left then lean hard right. By-standers may think I am trying to blunt, but in fact I am going for the infamous half-cartwheel to face surf. In order for it to be stylish beatering, the crowd must be able to tell which trick you are starting with before the beatering commences. This trick takes little to no time to master if you know the basics of blunting. The hardest part is to hold the face surf. I made the horrible mistake of dropping edges so that I actually threw ends. I am jealous of those who can hold the face surf for a solid five seconds or more. I hope to increase my skills in this field. The blunt-face surf is only one example of the many options for stylish beatering. I implore you all to challenge yourselves to not only beater but to beater stylishly.   

How I Became to be a Keener By Nick Markoff

Practing Playboating Drills in Warmup

It all started when I was finishing up another boring day at school, my dad came to pick me up and as I got into his old Range Rover and asked, "Do you want to kayaking with Isabel in canada for three weeks?" "Sure!" I replied. I had no clue about what I was getting myself into and I, over the next few weeks, asked my dad random questions about it either stating that he didnt know or that he would call and ask. What we did know was that it was on the Ottawa and to bring a playboat. I had been on the Ottawa river the previous year and had enjoyed myself immensely so I was really excited! On the other hand, the other piece of information I had was that I was to bring a playboat... I had never set foot in a playboat before and had seen them on rivers surfing the holes an waiting in line. My old kayaking teachers at a different camp had taught me river running and we had never spent much time surfing. When the date to leave drew nearer, I became very nervous about if I would be able to paddle this boat. When We left, we took my cousin Isabel and we drove from Maryland up to the Ottawa. After our ten hour drive ended, we went to Keenerville, my home for the next three weeks, and met Anna who was to be our keener mom. I went to bed early and woke up to "mom" banging on our door asking us if we were awake. When we had gotten our gear on, we went though the basics of playboating and I felt so off balance and out of my element, but through our instructors Steve-0, Kalob, Juan, Devyn, and Clay, I have already improved greatly and been able to start surfing and learning the basics of the tricks we are to eventually learn for the rest of the time here. I am stoked to see the progress I make throughout the next two-and-a-half weeks here!

The Keener Experience (David Koyrakh)

Three days into Keeners and the fun has already begun!

Hey there, my name is David Koyrakh. I am a beginner play-boater and this is my second year at Keeners. I chose to return for a second year because it is truly a great experience and I want to get better at kayaking.

We started off the day on the water by splitting into groups. My group was lead by Kalob (shout out to Team Alpha!). To kick things off we went to surf Babyface and then we paddled the Middle Channel. At Babyface I had my first real surf, which lasted about one minute! For readers that have never surfed a wave before, it felt a lot like wakeboarding or sketchy tubing. Needless to say it was one of the funnest minutes I have ever experienced. Catching your first wave is like a playboater`s first steps, and Babyface is perfect for that.

Throughout the day we surfed a couple holes and I worked on strengthening my whitewater roll. Here at Keeners we improve quickly because we kayak for three weeks straight with some of the best kayakers on Earth. But Keeners doesn`t just make you a better kayaker, it makes you a better person.

Here we learn independence, communication skills, proper etiquette (both on and off the river), and how to take care of our environment. Every morning we are expected to do the morning exercise, cook breakfast, and, most importantly, clean up after ourselves. On Mondays we have Speech Night, where we take turns giving `speeches` to the group. Yesterday was the first speech night and the topic was the Icebreaker Speech. Writing weekly blogs and giving speeches improves our people skills.

To wrap this up I would like to give a HUGE shout to our coaches, keener moms, Mr. Kowalski, and everyone who helps keep this program alive. Without Keeners there would be a couple extra hundred bored thrill-seeking teenagers (a dangerous combination) wasting their potential every summer. Thank you!!