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. 

A short and epic memory on the Ottawa

Last afternoon a storm hit our group while surfing Babyface, and it was surreal. I remember watching the clouds beginning to roll in, giant streaks of rain stringing out in the distance. Then, downpour carpeting Keenerville's eddy and the group watching in amazement. And finally: being, feeling, experiencing the storm itself. Surfing through walls of water and paddling through seas of bouncing glass beads. This scene was both exhilarating and serene. It excited everyone's sense of adventure - the need that continuously overrides our fear - and brings us back to Keeners year after year.

David Koyrakh, Week 1

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.   

surfing at habitat 67 with connor

Habitat 67 is the name of a standing wave in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Informally named for the adjacent Habitat 67 housing complex, it has become a popular destination for whitewater kayaking and river surfing. Habitat 67 is such a cool wave that is really fun and safe the only problem with this wave is that if you are to swim it can be supper hard to get back to the eddy. Once you surf you have to get out your boat and walk back up the bank to the get into the top eddy to then get back on to the wave. The wave is really retentive and is good for tricks like blunts back stabs and flat spins you can get some long rides on the wave which is sick. If you are ever in Montreal and want to have funs surfing go check out habitat 67. I went to this wave with the Keeners for are our road trip. We were there for about 4 hours and each person got about five or six rides in as there was around 17 of us keeners. We also had to take turns with the surfers which kind of sucked but oh well. Some of my rides were so good! Flat spins are so fun on this wave and blunts are easy to stick. It was such a good trip I would love to go back! Habitat 67 is the place to go.

First Surf- Dominik

surfing at pushbutton

today was my first day ever surfing a wave. I was scared at first and was afraid to fail. I saw other keeners surfing and trying to do tricks that I have never evan heard of but I realised you can fail. My coaches said you will get much more applause if you fail than if you complete your trick so I took there advice and went for it. I had a tough time getting it at first because of every time I got into the wave I flipped. Eventually I got into the wave and surfed for the first time. Evan though it was only for a second or two I was very happy and knew I was hooked on to play boating forever.

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!!

David's last blog post!!

Hey guys!

Today (Thursday) was the last Big water beat down day. We started off the day at McCoy's, and then went down to push button and garb to surf for the remainder of the day. At push button I was trying to surf and catch the wave the whole time. At first I was having trouble staying on the wave, and then I started to have trouble with getting on to the wave. I flipped every time I caught the wave. I ended up swimming after a run. It was very discouraging and I didn't do anything after that for like 10 or 15 minutes. There was a group of kayakers there that re-encouraged and helped me with surfing after that. I did not know the kayakers and they were not with our group. They helped me out with how to catch the wave, and by the end of the day I got a few surfs in. It is an awesome feeling when experienced paddlers that you never saw before help you out and support you, as if they are one of your instructors.

After kayaking we went to dinner as usual, and then we had ropes and knots. For the past ropes and knots I just zoned out and did nothing, but today was different. I decided to listen and I learned what a mechanical advantage is, how to tie a 3 to 1 or 2 to 1, and how to tie a munterhitch with a quick release. Greg, the instructor for ropes and knots, is a very knowledgeable and friendly guy.

Anyways, I have to go now, but the second to last day of keeners was a lot of fun, and I got a lot out of it. Thanks for reading my last post! Check back next year ;)



--David Koyrakh.