how to fail and succeed at kayaking by amanda eckhoff

     kayaking is a hard sport, and it takes alot of time and commitment to learn the basics and skills.while you are learning the different styles kayaking ,or improve your skills you will fail miserably over and over agin until you finnaly get it right.As a keener my last few days have been filled with epic fails.After experiencing failure i know what skills i can apply to experience success.

 racing

when you are racing it is important to get a good head start, have a strong paddle stroke, and to choose a good line.The way you start a race plays a huge role in the results off the race because it is much easier to be ahead of someone instead of being behind them.one wensday a starded off with an amazing head start and i stayed ahead until i got stuck in an edddy,this is why chooseing a good line is important.In order to het ahead and stat ahead of a racer tou must have a proper padddle stroke.if you have achived this skills you are no longer a failure at racing.

playboating

one of the main keys of playboatig is to have fun a learning  tricks in a wave or whole the right size for your level.there are seval waves or holes that you can learn diffrent moves in but if you try a move in something big or not ment for that type of featre you may find yourself in not all that fun of a situation,for example getting worked.

running rivers

one of the main jeys to running rivers is a strong paddle stoke and boof stroke.if you do not paddle or boof you may find yourself getting sucked in a hole.when i was kayaking i did not boof this drop and i got stuck in this pretty nasty hole that luckly i was able to get out of.this is one of the main ways you could end up falling and swimming.

swimming

if you find yourself swimming you have already failed but you still have a chance at having a safe and sucessful swim. one of the most imporant things you must do when tou bail from your kayak is to look for the saffrst eddy and path to swim down and in.i was swimming with the keeners and we were if you find yourself freaking out you mat hurt youself and fail to make it to sore safley,so it is important to remain calm.

If you can acheve the skills above then you are a dessent kayaker withe many fails ahead and if you have not well then you have alot of things to improve on

How to be Irish in Keeners - Seán Cahill

In Canada, purebred Irish people are hard to come by, thankfully on the third session of Keeners we were blessed with two in the first week with one more on the way. The Irish are pretty recognisable here, the white skin and loud, strong accents stand out more than pterodactyls  in the river.
Luckily becoming an Irish person can be achieved in  few simple steps.

1st. Be a Leprechaun
According to the rest of the world all Irish people are Leprechauns, this is unfortunately true, we are a struggling race.
So to be a Leprechaun, having ginger hair and a pretty solid beard is a good start. Height here is the key, in general Irish Leprechauns max out at 3'6'', this may be tough but a noticeable height difference between you and your peers will deliver the desired effect. To complete the look full green attire is an absolute must.
If you can master the look of the leprechaun you are really on your way to being Irish.

2nd. Understand the Irish sport of Hurling
To the rest of the world this sport consists of two groups of hairy men in not very much clothing who go out an attack each other with sticks for 70 minutes and sometimes they see a little white ball moving incredibly quickly. This bloodbath is in the heart of every Irish person from birth, if you cant hold a hurley people question the authenticity of your origin. So get educated and fall in love with the fastest field sport in the world. When played properly the beautiful Gaelic sport can be intimidatingly peaceful.

3rd. Love of water
Water is a pretty big deal in the emerald isle, not only the fact that its an island but the climate blesses us regularly with buckets of rain. We cant not end up falling in love with that clear wet stuff. Perhaps that's why so many Irish people end up finding kayaking. If you are already a Kayaker your halfway there

4th. Eat potatoes EVERYday
Potatoes are the staple diet of an Irish person. We constantly fight a love/hate war with these brown things that grow in the ground they provide us with the necessary energy to paddle hard and party harder. The potato is what makes us so fun to be around and have so much to talk about. Eat potatoes and you can embrace the Irish culture
5th. Have the ability to pretend to speak Irish
Irish people learn their native language or most of their childhoods but few if any reach  a standard higher then being able to string a few sentence of gibberish together. So if you can learn a few words and spout them at some Irish they will treat you with utmost respect



Combining these this together you get something somewhat near an Irish person, if your not quite right then you will make a pretty funny sight, take a picture and make a fool of yourselves, Irish people will love you for it.
In truth this may not be 100% accurate but in the end does that really matter
 Irish are proud, loud and fun loving, with a strong passion for their culture, they should be celebrated and you should strive to keep some near always

Happy padding
Seán Cahill

Travel Tip for Keeners by Rob

Top tips for keeners traveling with kayaks 

1. If you have a layover in America apply for a travel visa early , like really early this will save you from untold amounts stress as you stay up all night before the flight trying to get one. For those traveling from the UK and Ireland its the ESTA visa !

2 . Find an air line that's "kayak friendly " this means there will be no trouble at check in as they realise your "surfboard" is really a kayak ! A quick google will help you find out which airlines take boats. 

3. Wrap your boat and paddles up ! It's a well known fact that baggage handlers hate kayaks there heavy and awkward to lift meaning there's a huge likelihood that they will drag it over the ground rather than lift it . Wrap It in anything from a old sheet , pallet wrap or even a surfboard bag ! 

4. Make the most of the space in your kayak it's essentially just an over sized wave shredding suitcase ! Pack any light bulky items such as life jackets ,sleeping bags and paddling gear inside it to save suitcase space . Just make sure your still with in your weight limit .

Broken Ice - Rose Menominee

New things scare me. New people especially. Meeting someone for the first time has always freaked me out. What should I say? Am I talking too much? Am I not talking enough? It makes me nervous just thinking about. It's like standing on thin ice that's ready to crack; if you can make it to shore your safe but if you step in the wrong place you'll fall through. For the first few days the silence drags on and I try and fill it with nervous chit chat. But once you start kayaking, eating, living and spending almost all your time with someone it's pretty hard to stay strangers. You start to learn things about them like what makes them laugh and what they find interesting. Conversations flow easier and the silence is companionable. We have know each other for 76 hours so far and already we feel comfortable enough make jokes and laugh and see how many people we can squish onto a rock. At keeners not only our kayaking skills improve, our communication and social skills develop as well. Our teamwork and problem solving is tested daily, and our leadership skills are sharpened. It's amazing how far we've come in just 76 hours I can't wait to see what we can all accomplish in the weeks to come!

How to master your roll at keeners - Matt Brotton

Now there is definitely the main ways to learn your rolls, which do work great but they sometimes just don’t cut it. If you wanna give yourself a decent challenge follow these couple steps and you’ll be learning your flat water roll whilst practicing your whitewater roll at the same time! So theres obviously a huge difference between flat water rolls and whitewater cause in flat you setup but in the rapids you can flip at any time on any side. So first try your rolls the regular way. Once you’ve done that a couple times and you feel comfortable start trying to challenge yourself. Instead, put your paddle above your head and try that,another way is hold the paddle behind your back and try your roll, this will help you improve on where you need to put your paddle when your not in a setup position. You can get creative yourself and hold your paddle in different ways to give yourself more of a challenge. One thing you gotta remember is that EVERYONE learns at different paces some people will get there roll in 20 minutes some will in a couple weeks, either or it doesn’t matter everybody in this world is different and thats more then fine so if your having trouble with your roll just like i do just don’t get mad and frustrated cause that will make everything harder, just stay calm and practice practice and practice nobody becomes the best over night, Everything takes time, I really hope these tips helped you like it helped me. Have fun paddling and be safe!!

The keener experience - by savannah westeinde

KEENERS!!! I've been looking forward to these 3 weeks of Summer all year now, but I've also been dreading them. It's the fear and excitement off the unknown that really makes the experience so much more enjoyable. I was excited to improve my paddling, and to meet all the new people hoping I would be able to forge strong bonds with (if not everyone) most of the people at keenerville. I was dreading some of the more dangerous activities that I had heard would be part of the course, and I was also dreading meeting all the new people. But now that I'm here, looking back I wish that I hadn't spent so much time worrying about things that will happen in the future and spent more time living life in the present. Because as soon as I got here I knew that these would be some of the best three weeks of my life, all of the kids, coaches and paddlers were amazing and so nice. I hit it of with my fellow cabin mates right away and have had so much fun with them and it's only the second day! I've also discovered a change in my outlook on life, the first day when we got on the water I was terrified! ( yes I am pretty much terrified of any rapid where there is anything that could possibly go wrong) but as soon as we went down our first rapid, I had discovered a new found confidence. I wasn't afraid anymore and I was ready for any challenges that the next three weeks had in store for me. I even found myself swimming in the whirlpools at the bottom of Normans (which is not something I'd normally do at all). It's just all such an amazing experience and you meet so many new people from all around the world. I've realized why this is such an amazing sport, not only are there tons of amazing beautiful rivers to explore, but the environment and the people are both so amazing and unique. It's a sport like no other and I am so excited to see what these next three weeks have in store for me.

How to dispose of a nocturnal giant zombie moth-fly-mosquito (By Sabina Sander)

First, you actually have to encounter one of these perilous creatures of the night. Wich really isn't very difficult (especially in yakistan). You may find one under your pillow, or maybe in your sleeping bag, or perhaps you'll simply wake up to one gnawing on and loudly buzzing about your forehead as I did.

Then, you may procede to panic and flail around, maybe urgently try and swish it towards the top bunk and toward your unlucky roomate's head. Don't forget to scream a little.

Now, you may take a deep breath. It's time to dig out your headlamp. At this point, you will most likely have woken up the rest of your cabin with all the shouting and stomping around, so don't worry about the noise from this next step.

Grab a shoe, preferably not your shiny new paddling ones, and start pounding the heck out of that thing. Imagine the bug is someone you hate, envision them eating the very last gummy bear from your stash without even asking you... Trust me, it's not going to die any time soon (hence the zombie) so be prepared mentally to -gasp!- pick it up yourself and take it outside. Job done.