Matteo williams 

On Thursday we do this thing called Big Water Bacon Beat Down Thursday. We woke up and made bacon. Then we got into our gear and walked up to the top of McCoy’s. The first thing I did was the hero fairy into left side Fills. Then I watched some people go down. Out of all the people I watched Rays was the best best down. Then I walked back up and sat in the eddy for 30 minuets and then I decided to drop into right side Phillis what is the bigger one out of the two sides. I peeled out of the eddy one dropped into the middle of right side Phillis. I side surfed for a wile then got widow shaded and then got mystery moved out of the hole. Then we paddled the rest of the river and went back to Kenerville. At Keenerville we watched the some of the beat downs. Rays was the best.

What is a c1? by Landon Miller

What is a c1 you might be asking yourself.  A lot of people who haven’t been kayaking for a while have no idea what it is but it’s really basic about what it is. C1ing is where u our in a kayak, but ur not sitting down you are in fact on your knees.  All kayaking company’s don’t make c1s because they are custom to your body type.  It also takes a lot of time and especially experience and patience.   Because you are kneeling instead of sitting and you only use one blade instead of two which makes everything harder overall.

How to do a spin by Wyatt Peek

How to do a spin                 By Wyatt Peek

First to do a spin you need to get a kayak and then find a wave or hole that is big enough to a spin on. Then you want to check up stream to se if there is any other rafters or kayakers. Then once you catch the wave you need to get positioned in a good place on the wave or whole for a spin. Then you want to take a back sweep stroke to put your spin in motion once your    spinning you want to keep your eyes up stream all the way from font to back then switch as look over the other shoulder then either spin back around with out a paddle stroke or take another stroke to bring your self back around. Then you have completed your spin.

Big Water Bacon Beatdown Thursday By Ray Barbera

 Bubbles, foam, lack of air. My lungs are burning, and I think should I swim. Everyone that hears these words thinks that big water beat down is just for fun and glory, while that is very true, big water beat down has other purposes. One being big water desensitization. If you have only surfed garb then garb will be the biggest and baddest wave to you. You will have trouble staying in control and throwing tricks. But if you surf something bigger like phils, garb won't seem that scary. So while everyone does big water beat down Thursday for the eternal glory of the red ribbon we all learn from it and become better boaters. But the main lesson to be learned from this monumental day is a lesson in fear. Day in and day out people let fear control their lives. They don't talk to that girl in their school. They don't try to get into that college. And they don't surf phil's. They live lives of quite desperation wanting a life of adventure waiting for their chance to come. But when it does they are to afraid to grab onto it and live the life they always wanted. Fear is but the beginning to a new great journey, one that will challenge you and beat you down. But you will always roll up or always swim and always survive. Because without fear to challenge us we are nothing. So next time you have that knot in your stomach because you want to talk to that girl in school, or try to get into that college, or try to surf phil's. Do it. The worst thing that can happen is you can swim or fail. Every time you fail you learn from it. So don't let fear stop you from succeeding and live the life you dream, of.

Keeners Race Day By Marcus Loving

Throughout the keener program we do many different activities in order to help us grow as both kayakers and people.  Different activities are assigned to different days of the week. Mondays are generally used to get everyone warmed back up and ready to kayak for the week.  Tuesdays are used improve upon general skills on the water. Wednesdays are used for racing and generally help with performing under pressure. Thursdays are used to help with comfortability under water, and being in situations that make people uncomfortable.  Fridays are used for freestyle competitions in order to help people perform under pressure and also have fun while improving their skills.

One of my personal favorite days is Wednesday.  On Wednesdays we compete in several races on the water throughout the day.  The first race that we competed in on the past Wednesday, was a time trial race through the mccoys section of the Ottawa river.  Before we began the race each competitor was given the task of scouting the section of river in order to find the fastest line through it.  After scouting out a line, the race begins. Each person starts in the top eddy of the river section and one at a time makes their way down when the coaches tell them to.  Many people take their own unique and different lines down the section of river. These different lines generally end with varying success with some being very fast and others resulting in severe slow downs.  

I took one of the more unique lines through this section of river.  This was the first time that anyone had attempted this line during a race run.  This made me very skeptical as to whether I should attempt this line. When the my time trial began I immediately paddled as hard as a I could toward the right side of the river. I did this in order to reach the checkpoint on the right bank of the river.  The issue that most people had with this line is that if you mess up, you end up in a large rapid called “Phil’s Hole” which is just beneath where I would reach the checkpoint. After getting to the checkpoint I paddled as hard as I could around the right side of “Phil’s Hole”.  After getting around the right side of “Phil’s Hole” I then sprinted for the finish line where i completed the race with a time of 53 seconds. This time won me first place in the race, and was my first win of the day.

I was the last competitor to compete in this race, and this worked to my advantage.  While I was waiting for my turn i watched all of the other competitors in order to see how there lines were and how I could improve upon my own line based off of where the others were going and how they were doing.  This allowed me to perfect my line into one that I was able to win with due to a lack of places to mess up.

After lunch the coaches put together another race course for us to compete in.  This race was a boater-cross. This means that groups of competitors will be sent down in head to head heats with the top two competitors in each group progressing on to the next round.  The first heat took place on a section of river called “Norman’s”. We started with five groups with about five competitors in each group. There are two checkpoints on each bank that the competitors need to reach before they can go to the finish line.  

At the beginning of my heat we all sprinted for the the right bank of the river where we each reached the checkpoint at varying times.  After that we all sprinted for the left bank of the river with Cameron and I out in front of the group. On the final sprint of the race I managed to pull ahead of Cameron and won my heat.  This allowed me to move on to the finals along with Cameron, and was my second win of the day.

After all of the groups had finished competing, the top two competitors in each heat had to race in a finals heat on a section of river called “Coliseum”  The finals heat consisted of about ten people, and had one checkpoint one the left bank of the river that the competitors had to reach before they went to the finish line.  

At the beginning of the race we all sprinted downstream for the checkpoint with Logan in the lead.  As we approached the checkpoint, Logan got stuck on one of the rocks. This slowed him down by a lot and allowed me to pass him.  After reaching the checkpoint I was able to hold the lead throughout the entire final sprint. I was able to take first place, making this my third win of the day.

The different races throughout the day were very enjoyable, and helped to make my skills at scouting better.  My endurance and general physical fitness was also improved through the sprinting and physical exertion portion of these races.  Along with improving my skills and providing the much needed exercise the races were very fun and created a interesting and enjoyable way to improve upon myself on and off the water.

How to take care of your brother in Canada - By Guillermo Meire

In my first year in keeners, I was the youngest. Now, two years later, I'm back, but this time with my little brother, and it's not the same.
At the airport, for example, I was the one who had to guide my brother, when it was usually someone else who guided me and explained to me what I had to do. I had to translate everything, help him, wait for him, ...
In addition to all that, my brother, Nicolas, is intolerant to gluten. That means he can not take anything that carries wheat. That makes things difficult for me, because I have to make sure that everything it takes is gluten-free, although that already does it pretty well. Luckily, in Canada gluten-free food is better than in Spain and my brother has enough for himself, but he does not know how to cook very well, so sometimes I have to cook his breakfast.
Leaving the subject of food, another thing in which I have to help Nicolas is in the river. Sometimes, when we are going to do something in the river and the teachers are explaining to us, what is to be done and how, he does not understand it and I have to expel him. Other times I have to mark the line to him or things like that.
All this is usually quite boring, but it can be quite fun, I am also very happy that my brother is with me here in Canada, because I think he is having a great time and is learning a lot, both in kayak and in English or As in anything else, I am also glad that Nicolas is here, because I have a great time with him.

Cleaning Whitehouse by Davis Sineath

Step 1: Cook a super gnarly breakfast but in the process blow up the kitchen. 

-This should entail spilt uncooked scrambled eggs, loads of scattered pancake batter, Nutella splotches, bread crumbs, and a nice side of spilled milk.

Step 2: Find a place to begin. 

-The challenge of this step stems from the time pressure mixed with the insane mess described above. 

Step 3: Begin cleaning. 

-There’s so many choices, generally it’s as easy as scrubbing some dishes, maybe the sink, sweeping, wiping the counter, the bathroom, or there’s always a unique task to be performed that is a direct result of the mess. 

Step 4: Witness the best shouting match of your life. 

-Usually at this stage in your morning someone looks at a watch and realizes there is 15 minutes until morning meeting. Consequently, everyone gets mad at people not cleaning by this point. The problem from there is some of these people have already cleaned or are off the hook for one reason or another. The shouting match that ensues is epic. It is super awesome. So many insults are thrown and the best part is no one seems fazed. Eventually tempers flare but at this point it is time to kayak. 

Step 5: Kayak!

Yay kayak! No more yelling!