Why do I kayak? - Gabriel Deschenes

Whitewater kayaking is one of the most adventurous outdoor sports on the planet these days. It takes a lot to get in the proper mindset. Going from the comfort of your living room to the rowdy crashing waves and hydraulics of the river is not easy. When I kayak, I often get to the bottom of big rapids wondering “That was sick! But why do I like that stuff?” In this blog, I will be revealing exactly that. 

I’ve always been very curious since my earliest presence on earth. As I grew older, stronger, and braver, this need to explore grew substantially stronger as I started doing stuff outdoors. I always wanted to go bigger. For the longest time, I had been looking for something to fully satisfy my curiosity. I got introduced to whitewater through rafting on the Ottawa river and kayaking a little later that year. I immediately fell in love with the idea of riding the most destructive force on planet earth in a kayak. I knew I wanted to stick with it for the rest of my life when I first started. For the longest time, the parts of rivers and creeks that I was unable to see from the bridges or roads along them made me want to go. There is also something nostalgic about paddling down creeks that run through territories my family hunts in located in the middle of the woods. With whitewater kayaking, I fill my need to go on river adventures and explore new streams. Another thing kayaking brings me is thrill, kick, and adrenaline. Whitewater kayaking is VERY FUN! Just the feeling of plugging, and punching a big hydraulic or stick that move feels unreal each time. It never gets old. It’s always an extremely good feeling to look back at a drop and realize how few people are brave and skilled enough to do such a thing. It’s an iconic feeling, making it so special to me. I’ve always liked being pushed out of my comfort zone and taking challenges. When I'm on the water, pushing and challenging myself is a daily occurrence. Even with whitewater kayaking giving me such a thrill in my life, paddling down a class I-II boogie can be extremely relaxing once the big rapids are upstream. 

Kayaking in a lake can help solve all my social problems. It’s just so relaxing to be in your own world observing wildlife and the surroundings. This brings us to my next point. Whitewater kayaking often brings you in deep canyons, and forest topped creeks. A person having kayaked his whole entire life could have easily seen waterfalls and canyons from a way different perspective then an average Joe having lived for 100 years. It allows me to see incredible things regularly and early on in my life. Overall, I consider whitewater kayaking as by far my favorite sport. There are so many types of kayaking that it produces in my opinion extremely well rounded athletes. It also keeps me in incredible shape. I am more than stoked that I have discovered this amazing outdoor extreme sport, and I can sincerely say that my life would not be the same without it. It makes my life a lot better, keeping me away from all the bad things in life and cleaning me up. This is the reason why I like whitewater kayaking and am willing to take the risks relating to it.

Rain - Emery Slothower

Rain often starts with the scurry of activity as keeners dash without hesitation to the gear on the porch. Gear that had spent the previous twelve hours drying, only to be undone in a moment. The soft pater against the thin roof proves effective in keeping the covers on for three, four, five cycles of the alarm clock as we muster the strength to haul our tired bodies out into the vinyl floored kitchen. Rain evokes naive hopes of a resurgence of mini-bus in many keeners, for others just a feeling of what might have been.

Rain in a kayak is a different story. Droplets gather on the brims of helmets, dripping onto the gore-tex outers of our dry tops. The water loses whatever tranquility it once had at the hands of the turbulent entropy of ripples of raindrops. Water pools, then drains in every fold and cavity in our water repellent clothing. Rain leads to misplaced efficiency to get out of the rain but keep the rapid.

How to treat poison ivy - Sol Obregon

Poison ivy grows all along the Ottawa river, so there is high chance that you could accidentally rub against it if you aren’t careful. In the instance that you do get poison ivy you should resist the strong urge yo itch it. This could make the oil spread to your hands, and from there, anything you touch. This could mean spreading to your face, stomach, or even other people. The oil that is on poison ivy leaves can also get on your paddle, and then it will get on you when you touch the paddle. 

When you have access to medical supplies, you should get cortisone cream and apply it to the affected area for a few days. You should also apply a calamine lotion to the rash. Antihistamines like Benadryl will make the rash less itchy and should help you sleep better. If you keep using these things, the poison ivy should be completely gone in two to three weeks.

How to get vertical - Justin MacArthur

So you gonna want to start practice bow at stern smashes, then you can link them together to get closer to vert, now try introducing an edge making it closer to vertical. From here you’ll want to bring in your paddle taking a stroke backwards or forwards to elongate the motion thus getting higher each time. Then your gonna want to practice these concepts a lot; a good time is on the flatwater witch most rivers have quite abundantly so it shouldn’t be that hard.  Once you get the hang of this you can start adding more edge, thus getting even more vertical. For the final step you’ll want to focus on standing up on your feet and pushing them underneath you, thus completing the motion and becoming fully vertical. Congratulations!

How to flat spin in a wave - Noel Weisenburger

A flat spin is one of the easiest tricks you can do on a wave or a hole. It consists of a full 360 degree rotation with the boat flat, and is worth ten points in the icf scoring system. One of the most important things for the success of any trick is your position on the wave. On a larger wave it is easy to throw a flat spin anywhere flat in the wave where you will not lose the wave when you start rotating. In a smaller wave, it is often better to find a sticker corner of the wave or hole where you can stay in the hole during the flat spin. 

The first step of a flat spin is to use a back sweep to rotate the first 180 degrees to a back surf. During the rotation, you need to keep your eyes upstream otherwise you will flush. Now that you are backwards in the wave, you can look over the other shoulder upstream. To finish your flat spin, use a forward sweep on the opposite side of the back sweep you used to initiate the spin, and you should come right back to a front surf. A flat spin can be initiated from a side surf or a back surf as well, the only requirement is that you rotate a full 360 degrees.

About Rain - Colin Glackin

There is lots of rain here in Canada. You always see these photos and videos of it being nice and sunny but that is not the truth there is lots of rain for the past week. It has been raining a lot while we are on the water and when we are off of the water. The weird thing is that even when it rains a lot the water in the river does not rise sometimes. But the rain is nice sometimes when you are going up to a rapid and there is mist on the horizon line and it is dark and gloomy. But the rain can also suck because there is lighting, we have to stop kayaking for a bit, also when you get out of your boat at the end of the day or lunch you get very cold and your boat starts to fill with water. But besides all of the negatives about rain it is still very nice and its good to have once and a while.

Skeeters, a critical analysis - Finn Blankenship

There are 67 different species of mosquitoes in Ontario, however around 30 percent of the mosquitos you see will the of the Aedes vexans variety, otherwise known as inland floodwater mosquitos. The female mosquitos are the only ones who take blood meals and they prefer cattle, horses and birds. This said, mosquitos will gladly feed on humans if given the opportunity. Male mosquitos feed on nectar and sap and are generally not a nuisance to humans. Mosquitos are eaten by birds, bats, frogs and dragonflies. Mosquitos, informally known as “skeeters” can prove to be a nuisance to keeners as when the females bite they create large welts that can irritate and itch for several days. When there are possibly hundreds of mosquitos swarming each keener these bites can appear all of their body in great numbers. 

There are several ways to prevent skeeters from affecting you as a keener. Firstly during morning workouts is one of the times where skeeters are the worst. To prevent them you can wear long clothing like pants, a hoodie, and a hat. Secondly preventing skeeters in the indoor areas can be integral as warding them off while you sleep is difficult. To prevent this you can check screens before you open windows to make sure there are no openings. You can also shut the door quickly once entering to prevent skeeters from following you in. Using these techniques you can minimize mosquitos impact on your keeners session. You can see an example of a skeeter-proof outfit below.