Introduction
Now that you have a solid base of skills in handling a kayak, how can you take advantage of these new skills. Most of the paddlers in our club paddle whitewater. Whitewater kayaking is a great deal of fun but there are a number of other excellent paddling opportunities as well.
Run Whitewater in Other Crafts
In the old days, GBCC stood for "Greater Baltimore Canoe Club" - hard to believe. Any boater worth their salt paddled kayaks, canoes, and even rafts. Canoes come in a number of styles like open canoes, decked canoes, solo & tandem. Once a year, the GBCC runs an event called the Canoe / Kayak Rumble. Kayakers have to paddle canoes and canoeists paddle kayaks. Believe me, this is a great deal of fun. Canoes have a few advantages in whitewater, mainly you sit a bit higher and can see further down the rapid. They also carry a great deal more gear so they are ideal for long overnight trips like expeditions. Larger boats typically require making your moves a bit earlier than our smaller kayaks. Running wave trains becomes more interesting as you don't want to swamp the boat. Here is a great resource for C Boating: CBoats.NET.
Rafting is another opportunity to enjoy whitewater. Rafts come in all sizes from one man craft AKA: The Ducky, Shredders, and full size rafts. In our area, they are typically paddled with canoe paddles. Out West on big water runs, they often have an oar rig. Rafts are another great boat to have on expeditions. They are also quite helpful for enabling novice boaters to see some truly classic advanced runs. Our local clubs run the New River Rendezvous each Fall and Mike Sawyer brings several large rafts which he fills with novices so they can experience the New River Gorge. There are a number of great rafting rivers not too far away like several sections on the Youghigheny River, Cheat River, New River, and the Gauley River.
Racing
I covered a number of racing options under boat control so I will not bore you with repetition. Slalom, down river, and ascension racing really builds excellent boating skills. A great organization devoted to racing is The Bethesda Center of Excellence. An incredible resource for wildwater racers is the Wild Water Racing Manual. Chapter 7 - Paddling Rivers" is well worth reading even if you don't plan to race.
Play Boating
Play boating is one of the best ways to master the kayak roll as you flip often in this sport. It also puts a premium on edge control and torso movement, both of which are great skill builders. The Maryland Chuteout Series and the Maryland Chutes at Anglers Inn are great places to try this sport out. Valley Mill Boats and Potomac Paddlesports frequently bring demo boats you can try out. Contact them for their schedule. Jackson Boats used to have a great section on their website on playboating techniques. Unfortunately, they no longer host it there. They do have a number of good short videos you can find via a search on google: Play Boating Technique.
Creek Boating
Creek boating is a specialty that requires specially designed whitewater kayaks, strong paddling skills, and excellent rescue gear and training. Creek boating concentrates are small runs with high gradient - expect lots of water falls. All creek boaters need to keep a close eye out for strainers making sections of the run impassable. Many creek boaters walk as much of the run ahead of time to look for any dangerous hazards that may require portaging. Here is a great article on this sport: Creek Boating Article. Here is a video of creek boating: Creek Boating Video.
ELF Boating
ELF (Extra Low Flow) boating was introduced to me by Bill Blauvelt on the Upper Gauley many years ago. The normal release flow on this run is close to 3,000 CFS. We have boated the same run on as little as 210 CFS and had a great time. The Cheat Canyon is another excellent ELF run from 250 CFS - 500 CFS. ELF runs can be a great way to try more difficult runs without the normal push when running at full volume. ELF boating puts a premium on narrow slot moves which are a great deal of fun. ELF boating also places a high premium on solid boat control and great technical boating skills. The best ELF runs have fairly decent gradient and are in tight canyons. Here is a video on ELF boating on the Cheoah River down South: ELF Boating Video.
Extreme Sports like Squirt Boating & Striding
Squirt boating was invented by several local legends from our area; Jesse Whittemore and Jim Snyder. Squirt Boating uses ultra low volume kayaks to do various underwater moves around eddy lines. The following article covers this facinating sport: Squirt Boating. Here is a video demonstration of squirt boating: Squirt Boating Demonstration.
Striding was invented by Jeff Snyder and basically has him standing in an inflatable kayak and paddling with a really long paddle. Jeff can pretty much paddle any class V whitewater this way but really specializes in water fall running and ELF (Extra Low Flow) runs. Here is Jeff in action on some pretty insane drops: Striding.
Sea Kayaking
Sea kayaking is another discipline taught by the ACA. Sea kayaks are typically much longer and more narrow than our whitewater boats. They often have a rudder as well. Good sea kayaks have air chambers, great for storing gear and a crucial safety feature since they often travel way off shore. Sea kayaks are extremely fast compared to our whitewater boats. One of the best resources for Sea Kayaking techniques is: Sea Kayak Chesapeake Bay. Here is a local club that caters to sea kayaking: Chesapeake Paddlers Association
Surf Kayaking
Surf Kayaking is shares a lot of the same thrills as big water kayaking. Although you can surf ocean waves is a regular kayak, these are specially designed boats that mimic surf boards and are safer than your typical pointy river runner. We used to surf down at Ocean City, Maryland in the Fall and it was a real hoot. Regular surf boarders were quite envious as we could surf waves much farther and get back out to the breaks much faster as well. Here is a more detailed article on this fun sport: Surf Kayak Article. Here is a page of surf kayaking video clips: Surf Kayaking Video.
