New Friends and New Horizons

Tim Madison, 'Grace Under Pressure'

Over the past two months I have been out on the Potomac almost every day.  I started a kayaking program with a few students at school in early March, and have been out on the water on a regular basis ever since.  I took a solid break from paddling this winter, and it turned out to be a great idea.  I returned to the water this spring with new inspiration and motivation to enjoy the water. 

In the past month I ran close to forty laps on Center Lines, and recently as water levels have dropped a bit have had the opportunity to fire up Virginia side again.  Today, I set out with Tim Madison and John Greer.  Tim is from Georgia and arrive in early June.  Eric and I showed him down the Falls.  He was super stoked and we have had some great paddle sessions since then. 

Today was no different.  It was a beautiful, hot day out on the river.  The level was hovering around 3.2, maybe a bit below, so there were plenty of options.  We started off running a lap on Grace, before heading over to the Virginia side.  Tim and I ran the Virginia side a week earlier and fired up the 'Crack' around 3.4.  I never thought I would say this, but at 3.2 things are starting to feel really low out there.  We ran the left line at U-hole, and all had smooth lines through S-turn.  I squeezed through the 'Crack', and John followed.  Tim was fired up to run the meat of the 'Spout'.  He would have none of the typical right to left move and decided to try his luck plugging it straight down the middle.  In the eddy below, I watched him shoot of the lip, paddling ferociously through the air and forty fiving into the deep dark lair of the unknown.  He shot up to the surface and was violently pulled back into the curtain.  He hung on for a few moments blasting the bottom.  His boat was cartwheeled four of five times with audible thrashings.  It seemed like a long while before his head popped up twenty yards downstream with a huge smile stretched across his face.  His boat filled with water and was finally released from the Spout's jaws.

John Greer, 'Grace Under Pressure'

John coralled Tim while I chased his boat down.  The bow was nearly bent half from being tossed around, but it luckily he was able to climb back in and keep paddling.  John had to bust a move, but Tim and I had some more time, so we scoped out the Alpine line.  We hiked back up and fired it up.  The wave through Z-turn was sweet, and the 'Point' boated easily.  We were stoked when we reached the bottom.  We finished up the day with one more run down the Virginia side.

Tim Madison, 'the Crack'

I'm taking the next two weeks off from boating.  I'll be on the road with students running a summer program through Virginia and West Virginia.  The time off comes at a good time.  I took a really big shot to my ribs a week ago and am still in a lot of pain.  I flipped below Grace and took it hard from the rock in the runout.  It still hurts to roll.  I am hoping it will be in good shape by the Falls race. 

Me, Squeezing through 'the Crack'

Peace.

Tapirs

Just a few more days of school and the freedom of summer.  The past two weeks have been great.  Lots of Fishladder and Centerlines laps... finally starting to get comfortable with some water in the river.  Definitely looking forward to running the 'Crack' when it gets down a bit more.  This summer should offer up lots of boating opportunities.  Hoping to get some time on the 'Green' with Gnarls, the 'Black' in upstate New York, the 'Ottawa', and a trip to the 'Rado.  It's been great to get a lot of time on the river with Ornstein since he's been in town.  Hoping to get some new pics up soon.  Until then, here's a picture of Strongarm's new girlfriend.  What a nice ass!