River Race

My friend Jirko from the pub has been planning a trip to the Vavrinec river to do a little conoeing. It's a river he has been on with his family before, but was new for most of the pub goers. Megan and I had planned to attend, but made no effort to make preparations or reserve equipment for the trip, so on Wednesday or Thursday we decided not to go. However on Thursday night at Pub Night, both Scott and I were ambushed into signing up, each with the belieif that if we didn't go there would not be enough pairs to fill all the boats. We both signed up, and made a pair. I was actually glad to be going, especially since, like most of the pub trip, I didn't have to plan anything beyond what to wear and what to take.
I made two miscalculations. The first was staying out late on Friday playing poker at Rob and Marta's. Generally I have a reputation for being a poor poker player, although on Friday and also the last time we played I finished the night slightly above my buy in. However, it took me until after two to accomplish that task. The other was not understanding the elements I would be facing. The river was incredibly cold, not surprising for mid October, and even with the wetsuit, I spent most of the day shivering.
On the car ride to the river the 8 of us split into teams of two, largely male female teams, which in hindsight may have been part of the push to sign Scott and I up onto the trip. Once we arrived we realized the river was going to be quite crowded. Apparently there was a kayaking race or competition running on the river. This concerned me for a couple of reasons. One is that a crowded river is obviously harder to navigate, and two was a slight understanding of what kind of river would be exciting for kayakers. I understood when I saw the river. The current was strong and fast while the river was ver thin, running little wider that the lenght of our boats for most of it's trek. Also the river coursed through a forest so that it was constantly running around trees, stumps, and other hazards, besides running under low lying bridges (some of which forced me to lay down entirely at the bottom of the boat), cataracts and winding sharply along its path.
Once in the boat two problems became immediately clear to me, as Kat, my partner, and I careened into Scott's already beached boat and both ended up swimming. The first, more annoying problem, was that I would have to squat on my knees for the whole time. The boats sat low in the water, and my height caused the boat to be slightly unstable and increased the likelyhood of me taking a plunge. This had the effect of making my lower legs fall asleep for most of the trip. The other problem that I spent most of the rest of the day trying to overcome was that the boats were flat bottomed. What this means for the unaware is that the direction the front of the boat is pointing in has very little impact on the direction of the boat, expecially when facing a current as strong as the one we were dealing with. basically this meant that if the river turned, we went banging into the far bank, and if I needed to dodge a tree that had grown in the center of the this river, we mostly sideswiped it. The funny part is that this mostly meant that dealing with cataracts and rapids was actually the easiest part of the day.
Eventually Kate and I got a good rhythm for moving the boat, and I got an understanding, though basic, of how to steer it. We discovered that we could sit up on the seats when the boat was going straight, but that we needed to slide down into the bottom when the going got tough. Also I had an epiphany when I realized that going sideways and backwards was not actually a problem, and began using this to avoind danger. We faced a few early problems that kept Kaate and I wetr for the first hour or so, and we both had reason to be thankful for the helmets, as I banged my head into a stone arch bridge and she crashed hers into the floor of the river. Our biggest challenge came when I was unable to get the boat to go around a bridge pillar and we both went for a swim, but the rubber boat wrapped itself around the pilar. I had to wade upstream through the tight tunnel and unwind the boat, hoping that Kate who was holding both paddels could catch in on the other end. Of course she did, and we continued on. Though at this point I smiled and said we should try to stay in the boat form now on, and I don't think we turned over again for the rest of the trip.
After the first hour there was a break point with hot tea and sunlight, so we all pulled over to smile about the rigors of the first part of the trip. At this point we were all alittle beat up, but I think having a good time, except perhaps Scott who had been feeling well for several days, and who of course had discovered essentially the same problems I had.
I actually ended up in the water two more times, one when I failed to dodge a tree extending into the river. I managed to get Kate's part of the boat around the tree, but it actually dragged me out of the boat. My only satisfaction was pulling myself out of the river and seeing all of our companions who had gotten there first, also recovering from this trap. The next was when I fogot that the banks were very steep and actually stepped out of the boat into the deep river.
Toward the end of the trip is a steepand dangerous waterfall that we had to pull over and walk around, which you can see in the pictures. Only the most experienced kayakers actaully rode through this hazard. Also in the pictures you can see Kate and I riding over a waterfall at one of the race gates. At one of these we actually got trapped under the fall. We managed to stay up, but the boat got filled with water, and because of the nature of this river, it was some time before we could pull over leaving us to ride unsteerable through several hazards.
At the end of the trek, the organizers waited with tea and food, which was incredible, since we had brought none along for the ride. Afterwards we searched out a pub and had some dinner and drinks and talked about our day.
In the end the experience was exhilerating. My hands were almost inoperable, and I couldn't feel my toes. The next morning my entire body ached. However, it's something I'm really glad I did. One of the best things I have gotten from living in the Czech Republic is remembering how much I enjoy these kinds of activity. The river was actually quite beautiful, and the company was friendly and fun. Well done Jirko, another fine Pub Trip.

Pictures