Welcome to part 2 of Ribers guide to White Water Kayaking. We are going to be discussing Techniques to master, reading the water and the equipment you are going to need. Let's get into it!
Important techniques to master
When paddling on moving water, it is important to know several important skills, these are: capsizing safely, rolling, breaking in and out, ferry gliding and surfing.
The first of these skills is learning how to capsize safely, if and when you fall into the river, you need to remove your spraydeck from the boat and roll forwards out of the boat, this heals to prevent your legs from getting stuck, when you are swimming in the river it is important to float on your back with your feet up, which will protect you from hurting them on any underwater debris. You are going to want to flip your kayak the right way up and keep hold of your paddle and the end of your boat, unless it is unsafe to do.
The second skill is learning how to roll, Capsizing can sometimes be a lot of effort for the rest of the team; it is therefore important that you learn to roll, and capsizing should become the last resort. The important things to remember when rolling is the set-up position, the hup snap, and your head position. Your head should surface last, which will allow you to roll successfully. See the following video for a detailed guide on how to roll https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j5dnJM2p1k
Breaking in and out of the flow, while this is relatively easy it is also easy to get wrong, all you need to do it point the boat at the eddy you want to break out into (break out), as you enter the eddy you need to edge the boat upstream, this will safely allow the current of the eddy to move under your boat and make the transition smooth. When you want to break back into the flow (break in), simply put the nose of the boat into the flow and lean downstream, and the water will turn you downstream.
Up next is ferry gliding, which involves moving across the main current to the other side of the river. All you need to do is enter the flow with a downstream edge and have the nose of the boat pointing at a very slight angle to the other side of the flow, and paddle forwards. Remember to transition to a downstream edge when you enter the eddy on the other side of the current.
Finally surfing waves, it is similar to ferry gliding, you want to find a suitable wave for your skill level, align yourself next to it or just above, keep the nose of your boat pointing upstream, and enter the flow with a downstream edge, all you need to do is paddle, when you reach the wave you should be able to feel it pick you up, use back strokes to keep the noes out of the wave in front and to keep it straight, when you want to get off the wave, either stop paddling or edge in the direction you’d like to go and use a sweep stroke to turn you.
Reading the river
Learning to read a river is critical for paddling, we will outline some of the key things to look out for below, but we recommend you still go and do your own research and paddle with experienced people. So here is some of the key information you need to know!
The current of the river tends to follow the outside of the bend. Usually, there can be bubbles on the surface of the river, which can indicate the direction of the current. When you enter a rapid, usually sometimes there is a downstream V shape on the entrance, you should enter the rapid there, it will be the cleanest line, if you enter on an upstream facing V you are likely to hit a rock. You are going to want to look out for stoppers; you should avoid these, but that isn’t always possible. There may also be hidden rocks under the surface of the water, you can usually tell where they are as the water may look a slightly different colour. You should look out for boils, these are likely to push you off course and away from the direction you'd like to travel in. if you see one, you should edge away from it and paddle hard, this will allow you to oppose the boil and get moved less or not at all.
For more details on how to read rivers, we recommend watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2xXz3ZKrMY
Equipment
The gear you take with you when paddling is essential and could potentially save your life. So here is a list of equipment you will need and links to where you can get it. Escape Watersports is a great provider of all of the following equipment:
- Buoyancy aid
- Helmet
- Spraydeck
- Air Buoyancy bags
- Throw line
- Spare layers
- First aid Kit
- Emergency whistle
- Dry bags
- Appropriate footwear
- Wetsuit or drysuit
- Safety equipment
Thanks for reading our basic guide to White Water kayaking. We hope that this will help get you started and ignite a passion for the sport in you. We would also advise doing some more research on white water kayaking before you get started. We hope that you stay safe and enjoy your paddling!