Silly Dio day

No parts. No stock, no work.

S’a’ight, I only skipped out on a weekend with friends (that was shaping up to be a real treat last night before the texts stopped flowing,,,)😿

So, took Serena out for spin, local river, murky but not mucky. Decided it was play time; left the skirt in the truck taking only my PFD, one greenland and a set of handpaddles. Figured if I was gonna swim, I was gonna swim and just drag the boat to shore, empty out and try again. No worries about skirt failure, or binding or any of that. Wasn’t even gonna try to roll, just eject and try again.

Barely even got the boat wet. A little splash in the bottom, but nothing major. Had some fun. Sat on the back deck and paddled up stream. (Tricky as your CoG is about 8″ higher than usual) dropped back into seat (legs still on deck ) and paddled back down stream. Almost as tricky as the first part since all of your angles change. Went ahead and beached at that point and switched to hand paddles. GP on foredeck incase I needed it. Noisier, but just as effective, and being able to paddle with one hand while ‘steering’ with the other makes some maneuvers much easier. Put the handpaddles away and started playing with edging and using the current to move me. I had watched Jess Fox in her Gold winning C1 run and where she had to ferry back across the rapid rocked my world. She skipped across that soup like a skipping stone. I’m learning how to ferry. And that motivated me to get better.(minute mark 2:57, you’ll see what I mean)♧

Maybe I shoulda brought the Jefe for that. But I was able to get Serena to ‘grab’ the current and slide across the drop face I had available. Its definitely a hip action thing more than a paddle thing.

By then, I was getting hot, so I paddled up into deeper water and ‘BLOOOPPP!’ Exited the boat, grabbed the perimeter line, and took her for a swim. I love the smell of damp redwood cedar.

At least the day wasn’t a total waste.

♧Ok, some of ya may be looking at her boat and saying ‘thats a kayak’. Uhm, yes, and no. C1 is not seated, but a kneeling position, and of course, a single bladed paddle. Other than that, everything is visually the same. I haven’t tried kneeling in any of my boats (you have to modify them pretty heavily) but I could see it as an advantage in some moves. BUT,,,,, I’m 52 and that kneeling thing,,,, someone would have to lift me out of the boat after an extended run because I wouldn’t have ANY feeling in my legs.

Second note: I love the slalom boats. ( B will have a fit seeing this 🤣) I would really like to get another Pirouette or similar to replace the Jefe. No rush, and the Jefe is safe for now. But when I see what I want (even if beat to hell, I can make a mold and do a fiberglass version) I’ma jumpin on it. I now know what I needed to change in the Piro to make her more comfortable (actually. I needed the next size up, not the S version) but my confidence, in her, was much better.