Got me arse wet, Me did!

Off at three today, bright sunshiny day, warmer than yesterday, winds,,, well mild breezes,,,

So took Rio back to the shoals for some more play time. Not in proper gear: blue jeans, barefoot (I am ALWAYS barefoot when paddling,,, its my foible) a QD shirt and PFD.

Got a little overzealous in a turn, hard lean, and dipped the cockpit rim under water and it went were it wanted: right into my lap Not enough to swamp me; I righted the rig with a quickness, (and almost capsized in the other direction,,,,LOL) but wet arse,,,, you betcha!

Good thing I left my wallet in Buffalo,,, Had to replace some CredCards in the past because the ‘chip’ got wet,,, Always a PITA that.

And now I am home. Not much play time, but ANY play time is seat time and seat time improves your skills (even if you don’t realize it,,, Its muscle memory to the boats character.)

Still not real keen on this new paddle, but it does bite water and that counts a lot in WW. (and I am a hardcore Greenland paddle guy these days, so there IS bias in my preferences0.) I also have to get used to the whitewater strokes again. You don’t let that paddle go past your hip, unlike in long boats where that is a normal stroke. Let the paddle go past your hip in a slalom boat and you initiate turning, or worse, a roll. It depends a lot on current speed and direction, but even facing the currentl, that ‘past the hip’ thing will get you in trouble that needs corrected fast and usually gets over done leading to other problems. So: in Rio, shorter higher cadence strokes, less speed but more control. At least she edges like a long boat and thats something I was anticipating and looking forward to. The last two shorties I had, one could edge, but it didn’t ‘feel’ right, the other I couldn’t get on edge with a prybar: it was flat or roll, no inbetween. (for the unkayaky reader, Edging is how we control direction and how we control current effects on our boat when at odds to it. )

Lesson learned today? SKIRT, no exceptions! I have to lean this boat hard to get the responses she is capable of, and that puts that cockpit under water. A skirt will eliminate MOST of that water getting in. (In kayaks, waterproof is a concept, not a fact) AND, she is much more responsive than her sib, the ARC. Thats a GOOD thing,,, Just wanna see what strong current will do with her,,, (patience Dio, patience,,,)