Boise River December 1st

Still no snow in Boise Idaho.  It feels like a fall day on December 1^st at the Boise River Kayak Park.  All the leafs are gone, winter should be here, but we are out on the river on this 55 degree day!  The big wave of the summer has become a small shallow hole. It can be pretty tough at first you can catch an edge roll over and hit your paddle if you don’t get it tucked up to your boat  fast. There is also a rock that I hit quite often mostly with my paddle but also one time with the kayak and another with my head.  It may be shallow but I’m a kayaker hitting a few rocks every now and again won’t hurt me. That’s why we were helmets right?

It was a pretty good day I did my first cartwheel where I did two in a row.  Greg went for the spin all day and only got one or two and Phil kicked ass as usual. The river had a good hole today but if I was not careful about where I shoved the bow into the water for a cartwheel I would go too deep and come around hard and smash the stern on the waveshaper.  But not bad for a December day on the Boise River. 

I made a video with some of the highlights from the day, watch it in 720.  If it does not play well on blogger go to YouTube with this video link.

Layering

I have been supper happy to still be on the water at the end of November. It has been pretty cold the last few days in 30s and 40s and I have still been going down to the White Water Park and staying warm. The trick is layering and staying dry. I bought my gear in pieces and parts this summer. When I first started looking for winter kayaking gear I had a hard time trying to figure out what I needed. After some research on the internet I was able to figure out what most kayakers were using for cold weather and cold water. I ended up getting a Kokatat Gor-tex dry top, NRS dry pants, some Sweet Protection Fleece, NRS Toaster Mitts, NRS booties and two NRS skull caps. I stay dry and comfortable all day. If I stay out on the water for a few hours or go for a swim I will get a bet wet around the waste but I’m still staying warm. In hind sight I wish I would have just bought a dry suit. But I saved some money with the dry top and dry pants plus on the warmer days that are in the 70 I can were shorts with the dry top and I’m comfortable. 

I have around a thousand dollars into all this gear and been having a blast all year!

Author Day

Idaho River Sports is hosting Idaho Author Day. Jo Deurbrouck author of “Anything Worth Doing” is one of the many Idaho authors that is going to be at Idaho River Sports.  I had bought “Anything Worth Doing” for my smart phone about a week ago; it took me about 7 hours to read the whole book!  As I was watching the battery die on my phone reading the book I could not put it down. With just seconds left before the screen went blank I grabbed the charger and moved to the floor to finish the book. I don’t want to give any of the book away, so I will just say that after reading the book I really wanted to go float the Main Salmon, or any river for that matter.  Idaho Author Day is going to be held on the 1^st of December from 11:00am to 3:00pm. Go to Idaho River Sports Web Page for full information.

Five Hour Cartwheel.

The cartwheel has become a very hard trick for me to figure out.  I just don’t understand how to keep it going. I can cartwheel stern to bow but cannot for the life of me get the stern to plow under the water a second time. When I do the cartwheel I start off in the wave at about a 45 degree angle than plow the stern of the boat into the green water.  Once the stern goes under the water I have to turn my paddle parallel to the water take a backwards sweep stroke, rotate my shoulders  and twist my hips. This will cause the stern of the boat to come flying out of the water than the bow of the boat will plow under the water.  This is how to do a cartwheel.  What I don’t know how to do is keep it going and plow the stern under a second or third time.  Maybe I don’t have enough stomach muscles. I have seen others do the cartwheel and just keep going, even when they come out of the hole or wave they can cartwheel down the wave train. I am getting pretty good at the cartwheel and like anything else if I keep working at I will get it figured out. 

         

          I took over five hours of film on the Gopro to make this twenty five second video.

The Beat Down!

So the irrigating water has been shut off at the Boise River Whitewater Park.  The Wave Masters have come up with a hole.  When the feature is a hole instead of a wave the water from upstream dives downstream than the water eddies back upstream creating a recirculating hole. I have been having a lot of fun in the hole but sometimes I will get a beat down.  If I flip over on the right side of the hole I will recirculate back into the water coming from upstream.  This can get a bit tricky, I am good at rolling on my strong side but if I flip over on my off side I can’t seem to stay up when I roll. The current catches my boat and violently flips me back over upside down.  Most the time I am able to upright myself and get out of the hole but sometimes I flip over time and time again.  I used to think that I don’t have to roll, I just need another breath of air but I soon realized that this is not always true.  When I am getting a good beat down after three to five times of rolling back over I become frustrated and tired so I go for a nice cold swim.  Lucky for me the Boise River is nice low calm water and I have been able to retrieve all my gear so far. 

Below are pictures of the beat down

 The Pictures are left to right all taken with in one second.

Hear i am trying too roll on my off side and having some trouble. I have found that if I get my paddle in just the right spot the current will catch it a I am able to push the boat back up right.

 I made it back up but was going way to fast and dove right back into the hole.

At this point I am wanting to take a breath of air. I panic and pull the spray skirt letting water fill the boat as I come out.

I went for a cool swim after the paddle and the boat went back into the hole It tumbled around for about a minute Than was released and floated down to me.

Steve Fisher Movie Premiere

Steve Fisher is coming to town for a movie premiere of the documentary Congo the Grand Inga Rapids.  Steve Fisher is known to the world as one of the best all-round kayakers.  He is going to be at Idaho River Sports on Friday October 19 at 4:30-6:30 for a meet and greet and bbq.  The movie is going to be at the Egyptian Theater at 8pm Saturday October 20.  I had bought the movie Congo the Grand Inga Rapids on itunes when it first came out about a month ago. This documentary fallows Steve Fisher and others through the most dangerous rapids on the planet.  This is a must see movie. For more information go to Idaho River Sports at http://www.idahoriversports.com/events.asp?id=228.

The Changing Wave.

The water in the Boise River is getting low.  This has resulted in a very small wave at the Boise River Kayak Park. I go to the park almost every day just to see how the wave is going to be different.  The wave changes because of the water level, it also changes because of Mike and Steve.  Mike and Steve control the water level for irrigation. Their job is to work with what water they have, to make the best  wave for kayakers and surfers.  Lately the wave has been very small but on Wednesday the water for irrigation will no longer be needed.  I talked to Steve and he told me that without having to keep water back for the irrigation he thinks that they will be able to make a nice surf wave even in lower water.  For most the summer the kayak park has had a nice wave to surf. The wave was big and deep. The wave that has been at the park for the last few weeks has been steep and shallow.  It has been so shallow that my boat and paddle will hit bottom sometimes. I am looking forward to see what happens on Wednesday when Mike and Steve are free to do what they want with the water.

In the picture on the top the dam has three flashboards down. The picture in the middle has two flashboards down and in the picture on the bottom only one flashboard is down. The wave is much smaller with only one flashboard down.

Sweet Gear!

The weather is getting cooler.  The Kokatat Gore-Tex dry top will help keep you dry to withstand the chill waters while kayaking.  This dry top is top of the line. I put this on with a thin fleece under it and went kayaking Saturday morning. When I left my house the outside temperature was 50 degrees and the water temperature was 52 degrees when I arrived at the river . I stayed at the river for over four hours and stayed very conformable while paddling.  Not bad right? This dry top has kept me dry and warm. The Gore-Tex breathes great so that all my sweat drys fast. It’s nice to have the gear to stay out on the river for extended amounts of time in the fall and still stay warm. 

Boise River Kayak Park

My name is Cody Harrigan, I have been blessed to have lived in  Boise Idaho for all my life. I enjoy the Treasure Valley and surrounding areas because of the outdoor life that is offered.  One of my new favorite features of Boise is the Whitewater Kayaking Park.   This park has been long awaited by me and many others. It is a complex system of air bags and hydraulics. The Hydraulics control the waveshaper.  A big steel plate is what makes up the waveshapers. The waveshaper is what makes it a green wave or a hole.  The air bags control the flashboard that keeps the water back for the wave and irrigation.  I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to one of the wave-masters (that is what I call the people that control the parks features), Steve Obert gave me a tour of the room where all the controls for the flashboard and wavehsapers are. Steve Obert has many options that he can do with the shape of the wave but also has to keep in mind the farmers that need a certain level of water for irigation. At the present time with lower water Steve Obert is limited to only letting so much water run past the dam.

I have kayaked since I was 12 and have enjoyed every minute on the water.  In the last few years I have not had time to kayak, it has been a tragedy.  The Boise Whitewater Kayak park is about five minutes from where I live. This allows me to have time to go kayaking almost daily even with school and work.

This Kayak park is sweet!  I have been having so much fun day after day, going kayaking and playing on the water falls.  My brother and I started going down the waterfall just a few days ago.  On the first day that my brother went down the falls he started out with good speed and jumped right off into the big surf wave and started surfing backwards, well I tried to do that today.  I started off with good momentum and jumped right into the wave and sunk. I was instantly flipped upside down. Check it on my high speed camera below.

 At first this wave was very intimidating for me.  I would just go down to the river and sit there in my kayak watching others.  After a few days of this I was able to start going in the wave.  The first few days of going to the kayak park for an hour or so it was very challenging. With little knowledge of freestyle kayaking I had many vicious wrecks were I would catch my edge and flip over in the bottom of the hole. I have been going down to the kayak park for about a month now and I have overcome some of my fears and have started working on freestyle moves.  The first move I have been working on is the spin. The spin is were the boat spins 360 degrees in the wave.  Check out this short video of me spinning(The Spin this link will take you to youtube a HD video) and keep watching my blog for the cartwheel.

References.
              City of Boise. Boise River Park. Cityofboise.org (2009-2011). Web. 1 October 2012.