June 13th USNWC Creek Boat Smackdown
| River: | USNWC |
| Skill: | Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 06/13/2011 |
Posting a trip on the website is an awesome way to meet paddlers. If the trip is a itch more difficult than it gets a little interesting. I got lucky. The folks that met me for the Creek Boat Smackdown at the USNWC had plenty of game.
John and Rachel Rea along with Todd and his significant other Bethany were awesome folks to meet and paddle with. I got my first couple of laps in by 11am and paddled over to the upper pond to meet my new friends from Atlanta.
A few minutes later gear was on and we were off for the first lap. First lap is always fun, so I went right and they went left for an introduction lap. We met back at the upper pond and smiles were all around. One more Wilderness lap and it was time to go right.
The power of the water on the Comp Channel is similar to the Upper Ocoee thur the Olympic section. The power of the water certainly not the danger of the UO. We hooked up with some Charlotte boaters and took our first lap.Todd on his first and John a few minutes later on his first. These boys did not even take a peek ahead of time. For those of you who have not made it to the park, the Comp Channel can look a little intimidating. Maybe it is a good thing to leap before you look in Charlotte. Anyway, it is a swirly mess flushed into a drop below the first bridge. Below the bridge you stay in the middle as you round the corner. Then keep stroking right as you make the turn thru the Big Drop. If you flip, tuck tight and hope for the best in the eddys below. Perhaps the eddys below are the most difficult thing about the whole course. They recirculate towards the slight hole at the bottom of the big drop. If stuck in one of the eddys you have to go with the flow towards the hole and breakout when you feel some downstream flow. Makes it more fun if there is more than one boat or raft in the same situation. There is a river guard above the big drop. He was kind enough to give us the go or no go signal all day. Hope you know the difference between stop and go!
All was well on everyone runs. One or two of us might have taken a swim but, I just can not remember. We did learn that paddling with a skirt that implodes or a helmet that gets sucked over your face is a drag. So if you have a skirt that implodes either use it for the pool or give it to Bret. Right Bret. Anyway, we worked on eddys, surfing and making the channels more difficult.
Rachel took lots of photos of the boys and girls so they will have lots of memories of Charlotte. I could see the confidence in these folks growing as the day went on. The USNWC is such a fine place to work on skills. Lots of difficult eddys to try and make. Throw in Shutdown hole and M Wave on the Wilderness channel to surf and you have lots of surfing/beatdown options. Lots of cool carving waves as well. Saw a nice line straight thru M Wave from Bethany. She had an impressive surf in Shutdown as well. Smiling.
I left them on the Comp Channel at 6pm. I was whipped, sore and smiling. Thanks John, Rachel, Todd and Bethany, I had a fine USNWC Creekboat Smackdown.
Last note is we chose to try Monday because of less traffic. It was a fine idea. Yes the Center had lots of rafts and kayak classes going but, it did help with the congestion on the channels. Hit the park on a week day if you get the chance. Its a ball!
Joe Berry