Cape Fear Novice Trip 2016
| River: | Cape Fear |
| Skill: | Novice |
| Trip Date: | 04/30/2016 |
I've run a novice trip at the end of April (with a few notable gaps) since 1996, normally just non-boating friends that I've dragged along. I pick the end of April because it's the best window for possibly having water yet being warm enough for novices. A common complaint I hear is that the club needs to post more novice trips, and this year I extended that out to the club community. The classic novice problem is that most local kayaking is done spur-of-the-moment, yet most novices need a bit more time to plan, so I posted this trip two months in advance, on the club calendar and ont he club Meetup group. Even with that notice, I was disappointed that I didn't hear from anyone until only a week before the event (partitially mitigated by learning later I hadn't posted my email address on the calendar).
While I'd hoped for something in the Triangle, the rain gods didn't grant that favor. They did, at least, bring the Fear up to 2.5' instead of the miserable 1.6' I've had the past couple of years. 2.5' at least pads out the rocks and makes it a bit more like a paddling trip and a bit less like bumper cars.
Half of us met at REI, reorganized boats, and met the remainder at the Wildlife Access in Lillington. Included in this adventire were: Rick Steeves, Frank Muelle, Eric Moorefield, Camille Warren, Paul Ritter, Janet Gray, Cyndy Falgout, Jenny Wiley, and Russ Scheve. While Eric has paddled with me before, Eric's a non-paddling friend who's borrowed a sit-on-top in previous years. This year he opted to try out a whitewater boat, and took my Jackson Hero. In hindsight, not the best of plans, as the 2006 Hero is a wildly less stable boat than even the standard river runner. That said, the Fear is a great beginner/novice river. The first 4 miles are almost completely flat, so by the time you encounter much whitewater people have had time to settle in to the boat, and at least start figuring out how to go straight.
Before we set out Eric good-humoredly ran through a wet exit drill so he had that experience under his belt. Although Eric flipped in the first set of waves, he had the presence of mind to grab ahold of a rock, and was stable with his head above water until we turned back around and flipped him back upright. Except for later getting caught by a surprise eddy line near the end of the day, he didn't have any other issues.
No other real excitement or drama. We stopped at Lunch Stop for, well, lunch. After a good day on the river we all went to Howard's in Lillington for dinner before we all went our separate ways.
It was a great day on the water, and I got exactly what I wanted out of it – a good day with friends, both old and new.
PS The Fear is a great beginner/novice river. It has a long lead-in, so plenty of time for people to get comfortable in the boats. None of the rapids are that complicated, so no need for detailed line descriptions (I tend to go with something like, "we're going right, and then coming back left eventually"). It's all read and run, and a good opportunity to practice skills. The rapids where people might flip tend to have a large pool of water below. It's runnable even when nothing else is, so easier to plan farther out. I encourage more people to coordinate trips to there.
The Fear is generally runnable from about 1.6' and up. Above 3.5' or so things start to get pushier, and swims can be longer. I prefer about 4.5' at the point where the waves are big anf good to play on, but not yet starting to wash out. 7' and above is quite pushy. For those wondering, the gauge for the Fear is: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/uv/?site_no=02102500&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060