Novice trip adapted to intermediate participants who had a wonderful day on FB9 at around 2800cfs.
| River: | French Broad |
| Skill: | Novice+/Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 05/19/2012 |
French Broad sec. 9, level somewhere around 2,800-3,000 cfs. Was posted as a Novice trip to the Tuck gorge but the folks who showed interest were pretty much intermediate kayakers so we opted for FB 9. A good time was had by all. I provided some entertainment when I entered a dynamic eddie at Big Pillow too high. The water entering the eddie was wrapping around the bolder forming a kind of whirlpool. This spun my boat around 180 degrees in a flash as I entered the eddie. I kindly obliged the eddie monster by edging my boat on the wrong side as I went into the eddie backward. Next thing I know I'm counting fish. Blew my roll and was the first of two swimmers that day. Still, it was a great first outing of the year for me and a good trip for the 6 others. Martha Mounce was in the group as was Joan Monnig. Both of these ladies have only been paddling for about a year, but did great on this big river at a challenging water level. Martha even ran Pen Ball (class IV) and at one point in the trip popped off a combat roll! IMO an impressive group of boaters who I'd be happy to paddle with any time.
SYOTR,
Steve Gause