Ash Kayaking Again - this time with Jack Daniels (and a few other dodgy characters...).

So we went to the Ash again, this time joining some other kayakers down in Clarens in a last-minute trip sort of fashion... Neil and I met Grant Morstead at his place at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, had a quick coffee, picked up Jared and were on our way. We had a lightning-quick, massive breakfast at Wimpy Bethlehem and joined up with Adrian, Wihan, Marius, Carl and Theuns at the road to bridge rapid (which some people call Fish Pond Rapid, and which Morsie calls Butthole-Surfer Rapid).

So, we got on the water sometime after 10 I think, with breakfast straining at the cag seals. We took it really slow, taking lots of photos and scouting the bigger stuff for the benefit of those who hadn't seen it before. I hadn't seen anything below the waterfall before, and it was pretty cool to finally paddle the whole stretch.

The top section went well, with a few quick rolls at Alles. Bridge as always was a little intimidating, and I decided to walk it after swimming in the eddy above (the branch I was hanging on to broke - I decided it was a bad omen). Neil and Adrian ran it without too much trouble, with Wihan and Grant getting a bit surfed in the bottom hole and swimming out.


The middle section is pretty flat, with a few small wavetrains and a straightforward drop after the weir (which we portaged). After the second bridge there is a nice drop called "big suprise" (int he photos below), and then some smallish rapids before "The Grade 5".

The Grade 5 is a particularly shit rapid, and requires a portage. It's fairly continuous above it, so knowing where it is is pretty useful... Carl ended up going for a swim here, luckily bewteen a few of us we managed to get his boat and paddle to the bank before the rapid. Directly after this is the slalom rapid where Nationals #2 was, which then leads into the 2-metre waterfall. Wihan and Adrian both ran it on the left, Grant also ran it but managed to get pushed far left into the trees below - luckily close to the bank so Neil and I managed to stabilise his boat so he could get out. Directly after the falls is a rapid with two big holes, apparently one is quite a muncher.

After the waterfall most of the difficult rapids are over, with a few drops and an awesome, slide-like weir. This weir is pretty easy to run (all that ran it went down the right to avoid the big wave on the left, but I don't think it would keep a boat long, might thump you a bit though). There's a pretty interesting rapid below this as well, with some big holes at higher levels. Seemed to be easier to skirt the holes on the right, as there was a tree on the left which Wihan managed to catch his deck on... You don't want to go too far right though either. Two drops follow the weir, one is a bit of a shelf, boofed on the left, and the other has a nice glassy wave at the top and a meaty-ass hole on the right at the bottom.

All in all a really fun stretch, there's a lot of boily flat which gets a bit old, especially in the middle section. And it rained a bit on Saturday as well, which wasn't all that pleasant (good opportunity to play the "I have a dry-cag haha" game though...). Overall I found the cold water easier to deal with after an hour or so though, I defintitely didn't think about it as much as I normally do when we've only paddled short sections.

In the evening many beers were drunk, and Jared had to participate in an initiation ceremony (it was his first time kayaking on a river) which involved much Jack Daniels (straight, with coke, and even with ice-cream). He also had to wear a helmet all night. Good Fun. We retired to the backpackers, had a bit of a fire, and a well-earned sleep.

We woke up to a miserable day, and there was a significant lack of enthusiasm about getting ona freezing cold river, in the freezing cold... Luckily it warmed up, and a slightly dimished group of 5 kayakers went for another run down the whole section. Everything went a lot faster, we stopped less to scout and take photos. As a result we finished the whole section in just over 3 hours (it had taken us over 6 the previous day). Everybody ran bridge, Jared rolled impressively a few times but got beaten in the bottom hole and swam (the only swim of the trip). Neil did an awesome last minute roll to miss getting beaten on the shelf, and I managed to go over before the middle drop (I was going for a kickflip of course...) by looking too far ahead.

Adrian and Wihan were the only takers for the waterfall, and the water seemed to be pushing a lot more forcefully towards the trees. Wihan got pushed quite far left and just managed to miss the main branches, Adrian saved a flip with high brace and got washed into a branch. Neil and I helped him maneuver his boat round to below the trees so he could ferry out inot the rapid again... I think a saw might be in order here...

The rest of the trip seemed to fly by - amazing the difference good weather can make - and before we knew it we were eating Nando's on our way home. Good times. Doing this longer stretch of the Ash defintitely makes it a more worthwhile trip, especially for kayaking.

Thanks to Adrian Tregoning for some of the pics.

The Chute v2.0

So we went to the chute again on the Easter Weekend... I had to fetch my seat from a dodgy place in Germiston in the morning, so we only left at about lunchtime. However, we still managed to get to the hole in time for Neil to do a few cartwheels, me to paddle like a girl, and also to see some great boobs... We walked back up in the dusk, chatting about pornography at the top of our voices, until we saw a wedding party on the lawn at Stonehenge waiting for the bride... oops.

We squatted (no, "camped for free", not actually squatted) at the 24hr MTB race, which was a little like trying to get some sleep at Oppikoppi, but not too bad. We watched a bit of Cricket at Finnegans, which sucked. At least the burgers were good.

The next day the hole was a little deserted, with only Ernie and Blake joining us for half an hour or so.... and definitely no fantastic boobs. The level was also a bit lower making it slightly more shitty to get in, and making the wave a little smaller but slightly more retentive. Neil did some good cartwheels and I did a few amazing Atomic-Turtles (like a phonics tortis but bigger and better). We took lots of footage to help the learning curve, and managed to almost amazingly cock up transferring a peli-case from the rock to the bank...

Oh, and there was also a commercial trip with a retarded kid - a little annoying but pretty funny (as always) to watch the clients swim the rapid...

We eventually (quite quickly actually) got too tired to paddle, and left for Jo'burg. The end.

Gatsien Chute

Daav and I haven't play in the Chute for some time now, but with the water as low as it is at the moment we where left with little option. The water had come up a bit to 15cumec which made it possible to play in the Chute, when the water is lower (below 10 cumecs) it really isn't worth while. The last time the played in the Chute we both found it almost impossible to get in and when in impossible to do anything. There is also a nicely placed rock on surfers right which has claimed faces and paddles.
This time round I was pleasantly surprised, it wasn't too difficult to get in (once you know how) and when in it was possible to spin and go for ends. I spent some time working on a cartwheel in the Chute with the help of Hugh while Dave and Laura worked on squirts and eddy line moves in the current below.

Laura going for a squirt

Dave later hoped in Hugh's prototype large Nemesis and gave it a spin in the Chute. This new Fluid playboat looks awesome, it seems much faster than the Fluid and with harder edges give more control. Dave also said it is more stable on ends, I tried but being way too light for the boat never came close to getting it vertical. It 's a sweet boat though, can't wait to try out the medium.

Hugh and the large Fluid Nemesis

I spent some more time in the Chute working on ends, I nailed one cartwheel but the rest generally ended up in me being upside down. Dave swam onto the rock about the chute and got some awesome photos and video. Marius, many will remember from Bivane, was there. This kid is really looking good, I'm sure in a few years he will be an awesome paddler.
Our paddle was short lived because Laura and I had to head back to JHB early. I'm sure we will be spending a lot more time at the chute this year as it is often at this level throughout winter.

Neil initiating a cartwheel and landing up in a "I hate myself" bow stall

Marius styling