Conquering rapids

Since my last white water kayaking trip in April, I had been looking forward to beginning of school term in falls as JHU Outdoor Pursuits would be organizing trips again.

I signed up for the beginners' trip on Sep 14 where we kayaked along Violet's Lock. It was the same river I went to for my first kayaking trip.

As safety was paramount in this sports, I went for my rolling session. I remembered that I was able to roll with the kayak model called Pop and practiced in it. I succeeded in rolling eight out of ten times which helped to boost my confidence for the trip. However, I still felt the need to have someone watching over me before I rolled.

The weather on Sunday was perfect. In fact, it was hot and dry as compared to the cold and rainy conditions for my previous two trips. I was able to paddle straight as opposed to the first trip where I was heading left and right except straight. I had learned to control my paddling strokes and use my hip to control the direction I desired.

There was one section of the river where we could practice surfing because of a big hole. A hole is usually formed behind boulders where water is circulated. In order to get to the hole, I had to pass fast flowing current. As I did not tilt my kayak towards downstream, my kayak caught the current and I went down under.

Not feeling panic and refusing to do a wet exit, I went to the starting position of rolling over. With one swipe of the paddle, I got myself upright and was feeling high from 'self-rescuing' myself. Undeterred from my failure, I tried one more time but failed. This time round, after attempting thrice, I could not roll over and drank a lot of Potomac River water. One of the kayak leader did a T-rescue. I was coughing badly after letting some water entered my trachea and my throat as of today, Sep 25, still feels weird. (I was coughing badly for two weeks before this trip and I am not a hypochondriac).

Along one stretch, I T-rescued a fellow participant who had capsized unexpectedly. Fortunately, I saw him since no one was around.

At the last stretch of the trip, I too capsized and tried to roll but failed. I was trying to hold on to the riverbed rocks with one hand and the other to the paddle so that the leaders would not have to retrieve it downstream. I could feel the river current swiping me downstream. After being rescued once again, my hands suffered several small cuts from the rocks.

It was fun and great to be able to roll in rapids but I would need more practice to perfect it. I am considering on the next beginner's trip which is on Oct 5 but it clashes with the river rafting trip I am organizing.