Some people

Seriously, can be soooo stupid. Not just annoying stupid, but criminally negligent stupid.

I went rafting this weekend with Nick, Jen and Alex. We had an awesome trip. Everyone were great on the paddling, and every run of rapids was smooth as silk. We hit all the good stuff right on. It's been a while since I've done that, so I'm super happy. Nice to have that prayer answered!

But now for the stupid people. It started at U of C. Actually, I won't say stupid for them, just not trained properly and inexperienced, which is understandable, although inconvenient. We picked up the gear, and I had to tell them what was what. They tried to give us non-whitewater PFDs, the guide paddle wasn't a guide paddle, stuff like that. So after getting all that sorted, we hit the road. Get to the river, wrong boat. It was a non-whitewater, non-bailing raft. Good for like the bow and stuff, not so good for the Red Deer. After some deliberating I scored us a bailing bucket and we decided to hit it anyway. The material on the boat was tough enough, it just meant we really needed to be on the ball. If it were people who didn't know better, they'd have been in trouble though.

Anyway, second big rapid, we watch a fishing type raft with 2 adults and about 4 or 5 kids, and a dog, with shorty wetsuits and bike helmets go over sideways. (were were hanging out below it debating surfing the big ledge) After Jen pulls a screaming kid out of the water, and me and alex get to a couple people as their coming on shore, and get a head count, we keep going (they were getting out there, so that was good). Later on, next big rapid, another boat, this one a 4 person whitewater with about 7 or 8 people in it got eaten by a hole in S-Bend. Again, screaming people everywhere. I tagged 3 with a rope just as a kayaker got to them and towed them to shore, and nick got one who was on her own (never though I'd need both throw bags at the same time!). These ones had NO lifejackets and NO wetsuits. I could not believe it. It seriously blew my mind. To endanger a bunch of young people by being that stupidly negligent. They are seriously lucky no one drown or got severe hypothermia.

So the moral of the story, if you're gonna hit the river with someone, make sure you know they aren't gonna kill you! I mean, no life jackets in whitewater? Holy crap!

Missing: 1 roll

I have lost my kayak roll and can't seem to find it. Once upon a time, after a winter spent kayaking in the pool at u of c, I had what I considered a bomb proof roll. I could roll from both sides, from any starting position, and in a pinch could even do it without a paddle.

So when I went to Lake Bonavista I expected it to be a little rusty, but like riding a bike, never forgotten. Apparently I was wrong. I've had a couple successful ones, but only on one side, and at a rate of around 40%, not good enough to be confident in white water by any stretch. I don't know what happened, so I'm blaming my boat. If I'm not working next weekend I think I may register for a rolling on the river clinic, so I can practice with some good instruction in my own boat.

In other news, the Red Deer has hit runoff quite early this year, so I'd really like to get out to the river this weekend if anyone is game!

Sad news and some cool news

Okay, first the sad news I guess. About a week and a half ago J had to take our old shihtzu, Rambo, to be put to sleep. He was 18 years old in June, and had severe arthritis, and was mostly blind and deaf. He got to see everyone he knew before he died, and J and Ellie took him to the park. I guess it's not surprising news, but he's been a member of the family so long that it's pretty sad.

Now the cool news. The City of Calgary has been given $6.5 million dollars to remove the weir! Anyone from Calgary also knows this as 'the drowning machine'. It's an impassable low-head dam on the Bow river at Pearce estate park used to control irrigation ditch water levels. The new plan with split the river into two channles (both with natural banks, no more big concrete walls!). The right channel will be an easy passage for open canoes, beginner boaters, and floaters. The left channel will be a series of more challenging rapids designed for both running and playboating. This means we'll have whitewater right within the city limits! Within walking distance of Downtown and the zoo. Its not the artificial whitewater park I've been wanting some rich person to build in town, but it's still awesome. It will make the weir area much more beatiful, safe and fun, becoming what the initial report calls the 'gem of Calgary's parks system'. Hehe... just in time for my new boat :D

Time off, roughing it, and Phillipinos

So it's been a little slow with work lately. I haven't had a whole lot of road time, which is quite nice. However, I do know that when it gets crazy busy and I spend 2 months on the road or something like that I don't get to complain. Right now I'm in Lethbridge though. It's actually not too bad a city. It's nice having friends here too. Monday I chilled with Leanne, and tonight I hung out with Fr. Tito and Fr. Wilbert. That was good times, I don't get to see either of them much, so it was great to catch up (even if Wilbert is absolutely convinced I should be a priest ;)

Went camping with Karen last weekend. That was a great time. We were gonna hit Sundance lodges (my regular kananaskis haunt) but its not open for the season yet so we went to Mount Kidd RV Park. It was quite luxurious for camping... a lot like Sundance, only it had a hot tub too, which was freakin' awesome after surfing. We spent our saturday down at the Kan surfing on one of the manmade waves there. It was good times. Karen wasn't quite ready for the surfing (too close to vacation, didn't wanna risk an injury) but after they closed the damn we spent a while just playing in the river and floating downstream and stuff. It was a lot of fun, although insanely cold. Also bought a new kayak on sunday. So pumped, the guy at the store gave me $1000 off it (and its $1500 new, so that's a pretty incredible deal). I was going to spend the summer looking for a used fat guy boat I'd fit in, but they had one there they needed to get rid of and it gets amazing reviews by any paddler over the 200lb mark, so I can't wait to try it out.

Anyway, that's life for now. Karen is off on her Mediterranian cruise, so that's really exciting for her (even if I'll miss her and get to be all mopey for a couple weeks ;)