OC1 Technique
Wave Turns Work less, surf more by Andrew Westwood photos Scott MacGregor
photo2
photo 1 photo3
Photo 1. Approach the cor- ner of a breaking wave by point- ing the bow at about 45 degrees to the wave crest. In weaker currents you can open up the angle.
Photo 2. Keep to the shoul- der of the wave so that once the bow strikes the foam pile the stern is still in the downstream current.
Photo 3. As the boat spins, keep the canoe tilt flat by tight- ening your legs against the thigh straps. Avoid bracing as you may catch your blade once the canoe spins upstream.
Photo 4. After the spin, you can front surf if you like, or ferry either direction to the next helpful feature on the river.
Wave turns are as much an photo 4 L
et’s face it: canoes are big boats, and they can be dif- ficult to paddle. The result is that we often work too hard paddling whitewater. When teaching open canoeing, I fre- quently point out the many opportunities to use water fea- tures to reduce the effort of paddling rapids. One of my favourites is the wave turn. Suppose you need to turn from facing downstream to facing upstream. Why take a half- dozen strokes to turn your boat when you could use a breaking wave to do the work of spin- ning the canoe for you?
24
www.rapidmag.com
exercise in water reading as they are in good boat control. To plan a wave turn, scan downstream looking for a breaking wave with a foam pile perpendicular to the current. The best foam piles have aerat- ed water falling from the wave peak down to the wave trough. Small holes work too, but be careful to wave turn only on features that you also would feel comfortable surfing. The secret to wave turns is boat position. Begin your approach by aiming your bow at the corner of the breaking wave so the bow points toward the foam pile. Accelerate gen- tly so the bow of your canoe hits the white water at the top of the wave crest. The foam pile is not moving downstream and will catch and hold the bow of your canoe. The stern, which is still in the downstream
current, will pass the stalled bow. The result is a spin that turns the canoe upstream. Spinning and catching the wave without the canoe sliding downstream requires that you engage a suitable foam pile
change direction and S-turn to an eddy along shore. Both manoeuvres will seem easy because the cross-current momentum, generated by the brief front surf, carries into your next move.
Stuff you bow into the corner of a breaking wave.
with correct boat angle, speed and bow placement.
In some ways, spinning and stalling on a wave serves the same purpose as a mid-current eddy pool. What makes this move better is that you can stay on the wave and enjoy a front surf. The true benefit, though, is that you’ve halted your downstream momentum and are ready to stage your next move. You may decide to front
ferry or (as shown) choose to
The wave turn offers all these benefits while requiring minimal strokes—in fact, I did- n’t mention one stroke in this entire article. Just stuff your bow into the corner of a break- ing wave and let the river do the work. Reducing your effort by using water features, like waves and holes, is the key to making paddling a canoe look easy. Have fun, and don’t work too hard.
Andrew Westwood is a frequent contributor to Rapid and is an open canoe instructor at the Madawaska Kanu Centre.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52