technique Water Reading for Eddy Exits Smart Turns D
iscuss eddy turns with paddlers and you may hear suggestions like: To exit an eddy pool, angle your canoe ten degrees to the eddy line. Others may tell you: Point upstream for fast current, and open your angle for slow water. These conventional methods of choosing boat angle may work for some eddies, but mysteriously let you down for others. So, is there a way to determine the exact angle to exit an eddy? One guaran- teed to work whether you paddle a canoe or kayak in class I or V white- water? You bet there is, and you won’t need a degree in geometry or one of those protractor thing-a-ma-gigs to figure it out. The secret for eddy turns is to read the water and find wave troughs that meet the eddyline. Then, set your boat angle crossways to the trough and surf it out into the downstream current. Water reading is all about finding helpful river fea- tures to make a manoeuvre easy every time.
Water Reading
Reading water is the ability to see the different currents and waves that make a rapid. Use this skill to place your boat onto the most helpful currents and waves to assist a manoeuvre. For the eddy exit, look for a wave trough that meets the eddyline and angles downstream away from the eddy pool. Larger and stronger waves are usually at the top of the eddy where the eddyline is narrow and easier to cross. Smaller, more for- giving waves may be downstream of the top of the eddy but to get on them you will be forced into crossing a wider boil line.
Surfing the Trough
Think of waves as waterslides to move your boat. All waves have a high point and a low point. By sliding or surfing your boat downhill from higher to lower water you can move with less effort. Surfs can also move you side to side much like a ferry. Surfing is the key to exiting an eddy. By literally falling off the eddyline and into a wave trough, you can surf away from an eddy pool. The surf lasts for just a moment, but it has the ability to launch the canoe out into the downstream current saving you the effort of accelerating your boat.
Adding the Strokes to What You See
Trough Line 90º
1. The water in eddy pools appears darker in colour with small rip- ples. Use a combination of forward and correction strokes to cross the eddyline and position your boat in the trough.
2. The eddyline is lighter in colour compared to the eddy pool and has a bumpy texture. When crossing the eddy line, initiate an eddy turn, using the stern pry or stern draw strokes, just before entering the wave trough. Maintaining your angle perpendicular to the trough will result in a pleasing surf/ferry further into the current.
3. Wave troughs are dark depressions between wave crests. As you surf the trough, control the eddy turn by using either the bow draw or cross-bow draw.
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4. The main current will appear bright in colour and is wavy. Now in the main current, build downstream momentum using forward strokes and adjust angles with correction strokes.
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