Punching Holes

Today we woke up and it was cold and rainy.  Despite the dreary rain, we all had our minds on the river.  I had some math to do, but my super dad let me delay my work for the afternoon.  The best part of the day was the kayak trip in the morning.




We set off through the rain to the same put-in as our first kayaking day at Aren and Sarah’s lodge.  The plan was to kayak the same section of the Rio Espolon, but to go a little further to a supposedly good play hole and take out from there.  For all non whitewater boaters out there, a hole is a wave that recirculates making a pillow at the down stream end of the wave.   This is created by the wave of water going upstream.  Some holes can be dangerous.  You or your boat could get stuck recirculating in the hole and, in the worst case, drown before you eventually flush out.  Other holes can be fun to surf.  These are called play holes.  They flush out easily, but still are big enough to hold your kayak for the thrill and the ride that makes surfing fun. 

We carried our boats to the put-in of the Rio Espolon and started our kayaking morning.   All through the morning and day, we stopped at small waves to practice surfing technique.  I was having tons of fun and getting really good at surfing the small waves.  I also made a big step forward in my rolling technique.  For a roll, you twist to one side of the boat, complete a motion of torso and arm movements, and come up on the other side.  As you can guess, you can roll on either side of the boat.  I first learned the left sided roll.  It is hard to learn the right side after one has drilled the left side so many times.  Today, I finally got my right sided roll!

After traveling down stream, we came to the surf wave and the take-out.  To my disappointment, Aren said that the current water level made the hole dangerous for beginner surfers.  My parents surfed the hole and some waves right beside it.  Aren told me that I could, at least, practice punching through the hole a couple times.  I pounded through the wave with my head down and my paddle secured on the other end of the hole, pulling me forward.  We had a blast at the play spot, and enjoyed a snack over looking the river.  Soon the morning was over, and math awaited me back at the lodge.




This morning was really fun.  I hope I can find a play hole that is safe for me in the future.  For the rest of the afternoon I completed my small math assignment.  I hope tomorrow will be as good!

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic!