The 2013 Inter-Jurisdictional Convention of Female Paddlers
Posted by Cortney,
09 July 2013 · 2,565 views
It is hard to say when the Guelph Kayak Club and the Kawartha Whitewater Paddlers became adversaries. While there is much speculation amongst paddlers, the facts are much like Harris’ alleged time on the river; elusive. However, once a year the female paddlers of these clubs come together in an effort to build bridges, make peace and repair the damage imposed by their ego-driven counterparts. This is a girls weekend. Yes, only innies are allowed at the Reeder Cottage. It’s a safe place to share feelings, talk about maternal inklings and discuss menstruation and how that makes us feel. Did I mention we talk about how we feel? Good. Oh and we also paddle. Dinah and I arrived at the river Friday at 2pm. We put on at the Lorne and attempted to surf waves at Waikiki. Then we paddled up river to McCoy’s and surfed right side horseshoe. We ran McCoy’s without incident then paddled back to the Lorne. The level was between 3.5 and 4. That night the women began assembling at the inter-jurisdictional convention of female paddlers- otherwise known as the Reeder Cottage. Stephanie and Manny were first to arrive from KWP. They decided to enjoy an evening paddle down to McCoy’s. Dinah and I explored pizza and the sunset at Esprit but came back in time to set the theme for the weekend: decidedly it became The Shocker. While we waited for the remainder of delegates from GKC to arrive, we shared many stories that resulted in big laughs and wildly inappropriate jokes. I thought to myself “these are my kind of ‘ladies’”. The night concluded with a late arrival, more beer to welcome the late crew (at least I drank more to celebrate their arrival besides Cathy shouldn’t have to drink alone.) The following day the full compliment included: Stephanie, Manny, Sue or Soo, Camilla, Marcie, Cathy, Dinah, Alex, Nikki, Me and a new delegate claiming to be Richard’s girlfriend named Claire. It was unanimous, we would run the middle. Up first, we tackled McCoy’s. I had a near perfect run clearing Phil’s with some distance and staging myself in the eddy above corner wave. Dinah styled a “controlled” although unexpected surf in left side Phil’s. Nikki, decided to chance left side horseshoe and while she was not injured and flushed, it resulted in a swim. I was busy helping Nikki and missed everyone else run the rapid. Iron ring was a pot of boiling water. Newbie Claire followed the advice of kayak coach Alex and ran the rapid. It looked good but not having a roll resulted in her first swim. Brave girl, I thought. The IJCFP hung out at S Bend surfing the hole and having lunch in the sun. Down we went without much incident. Finally, we arrived at Lower No Name. Soo and I decided to run it without scouting trusting that the line would be the same. It was great! Big green highway all the way. We loved it so much we ran it again. By then, many other boaters were ready and we had a super run down. Cathy, that minx, was busy checking her left line and ran the rapid by herself. Somewhere along the way she felt it necessary to give up the left line and venture farther right. Here, she met Vampire. He wasn’t that nice and she swam. Then farther up river Alex and her grasshopper Claire were just setting off. I was sure there would be more carnage but to my surprise, Claire this two week new paddler, managed to make it down without a swim. My respect for this chick grew despite that fact that she is dating Richard, which made me question her decision making skills. After dinner, a few of us decided to take advantage of the river and head out for an evening surf at McCoy’s. After the epic flat water paddle each one of us ran McCoy’s with mixed results. Stuffed with spaghetti and beer I decided it would be a good idea to clip Phil’s roll up then roll like twice more until I was in the eddy at the bottom. Uuuugh. So not pretty. Claire while brave for trying, swam McCoy’s. Dinah decided to avoid Phil’s and just head down for a surf. We all made it home after dark and covered in bites. Later that Night Claire thought it would be a good idea to prank Richard. I think she tricked Kevin instead. Richard being the crafty jerk that he is didn’t buy it for a second. Although, I thought Claire’s performance was outstanding. Then I fell asleep. Sunday we divided and conquered. All of us running the Main but some from the Lorne only to save driving time. I was in this crew. It was a fun morning. Nothing terribly eventful. We all scouted Coliseum. Manny bravely took first position choosing right right. I followed choosing right then left after Kahuna, Sue, Dinah and Stephanie all chose right right. All good lines. It would have been more fun if we didn’t have to stop and discuss our feelings. There was a lot of cryaking, consoling, convincing, talking up. Exhausting. Really bloody exhausting. Just kidding! In truth, I may have been the “girliest” girl on this trip. Big thanks to Stephanie for her cottage and KWP for letting us GKC’ers attend. See you at the 2014 IJCFP. *the contents of this blog are my personal opinion and not meant to be legal advice.