Slave River Playground Video

During my stay up in Fort Smith a film crew came up to take some footage of the Slave to show during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver to promote other parts of Canada as tourist destinations. Here is a nice video of the Playground (also features ''English Channel'') which shows the Slave River is for kayakers of all abilities.

 

No Dam on the Slave!

With the White Nile being dammed kayakers will be looking for alternative rivers for playboating. The Slave River in the NWT, Canada offers world class play spots, river running, and even creeking with first descents still to be run! This video shows the 4 sets of rapids on the Slave and the features each set of rapids has to offer as well as making people aware that this unique river is at threat of being dammed.

Slave River 2009 from Jacqui Whitehead on Vimeo.

Return to Skooks and High Levels on the Ganga River

Micha going for a blunt with Drew on surfer's right Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

Last week of August John and I decided to hit the Skook one more time before I left BC. The levels ranged between 12.0F-12.97F which meant we had hours on Skooks without it greening out on us. The other advantage was there were very few boaters at Skooks this time around which meant on most days the wave out-surfed us! Like always we had a big adventure with our second Skookumchuck trip - beginning with the ferry ride!

John Rathwell on 'the Skook!' Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

Micha & Drew competing for the wave behind Skooks Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

Micha going for an aerial blunt Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

BC ferries wanted to charge us an extra $30 for being 4cm ''overheight''. John really didn't want to pay this so he forced his creekboat inside the jeep and only minutes after I stated we would probably crack the windscreen....the windscreen cracked! When we left the Sunshine Coast again like always another adventure to be had, this time we made the ferry with only about 2min to spare, being hungry kayakers like most we were so desperate on the ferry to eat anything that we ended up eating re-fried beans out of the can on the hood of John's jeep with wholemeal wraps and cheese.....it tasted so good at the time!

Moments after I told John we would probably crack the windscreen! Photo: John Rathwell

The first week of September I flew out of BC and landed in Delhi, India. The following day I braved a long car journey to Rishikesh where I will be spending the fall guiding/safety kayaking at HRR on the Ganga River with strong possibilities of also doing expeditions on the Saryu, and Kameng Rivers. Another possibility though is the Siang River Festival in November which I am looking forward to (especially after seeing some of the footage in The Last Descent!).

So far I have been out kayaking on the Ganga River which is at it's highest flow for the season. I've seen some ridiculous looking boils so far and opted to borrow my friend's creek boat for the first 3 days of paddling so I wouldn't get completely smashed and gave the Project 52 a go in high water yesterday which was both exciting and fun!

Although I am sad to have left BC I'm looking forward to the next 3 months of big water boating in India. I have met so many great people in Canada this season who were always willing to go out of their way for me and will be people who I will call friends for the rest of my life. Those people know who they are and I can't wait to see everyone again next year season!

Photo: John Rathwell

Epic Tofino & Victoria Road Trip

After spending 4 days paddling at Skooks last August my mate Sonny and I decided to head over to Tofino and Victoria to check it out. Somehow we managed to miss the ferry in Powell River over to Vancouver Island by 5min and had to wait 5 hours for the next one. This meant we drove into Tofino sometime after 11pm and in the dark had a lot of trouble finding the campground. We decided to turn back and as Sonny made the U-Turn we somehow found ourselves in a massive ditch!...no way to get out except with the assistance of a tow truck! We thought all was lost and after an hour a tow truck eventually came and we were able to have some sleep.

The town of Tofino itself was just mainly cafe after cafe, all the real surfing is down back about 20km. We decided to surf with our kayaks at Long Beach. Usually you have to pay for day parking here but the cost was covered with our camping. Unfortunately we didn't take the camera with us surfing but it was pretty fun and a new experience surfing in the ocean.

Before heading back to Vancouver we stopped for one night in Victoria and had some really nice Mexican food and indulged ourselves with ice-cream and bakery goods. A nice reward after a week of kayaking a Skooks and Tofino!

          Main pier in Tofino Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

          Sunset at Long Beach Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

          Sunset at Long Beach Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

           Victoria   Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

   Victoria Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

        Victoria Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

Victoria Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

Skookumchuck Narrows

Tues 18th August - Friday 21st August a small group of us paddlers who met at the Slave River Paddle Fest went out to Skooks for 4 days. Thursday Skooks was at it's largest level 15.6F with some pretty impressive boils and whirlpools in the wave train behind.

Link to tide-chart and viewing times:

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/skook_narrows/

Uganda April 2009

So when most people think about surfing a wave like the Nile Special airscrews, backstabs and the occasional helix come to mind. For me at my current stage of paddling surfing a wave like the Special involves front surf, flat spin and faceplanting. At the end of March 2009 myself and 2 Norwegian paddlers (Nini & Barbora) headed over to the Nile for round 2 of 'Chicks on the Nile - Extreme Edition'.

For Nini and myself this was our second adventure to the Nile for kayaking. My first time over mainly involved river running, this time it was all about the Hairy Lemon (where eating food involves just putting a spoon into your mouth and swallowing - no chewing necessary) and the Nile Special, only to venture to NRE in Bujagali for the weekend benders.....

We were also joined by 3 Irish paddlers training for Worlds this year in Thun, Switzerland (Mark, Sibohan and Sinead), Erika, Matt, Andy, Flo, Kristof and caught up with old friends such as Vanya, and Katya from Russia. For majority of the trip the girls definately outnumbered the blokes, but I don't think any of them were complaining!

Highlights from this trip were most definately having our own private party at the Nile Special with the locals - including flood lights (well a couple of light bulbs), roast pig and speakers with Swollen Members blasting from them whilst we were surfing on the Special, Mark & Sibohan's leaving bender at the Lemon where Nini managed to get herself stuck in Marlow's baby chair, adopting some random puppy who's favourite food was 'noodles', and finally having for most of the time a 'girl's only trip' - a first for me.

For those kayakers thinking about venturing over to the White Nile, now is the time to do so. Most people seem to think the Day 1 section will still be around until early 2009 and predict that once the dam is complete the Day 2 section (including the Nile Special) will remain at the level it is now. For more information about water levels, and the damming progress contact Jamie at Kayak the Nile http://www.kayakthenile.com/

Here is a video I put together from our trip this year, enjoy!

Information on getting to the Nile:

Airlines:

Most people fly into Entebbe Airport, Uganda which is located about 2-3 hrs from Bujagali. Air Brussels will take your kayak for free when booked through KTN. Emirates will also take kayaks for free as long as it is within your total checked in baggage restrictions (usually about 23-28kg checked baggage allowance depending on where you are flying from). Other airlines include South African Airways, Kenya Airways, KLM - all will take kayaks but will most likely charge anywhere up to 300USD to take your kayak (if your lucky you may be allowed to take it for free!).

Getting Around:

A taxi to or from the airport will cost you 100,000-120,000 Ugandan Shillings. When arriving it is best to have pre-arranged transport with either NRE, Hairy Lemon or KTN to avoid hastle, especially as most flights will arrive at Entebbe late at night.

Boda Bodas are a great way of getting to and from Bujagali to Jinja (~5000 Shillings return), or as a shuttle back to NRE from the Silverback takeout on the Day 1 Section (~3500 Shillings).

Delicas (4WD style minivans) and Matatus are a good option if you have a lot of gear or more than 4-5 kayakers. Price will depend on if you are using the same driver all the time, if you are willing to spend the time on negotiating a price with the locals or if you would prefer someone from KTN, NRE etc to book it for you.

Where to Stay:

Most kayakers stay up at Bujagali Falls if they are running the Day 1 Silverback section or if they are wanting a weekend bender. Good options here are NRE (Nile River Explorers) which is home of the infamous NRE Bar (guarenteed to induce some carnage) or Eden Rock (which is a less busy quieter option if your liver is in need of a rest).

If surfing a big wave and getting some air is more your style then staying down at the Hairy Lemon is where all the other kayakers are usually found. Here you will be provided with 3 cooked meals per day (remember everything can be eaten with a spoon!)

*Please note that all prices quoted were for April 2009 and may have changed