{"id":2,"date":"2009-04-26T23:35:15","date_gmt":"2009-04-27T06:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2011-12-20T07:51:40","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T14:51:40","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ireneskayakingblog.com\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"
April 2009:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 I’ve been going on whitewater kayaking trips around Seattle nearly every week since January ’09 and I usually take video, much of which so far has ended up just stored on my hard drive.\u00a0 Between that and the pictures other people take it seemed like a huge waste to just let that stuff sit around, so I’m starting this blog so we have a place to share it all.<\/p>\n I’ve got a ton of video to go through which I hope will eventually end up on here.\u00a0 If you’ve got kayaking photos, video or just want to write about a paddle or review a kayaking thing your tried feel free to drop a line<\/a> to submit a post.\u00a0 So far it looks like I’ve recruited one guest poster who takes helmet cams (thank you Greg :).<\/p>\n By the way, I’m not an expert paddler, just a Class III-er looking to move up.\u00a0 A big thank you to the WKC (Washington Kayak Club<\/a>), I’m not into clubs in general but I have to say they are an awesome group of people who are a blast to kayak with, many are great paddlers and everyone takes the time to help out newbies.<\/p>\n Update Nov. 2009:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 I have to add that after kayaking the Skykomish a lot since the summer I also owe a big thanks to the Professor Paddle<\/a> boaters too, who for whatever reason end up on that river a lot more.\u00a0 The WKC and the Professor Paddle crowd aren’t entirely mutually exclusive, but there is this odd little rivalry in terms of how they approach kayaking in some respects – it’s kind of interesting.\u00a0 Anyway,\u00a0the PP boaters are a blast to boat with and have helped me a lot in terms of improving.\u00a0 I’m still what I would consider a solid class III paddler so have a lot to work on, but at least now I’m\u00a0capable of occasionally scrabbling down a Class IV without having\u00a0a massive yard sale.<\/p>\n Update April 2010:<\/strong><\/em> OK, after doing literally over a hundred runs through Boulder Drop (the Class IV rapid on the upper Skykomish run) since last July and jumping into Anderson Hole a bunch of\u00a0 times I can say I feel pretty comfortable overall on moderate Class IVs, which for me means Boulder Drop up to around 2700 cfs.\u00a0 I’ve done it up to 3800 cfs, and had a super-interesting (and let’s face it – very fun) line down it in the Jackson 2Fun, my current favorite boat, the other day at 3600 cfs, finished off by a close-up encounter with House Rocks and then a spectacular roll through the wave after that.\u00a0 (Cruddy line, great roll – an ongoing theme.)\u00a0 Thus, my most recent post about looking for whitewater kayaking slalom videos<\/a>, since I know in order to get comfortable in more difficult water and also to start being able to catch micro-eddies\u00a0 (or, in my case, sometimes even just eddies) like you need to for creeking I’ll have to improve my boat control.\u00a0 Of course this is all assuming I survive my second go at Tumwater<\/a> tomorrow. ;)<\/p>\n Update September 2011:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n