2004-06-14 Ole Mersinger at Rookie Racer Monday

Ole Mersinger has been coming to Rookie Nights for almost three years.  I let him take stern and we added 3 rocks to the front to bring it down because we had thirty pound differential.   It wasn’t me who was the heavier person this time.  A little later on, we gave one of the rocks to Becca and Bill Kremer in Ole’s woodstrip racing canoe because they were saying it was feeling tippy.  They weren’t quite convinced it helped though.

We sprinted to catch some canoes and I was surprised to discover that I didn’t have enough wind.  I kept running out of breath and we would have to drop off the wave of the canoes ahead.  It wasn’t until half way downstream that I remembered that I had donated a pint of blood the previous Friday.  At least that was the excuse that made me feel better.  Once we rounded the big green buoy above the Ford dam, Ole and I started trying to catch and pass canoes by staying closer to the shore and out of the current. 

However, there were lots of trees overhanging the shore.  A lot of them were dragging in the current and clinging to the shore by their roots.  We came to a tree branch about 2 feet above the surface with many of it’s branches sticking down into the water.  There was only a small triangle that looked like we might be able to fit through.  Ole said to go under it and I asked if he was sure he could fit.  “I think so!”, he said and I was going through.  I ducked low and reached through the opening with my paddle blade in the water on the far side of it When I heard the splash telling me that Ole had gone in, I jumped out to try and keep the canoe from filling completely with water.  It ended up only being half full of water and us floundering to pick up the paddles and life jackets that were floating into the tree. 

Kevin Shriver and Kelly Ruud helped pull my canoe away from the menacing tree and we drifted downstream in the water until we could find a good place to land and empty the canoe.  As we were getting back in the canoe, Ole said “It was my fault; I held onto the tree too long.”  That’s when I realize that no one had trained him how to go under tree.  A thirty year canoe racer, Al Dubois, had spent a long time training me and going upstream through tree branches were one of his specialties.  I knew that you should never grab onto the tree. 

Coming into the branches, the stern paddler should call the “Hut” before the bow paddler encounters the branches so the bow paddler isn’t trying to switch sides as they go through the opening.  Each paddler needs to duck forward and paddle on the other side of the branches when they go under them so there is maximum stability at all times.  The stern paddler needs to paddle especially strong to propel the bow paddler through the opening in case they encounter a problem.  When the bow paddler gets through, he needs to paddle strong and make sure the canoe stays parallel to the river current.  If necessary, either paddler should rudder as a last resort to keep the canoe parallel to the current.   

Once we got back into the canoe, we tried the same opening in the tree branches again and made it through without any problems.  The rest of the pack had been waiting for us upstream and taunted us as we caught up to them.  A few of them had tipped over before at Rookie night and they were the ones who didn’t say anything.  We had learned from past experience that fate especially enjoys humiliating you right after you make some smart comment to others.

Halfway back upstream from there, I purposely crowded Ed Arenz and John Kilgore to see what he would do. Lee Jarpey and his partner were on his other side and had to come out and sandwich Ed and John between us as we passed the plastic floating dock of the Minneapolis Sculling Club.  Ed was unusually angry and worried that they would be tipped over as the canoes pinned them from both sides.  John told me later, that he was a bit concerned too.  I wanted to get closer and harass him some more to see what happened, but Ole made me stay away from Ed for a while until he calmed down.  

I talked with Ed and Lee afterwards and Lee said it wasn’t a problem at all.  Keith Canny had told him that those were the experiences that we need to practice so we know how to handle them in a race.  Ed took longer to forgive me, but I think he finally did.  At least I hope he did.  We have a lot more paddling to do together.  My wife pointed out that we weren’t setting a good example for rookies and I had to admit that she was right.  I’ll try to do better in the future.