Avid Canoeist Chronicles : 2004-10-09 – George’s first run on the Rum

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2004-10-09 – George’s first run on the Rum

I finally had an open Saturday and called George Stickler who has been paddling regularly on Monday nights this year. He and I have been trying to connect up and paddle for several weeks. We used his Minnesota II canoe with some slick gadgets that he had built to hold water bottles. I mentioned that he should sell them and then we both laughed because we know there aren’t enough people buying canoe racing gear to make it profitable. Also, many of the potential customers have come up with their own solutions that they would rather use.

We met at 9:00AM and found that others had already started. Five vehicles with empty canoe racks, save for one solo racer were waiting in the parking lot, along with Ed Arenz dog, Cocoa, waiting for his master to come back and let him out. George let me have the stern so he could practice his stroke and get some feedback because he thinks I may know more about it than him. I’ve been trying to figure the stroke out for 15 years and find there is still more to learn. However, I did do better this year than I have ever done in the canoe races with many different partners. Though I’m still not at the point where I can be with the lead canoes no matter who I’m paddling with like some of the better racers can do.

George was at least moving his upper shoulder structure with each stroke. I know that’s part of the answer to efficient paddling. There’s another part about locking the shoulder and elbow joints that is more difficult to explain and to learn. That’s how you can transfer most of your stronger torso muscles power to the blade.

We took off heading upstream to see how far we could get before the other canoes came back down. The Rum River was a dark ribbon wandering through a blaze yellow and light green corridor of maple leaves on each bank. Early fallen leaves in the water sticking to the bow to made the canoe noisy. George used his paddle blade to sweep the offending leaves off only to be replaced by another clinging leaf determined to slow us down. Maybe it was nature’s way of telling us to take our time and enjoy the wonderful scenery on the Rum River.

Since this was George’s first time on the Rum River, I explained that there was a usual route we take going upstream, crossing back and forth from one bank to the other to get the most relief from the oncoming current. The river level was high and there wasn’t much current right now, but we could still feel the tug of the shallow sandbars on the inside of the turns. Normally, we sprint as soon as we feel the increased resistance, and sometimes before that because we know where every sandbar is from bitter experiences of having been dropped by the other canoes that sprinted before we did. Once a sprint starts on the shallows, the huge waves can easily drop you back if you are not in the right place on them.

We made just past the top of the shortcut, which was now clogged with fallen trees, before we saw the other canoes coming back down river. The whole Peterson family was out, Bonnie and Steve, and their daughter and son, Emily and Ryan, along with Lee Jarpey and Yuyudah Hoppe, Brett Arenz and Ed Arenz. Riding side wakes, they came in a line four canoes across. We ducked behind an outstretched fallen tree in the river and I told George to get a drink before they got to us because we wouldn’t have time to drink trying to hang onto their racing canoe wake with a wider Minnesota II canoe.

I introduced George and listened to the others friendly jibes. We took off to pull alongside them as they came past. George was paddling too hard, just as I had done for more years than I want to admit, and I kept reminding him to ease up so we could stay on the right part of the side wake. George and his friend Nate had won the recreational division of the Great River Race in September, but had said they had a hard time riding the side wakes because they kept zigzagging too much. I wanted to show him how to stay on the wake and explained that he had to keep the front of the canoe where it needed to be and I had to take care of the back end of the canoe.

Another problem that I have encountered is that each person has a different idea of how far away from the other canoe they want to be. If you don’t talk about it, you can both be struggling against each other without realizing why the canoe doesn’t seem to steer. In deep water, the closest you should be is about 2 feet apart at the midpoint of the canoes. This leaves just enough room for both teams to paddle without hitting blades together. It also works good to stay in sync with the canoes beside you because you are less likely to break a paddle if they do end up hitting.

Using pushes and draw strokes in the bow, you can keep the front of the canoe the right distance apart. If things get real bad, you may have to resort to a rudder, but it has to be real quick and effective or the other team will drop you to their stern wake when they see you put the rudder in too long. The stern paddler has to switch sides whenever necessary which sometimes means you paddle “same sides” with the bow paddler. It’s a good idea to let the bow paddler know before you do that so they don’t do anything too fancy, because you’re just a bit more susceptible to flipping over while doing same sides. I didn’t let George know and we got a bit floppy whenever I did same sides. Just as in the bow, you can also use a quick rudder in the stern as a last resort to keep the canoe parallel with the one next to you.

We came to the long shallow bend just above the bottom of the shortcut and everyone started to sprint. George and I were on the outside of the turn next to Brett and Ed as they took off. George did a great job of paddling harder when we slid way back on the deep side wake wave and we were able to hang on while the other canoes on the shallower inside fell back off. Once Brett realized that we weren’t going to drop, he slowed up and let the others catch up again. Brett and Ed congratulated George and were impressed that we had stayed on with a Minnesota II while the other racing canoes had dropped. I’m sure it was partly because we were fresher, partly because we were on the deeper water side, and partly because no one was training for a race this time of year. Once they all caught up again, more friendly jibes were exchanged.

We passed a pontoon boat that was heading downstream at about 5 miles per hour. It was good to leave the gas fumes behind. It wasn’t until we saw the County 116 bridge that another sprint started. We didn’t fair so well in the bridge sprint. I let us get too far away from them on the side wake and then failed to jump on the stern wake quick enough so we ended up in forth place coming under the bridge. This was only the first time we had paddled together so we did quite well overall. Hopefully, George enjoyed the paddle as much as I did and will continue to want to learn more about riding wakes. I watch the geese much more now that I understand wake riding and I listen to their honks wondering if they are tossing friendly jibes at each other or if they are just encouraging one another. Either way, I know how they feel when they’re in a good spot on a side wake.