Best Western Pembroke Inn Conf Center

A mere 400 or so miles later I pass into very familiar territory, the Ottawa Valley. Rolling farm fields, barn smells and small towns after you bypass Ottawa (which has a charming hostel - the old Ottawa Jail right in the downtown).
There's a fiddle festival going on over the Labor Day weekend. It's become a phenom now after several years. The riverside park fills with rvs and bodies. Nice location.

Well, all us Ottawa Couchsurfers were invited to Killaloe for the weekend to go to Tim's party for the radio station there, CHCR 102.9 FM if anybody is in the area.

Initially Bob and his wife Therese were going to rent a van and go out there. Not enough people were interested. In fact, it was just me that was interested, so we canceled that plan, hopped in Bob and Therese's car and headed out.

The drive out was uneventful. We chatted and I sketched some stuff ...

... 661177381 This week we all rafted the Ottawa Middle and Main, and also had to do the safety and paddle talks on the bus and in the raft. I guided Butcher's Knife and Iron Ring which went pretty well. We also made it through Colesium and the especially flippy level of 5 3/4. For the last 3 days we have been kayaking. I have found this especially challenging, but yesterday I did 2 rolls and today I pretty much ran the whole Ottawa Middle Channel (including Iron Ring ...

The last two days have been spent rafting on the main channel of the Ottawa River. We learnt the basic guide strokes and techniques, including several flip drills and lots of ferrying and breaking into and out of eddies. It's very hard work - much harder than it looks - and I'm aching a lot now. After learning the basic strokes we paddled down to the main ...

... not to mention slightly dangerous. When they said this was intensive they weren't joking! We carried her (with a lot of help from another team) up the steep ravine and through the woods to the bus, where we loaded her onto the back. The exercise went extremely well, especially for a first attempt. Apparently we did it in record time. Between five teams there were five patients, all located, treated and evacuated within an hour and a half!

I have made a rolling contract with Karine C. This means that whenever I want to practice my roll she has to go out on the river and help me but whenever she decides I should go out and practice I have to go. If we have time we are going to practice tomorrow afternoon after class. I'm not sure how much time there will be though, as we are doing a night search and rescue tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to that.

... and finding out who fits in what. I'm using a Jackson Star, which is the smallest in the range. We all got out onto the water and paddled around a bit to get used to the boats and then started practicing rolls straight away. The idea is that once we can roll we will be comfortable enough to practice everything else. Although I didn't roll today I feel that I have made a lot of progress and should hopefully get it within the next few days if I practice enough.

The WFR course started today. A whole day of CPR - oh no! It's like work, but on the decking in the sunshine. It's supposed to be Christmas today (when we get our kayaks and gear) but I've just been told that Christmas has been postponed until tomorrow. :( I was persuaded by Karine (she is very persuasive - she may even have me speaking French before too ...

... I was over almost immediately and did not want to wait for a rescue (the next rapid is straight after this one more or less) so I popped my deck and swam. I managed to hold on to boat and paddle until Gavin and Karine were next to me then I dropped the boat and swam for the eddy. Karine let me hold onto her boat and we managed it between us. Gavin chased the boat and brought it back to me. I think he felt quite bad for leading me into a wave, but it was ...

... younger than me and a kid. Much to his annoyance he was made to get out and walk Elevator Shaft and wasn't allowed to do the Main Channel in the afternoon. We checked the gauge at the beginning of the day and it was 9.5 - not bad but definitely on it's way down from the high water last week. By the afternoon they had shut another gate on the dam and it was down to 8.25 (too low for Buseater). So, the morning was great and it ...