I’ve been writing “Dances With Words,” every week, for over 24 years. Before that, I wrote “From My Desk” for the Standard-Freeholder for almost five years. Most of my material comes from first-hand experiences: work and hobbies, research on the Internet and above all, from travels between Hawaii, Yugoslavia, Tuktoyaktuk and Colombia, as high as 35,000′ asl – and places in between.
This week’s column is based upon my first-hand whitewater racing experiences on the following rivers: Credit, Grand, Jock and Raisin. Then there’s my non-competitive whitewater experiences on the St. Lawrence, Moira, Nipigon, Sixteen Mile Creek and Hoople Creek – and the Pacific Ocean.
This week I’ve chosen to write about whitewater paddling because the 52nd annual Raisin River whitewater canoe race is just down the muddy road and over that pile of melting snow. Get ready!
Due to 85 years of circumstances beyond my control, I probably won’t be entering this year. Besides, most of the bowmen and bow women I’ve sterned with are dead – and there’s one woman who is refusing to accompany me this year.
Here are some pointers:
Register with the Raisin Region Conservation Authority. Go to the RRCA website.
Beg, borrow, rent or steal a canoe. Fiberglas, Kevlar, aluminum, or even cedar strip canvas will do. Birchbark won’t. I’d suggest 15′ as the minimum length, 16′ to 18′ maximum. The only surviving Haida war canoe, 56′ in length, is not available for use in the race.
If you intend to be the sternsman, your bow paddler should be lighter than you. Putting a 50-pound concrete block with you in the stern would not be a good idea,
Prepare for the weather. It could be anywhere between -10 Celsius to +25. The wind could be a tailwind or a headwind, or dead calm, strength ranging from Beaufort Gale Force nine to mill-pond zero. Adapting from the U.S. Postal Service motto, “Neither rain nor snow, nor heat nor gloom of night stays these paddlers from the swift completion of their arrival at the Williamstown finish line.” In event of heavy rain or tailwind, an umbrella would cramp your style.
Wear a brightly-coloured lifejacket. It makes it easier for the searchers to find the body. However, packing a dinner jacket would be a good idea, as a St. Andrews West pre-race breakfast is available, and there’s an awards post-race dinner in Williamstown, 30 kilometres downstream.
As participants, you and your partner must agree upon what ‘SWEEP!’ and ‘DRAW!’ mean, and what’s your goal: A Win? B Just manage to finish? C better your best previous time? D Quit when there’s more water in the canoe than in the river.
Put-in is on April 12 starting at 10:30 a.m.at the Raisin River in St. Andrews West. (St. Andrews East is on the Ottawa River, in Quebec.)
Good luck! Have fun!
