I’ll shoot some photos tomorrow when I go paddling again, but I realized today (probably for the zillionth time, but with a memory like mine every day offers new insights) that you can pretty much do this sport anywhere. People waiting to go to Hawaii or California, or even to a coast are simply selling the opportunities short, and wasting time. I’m not going to claim that paddling in the Willamette river, or Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin, or Lake Michigan, or any of the thirty or forty places flatwater spots I tried during my five month racing trip this year are going to have the same kind of experience they’d have in an overhead wave, but it’s still a blast.
Bob, at Gorge Performance told me about some guys that have been catching rides on barge wakes in the Columbia River. The actually tried to hire one of the tugs to make waves for them. They’ve been getting some incredibly long rides. I’m going to try to hook up with them. Bob says the big challenge is that you candrop out of the wave and get left in some weird and lonely places, like the middle of the channel halfway to Longview. I know how confusing the river gets in that area, could make for a long day.
Anyway, the point is, if you’ve been thinking about getting into this sport but you’re waiting to be in the right place with the right conditions, quit waiting and start paddling. Everything you learn and all the experience you gain in flat water will help when you get into the ocean.
