The water level was quite a bit higher on this trip around Pound Bend Warrandyte which meant the current was faster but the drops were levelled off so it was a bit too easy. Next time we will have to venture further up the river for some more challenges.

That looks like fun! Great way to see the river.

Dumb question - is that hard to do? Would a newbie fall and break arms and skulls? I have been through rapids before - but I was sitting down...

Great vid Paul..

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cantSUPenough said..
That looks like fun! Great way to see the river.

Dumb question - is that hard to do? Would a newbie fall and break arms and skulls? I have been through rapids before - but I was sitting down...

Wear a helmet and knee/shin guards and you will be fine. We all fall sooner or later. It's a great leveller so the paddle skills of the best among us is really not that much better than the least experienced in our group. I think if you have any surfing or down winding experience, you will pick this up very quickly. Just being able to step around forward and back helps stabilise. Plus, most of us are on very wide boards so that helps a lot.

the boys up in cairns do this white water stuff all the time, im super keen to give it a crack, i just need to stop making excuses and drive the 3 hours to get there to have a go.
Cool video man.

Really great vid, PT. DJ has some competition now...

Love the dismount method at the end. It sure shows why inflatables are the go in those conditions.

How cold is that water, and is that an impact vest you are wearing?

Yes it is an impact vest but also rated as a PFD (most of them aren't). The water temperature hasn't turned too cold yet as the snow melt is not happening higher up the river. I would guess it's maybe 8-10 degrees celsius.

Simple question. Do you paddle finless or use standard fins?

Fergo on the 12'6" board was finless. The rest of us have flexy 2-3" fins. I had one of those break on a rock on this paddle.

Thanks. I would like to try it this summer.

Good stuff PT
Used to haunt that neck of the woods in my early teens paddling slalom kayaks and down river Canadian Twos.
Was lucky enough to have an Olympic paddler by the name of Roy Farrance as a PE teacher who not only inspired me to take up the sport but ultimately follow in his footsteps professionally...PE teacher, not Olympic paddler.
We used to train every Wednesday at Fitzsimmons lane Bridge. There were a couple of slalom gates that were hung across the river as semi permanant fixtures. On weekends we would do Pound Bend to Fitzsimmons Lane...in flood and I mean real flood, that stretch can be epic. As I recall, and pardon my failing memory, cos we are talking really early seventies here, there was a stretch called The Bend of Islands in there which in flood was a total hoot.
Pound Bend Tunnel used to freak me out. We used to practice cutting in and out of the current at the exit and again, in high water mode this was pretty freakin hairy. I was always sceptical of the guys who said they had paddled it in flood cos looking at it from the down hill end it was like a couple of hundred metres of grade four with about half a metre of clearance between the water and the roof of the tunnel.
You need to get up to Warburton. Again as I recall, when the water level gets right up, there is some fun to be had around there. I remember a Vic Titles for slalom and down river held at Warburton many years ago when it was way high and freakin epic. We camped right beside the river in the middle of town and I froze my ass off in my tent wrapped in my crappy kapoc sleeping bag, just listening to the river roaring and quietly pooing my pants
Next day I got a perfect run on the slalom course in the kayak but being the careful prick I am it took me about four minutes which is not great when your score is taken on gates hit and time on task. However the high point of the weekend was when Roy threw me into the front cockpit of a down river C2 in the open division and took me for one of the most mind blowing rides I've ever had...including the years I've spent in the surf. He was like the Laird of the canoeing scene and he was taking me for a spin for no other reason than he saw some potential in me and...who knows, maybe for a laugh. Anyway, I was up front, he was the engine and rudder down back. I spent most of my time underwater cos as you would appreciate, in a fully enclosed C2 every time you hit a standing wave or negotiate a decent rapid the front end of the boat disappears. We came second which in hindsight was Roy making a statement, "if I can come second with this Muppet up front..."
PT, If you are serious about this stuff the next couple of months is go time. As the snow melts the Victorian white water scene lights up.
Have a think about The Barclay and McAllister, Big River, Howqua, and the Mitta Mitta. These places are epic, the white water equivalent of pumping Bells, although to be honest I used to sh-t myself getting pinballed down some of these in a fully enclosed slalom kayak. Faark It'd be epic on a stand up!!
Cheers
Sparx

Thanks. A coupla more questions:
How do you steer without fins? and
What fins do you recommend and who sells them?

Water here looks a little clearer.

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seasdes said..
Thanks. A coupla more questions:
How do you steer without fins? and
What fins do you recommend and who sells them?

To be honest, I find the small fins are really more relevant in the slow flat stretches to avoid yawing, as the rapids sections tend to take you where they want to take you. Steering corrections at that point all come down to bracing use of the paddle and J strokes. I don't think the white water kayaks have rudders but Sparx may be able to correct me on that. Certainly the canoe we went on late last year through Warrandyte had no rudder or fins or anything.

Fin choice is very limited and depends on the fin box you have because they are not standardised with inflatable boards. So far we are not particularly happy with anything we've used - everything has tended to break sooner or later.

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Sparx said..
Good stuff PT
Used to haunt that neck of the woods in my early teens paddling slalom kayaks and down river Canadian Twos.
Was lucky enough to have an Olympic paddler by the name of Roy Farrance as a PE teacher who not only inspired me to take up the sport but ultimately follow in his footsteps professionally...PE teacher, not Olympic paddler.
We used to train every Wednesday at Fitzsimmons lane Bridge. There were a couple of slalom gates that were hung across the river as semi permanant fixtures. On weekends we would do Pound Bend to Fitzsimmons Lane...in flood and I mean real flood, that stretch can be epic. As I recall, and pardon my failing memory, cos we are talking really early seventies here, there was a stretch called The Bend of Islands in there which in flood was a total hoot.
Pound Bend Tunnel used to freak me out. We used to practice cutting in and out of the current at the exit and again, in high water mode this was pretty freakin hairy. I was always sceptical of the guys who said they had paddled it in flood cos looking at it from the down hill end it was like a couple of hundred metres of grade four with about half a metre of clearance between the water and the roof of the tunnel.
You need to get up to Warburton. Again as I recall, when the water level gets right up, there is some fun to be had around there. I remember a Vic Titles for slalom and down river held at Warburton many years ago when it was way high and freakin epic. We camped right beside the river in the middle of town and I froze my ass off in my tent wrapped in my crappy kapoc sleeping bag, just listening to the river roaring and quietly pooing my pants
Next day I got a perfect run on the slalom course in the kayak but being the careful prick I am it took me about four minutes which is not great when your score is taken on gates hit and time on task. However the high point of the weekend was when Roy threw me into the front cockpit of a down river C2 in the open division and took me for one of the most mind blowing rides I've ever had...including the years I've spent in the surf. He was like the Laird of the canoeing scene and he was taking me for a spin for no other reason than he saw some potential in me and...who knows, maybe for a laugh. Anyway, I was up front, he was the engine and rudder down back. I spent most of my time underwater cos as you would appreciate, in a fully enclosed C2 every time you hit a standing wave or negotiate a decent rapid the front end of the boat disappears. We came second which in hindsight was Roy making a statement, "if I can come second with this Muppet up front..."
PT, If you are serious about this stuff the next couple of months is go time. As the snow melts the Victorian white water scene lights up.
Have a think about The Barclay and McAllister, Big River, Howqua, and the Mitta Mitta. These places are epic, the white water equivalent of pumping Bells, although to be honest I used to sh-t myself getting pinballed down some of these in a fully enclosed slalom kayak. Faark It'd be epic on a stand up!!
Cheers
Sparx

There are still some slalom gates at Fitsimmons Lane. In fact, they set up a whole lot of new ones just a couple of months ago for a Canoe event.

We're going to try Bend of Islands very soon. A friend of ours (non SUP) actually lives right on the river there so we are hoping to make his backyard the launching point. It's actually not between Warrandyte and Fitsimmons Lane, you're remembering that part wrong. It's the other side of Kangaroo Ground on the opposite side of the river from Wonga Park.

I'm with you on the Pound Bend Tunnel thing - in flood, I'm sure it would be really nasty with minimal head clearance. Someone died in there not so long ago and the presumption is he smacked his head on the roof or wall, fell unconscious, and then got snagged on something. When we looked along the tunnel last week, there was a large section of a fallen tree lodged half way along.

We'd like to get to Mitta Mitta eventually but we need to develop our skills and experience on this fairly benign part of the Yarra first. We have been told maybe Big River should be our next destination, then King River, and then Mitta Mitta when we know what we're doing.

Thanks for the suggestions, Sparx. You should come join us some time. With your surf skills, I'm sure you'd go past us in a flash.

Faark me!!
Wonga Park...Jumping Creek Reserve!!
Talk about a flashback
Cheers

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PTWoody said..

seasdes said..
Thanks. A coupla more questions:
How do you steer without fins? and
What fins do you recommend and who sells them?

To be honest, I find the small fins are really more relevant in the slow flat stretches to avoid yawing, as the rapids sections tend to take you where they want to take you. Steering corrections at that point all come down to bracing use of the paddle and J strokes. I don't think the white water kayaks have rudders but Sparx may be able to correct me on that. Certainly the canoe we went on late last year through Warrandyte had no rudder or fins or anything.

Fin choice is very limited and depends on the fin box you have because they are not standardised with inflatable boards. So far we are not particularly happy with anything we've used - everything has tended to break sooner or later.

Thanks for your help.

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angie pangi said..
Water here looks a little clearer.

You're not wrong there. The Yarra is naturally brown due to the erosion of the clay soil in the catchment upstream but it is not indicative of water quality. Downstream around the city, the E.coli levels can be frightening due to poorly maintained and illegal septic systems seeping in through storm water drains, but up the river where we go, the water is unfairly maligned - even though it is brown, the colour is not caused by poop.

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Sparx said..
Faark me!!
Wonga Park...Jumping Creek Reserve!!
Talk about a flashback
Cheers

Did you know the forgotten man of Victorian SUP - Camo Hosking lives in Wonga Park.

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PTWoody said..

Sparx said..
Faark me!!
Wonga Park...Jumping Creek Reserve!!
Talk about a flashback
Cheers

Did you know the forgotten man of Victorian SUP - Camo Hosking lives in Wonga Park.

Thats absolutely classic!!
Love to have a paddle with you guys one day but I suspect regardless of prior experience running rapids on a SUP would be a humbling experience.
I reckon you guys are spot on with your approach...working your way up to the bigger water step by step. The surf can hand you a beating, but its usually done and dusted in fairly short order as you drag your sorry butt back to the beach. A river in full cry can hand you a beating that goes on...forever.
Rapids get named the same way some waves get named and for good reason. There's "The Beast, The Whale, The Cruncher, The Amphitheatre and The Filing Cabinet" to name but a few off the top of my head. And they hold that same place in the psych that surfers would reserve for the likes of a "Boneyards, Surgeons Table, Massacres or Grinders"
By and large if you seek out the spots that are used for slalom comps they generally have easy access and even some infrastructure in some cases. They will also generally have a relatively calm water pull out spot at the bottom of the rapid. But what they do have that is invaluable is well worn portage tracks up and down either side of the river. This means you get to paddle down the rapid, pull out at the bottom, walk back up to the top and do it over and over. Try new lines, work out where you screwed up last time and do it better the next because unlike waves that piece of water is usually going to keep working the same way all day.
Have fun and stay safe...keep the vids coming
Cheers
Sparx

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Sparx said..
Thats absolutely classic!!
Love to have a paddle with you guys one day but I suspect regardless of prior experience running rapids on a SUP would be a humbling experience.
I reckon you guys are spot on with your approach...working your way up to the bigger water step by step. The surf can hand you a beating, but its usually done and dusted in fairly short order as you drag your sorry butt back to the beach. A river in full cry can hand you a beating that goes on...forever.
Rapids get named the same way some waves get named and for good reason. There's "The Beast, The Whale, The Cruncher, The Amphitheatre and The Filing Cabinet" to name but a few off the top of my head. And they hold that same place in the psych that surfers would reserve for the likes of a "Boneyards, Surgeons Table, Massacres or Grinders"

How about "Arthur's Mistake" - no idea who Arthur was or what became of him after he made his mistake.

There's a rapid on the King River called Cappucchino.

Mitta Mitta has Joker, Pinball, Bump & Grind, Graveyard, Dislocation, and Gobbler.

Can't wait to see some of these rapids.

Yeah I think rapids on a SUP is always humbling. Or at least, if you stay dry, you're not trying hard enough.