About 8 years ago, I discovered kayaks. I went from the cheap "otter" recreation boat on the Haw River quickly into the whitewater boats across the Southeast. I met many friends through kayaking. I started out paddling with a group called Smith River Valley Canoe Club. This club has a ton of great people in it -Sammy, Bev, John - and many, many more that were more than willing to help get me up to speed. One friend in particular, Kevin Ratliff, and I did a ton of paddling together. We basically came into the sport at the same time and progressed at about the same pace. This led to many a great paddling adventure. Another friend Edgar Peck did a lot for the two of us in terms of taking us to the next level. He is a great paddler and great teacher.
After only a year or so, I found myself on the first class 5 rapid and loved it. I did find a balance between danger and fun. The more dangerous, the more fun. That is not really true, but I do love the adventure of a waterfall, the moment in a churning, spewing, spitting, chunked out gorge when you are in the moment and totally committed and only marginally in control. I like being upside down and pounding some rocks "knowing" that you will get a chance to roll up in a minute. I have had two epic swims that made for even better stories when it was over. It is great fun.
bombing Compression Falls, Elk River, NCAbout five years ago my whitewater days came to a temporary slow down as I began the fantastic journey of fatherhood. Lil man and I kayak a lot together and at 5 years old, he even solos the local class 2 now. I look forward to our ever more exciting adventures in the future. I have yet to get my newest addition on the water, but that will soon come. I get out into the mix every now and then to knock the rust off and see all the guys. One thing I have always had and I hope always will is wander-lust and the thirst for adventure.
Well, all this leads up to last summer. As I still get the urge to paddle but cant always break away for a 3 or more hour drive, I frequently paddle the Haw River here in town. It is only lower end class 2, but fun none the less and convenient. I did paddle it once with Shaphan at 16' on the gauge. Almost every time, at the end of the run, I would think of just staying on it all the way to the beach. I knew my Grandfather's brother had done it back in the 20's or 30's in a canoe. My uncle Matt was interested as well as my dad and two or three other friends. We would often talk about it, but after 8 years of talk, I finally decided that the time for talk was over. It was going to happen. I just decided that this summer would be the year - come hell or high water, and hopefully the latter...My Uncle could not go, due to his work schedule, my father as well, Chris was on board until his company landed an unexpected contract which required is presence. One by one, all the possible buddies dropped out. No problem. I embraced the reality that scheduling a big adventure is often a point of difficulty. After thinking about it, perhaps it was even better - I was going to paddle the Haw River from home to the beach, alone.
After purchasing all the new necessary gear to make a kayak expedition, I was too broke to go. Just kidding. I did find a couple of great deals on boats. I bought and tested two - a Prijon Kodiak and a Wilderness Systems Tsunami 145. There was virtually no speed difference in the two, both loaded and unloaded. This baffled me as the Kodiak was billed as much faster. There was an incredible difference in comfort with the edge to the Tsunami. I decided on the Tsunami. The Prijon plastic is legendary and the Kodiak boat is as well. The Tsunami is very comfortable and much easier to maneuver in small spaces. As the first half of the trip would involve a lot of tight spaces, I decided the maneuverability and comfort would be the ticket. I just hoped the boat would not let me down. Now to finish the planning and start packing.
After hours on Google Earth, mapping the river, every bridge, waypoint, possible egress to civilization, possible trouble spots, portages, city, mile-markers, and camping locations, I laminated the 14 pages to create my own custom map set . I got a ResQLink Personal Locator Beacon, a pop-up sail, a C-Tug kayak cart, and some other nick knacks that would prove useful. I had my approximate 30 mile daily locations mapped out for my wife. I had established a communication plan with her and others. I would also be sending my mgrs grid location to a couple of guys who would know where to start looking should I go missing. I had redundant gps and communication possibilities, plans for no communications. I had enough water and food for the whole trip as well as resupply cache and possible link-up with my friend Andrew in place for Fayetteville which was almost half way. Back up paddle, Back up everything. My Friend Chris lives at Carolina Beach and would be expecting me on day 7 - I would literally surf into the sand in front of his beach house. I had approximated the average distance I could paddle in a day based on current and wind conditions. I had covered everything I could think of. To me, sometimes the planning can be almost as fun as the adventure itself. Nothing left but to start paddling.
On a Saturday at noon in September, after my lil man's last soccer game of the season, I put in and began my journey....
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