how to swim in rapids

Swimming downstream after ejecting from your kayak or canoe is a pretty important skill to know. My daughter, Maryn was writing about it at school, and needed a couple of illustrations to drive home the technique. So I put together this quick toon to get the point across. "face downstream, hold on to your paddle, keep your feet near the surface, lean back. The challenge is to show what goes on above the surface, and what goes on below the surface. So, I created a stylized water line, which shows some dynamic motion as well as defines above vs. below the surface. The fish helps that too.

Then Maryn wanted a drawing to show how to swim through "holes". So I penned up this little ditty below. It has a more dynamic water's edge as the hydraulic is also more dynamic!! For those who don't know, you are supposed to curl up in a tight ball to protect against impact with rocks, be patient, and hope the water sends you downstream. I really like drawing kayaking toons....

topo duo

Hold the presses!! I found a bunch of old sketch books from years gone by this last weekend, while cleaning out the guest bedroom. This drawing is one of my favorites.


Two kayakers, in a Topo-Duo, in a very UN-harmonious situation. Yes, dear reader, I draw from experience. Chris and I have paddled the Topo-Duo down just about every major river in the West, including Middle Fork Salmon, Main Fork Salmon, Colorado through the Grand Canyon, the Rogue, Deschutes, Umpqua, McKenzie, and I don't remember where else... There have been times when I order us to paddle somewhere, and Chris has told me in no uncertain terms...."NO!" At one point, we were going to paddle back into a rapid to help out a raft that was lodged on a rock. As I paddled forward, Chris was paddling backward!! She wasn't going to have anything to do with that nonsense! That was the episode that spawned this drawing.

I think I have learned over the years, that this is a team effort, and both parties need to be in agreement before anything gets done. At least I hope I have learned...maybe not...our latest adventure in the Topo was on the Rogue, and we ended up going over lower Grave Creek falls upside-down, dragging both our heads over the rocks; all because I thought I could make a spiffy move above the drop. I forgot to include Chris in this decision.
Old dog, new tricks??? hmmmmmmm

whitewater rodeo

Right now, all the rivers are up, and flushing tons of water eagerly to the sea!! I am looking forward to hearing my friend Robert's tales of adventure on the Bruneau/jarbridge river in Idaho. It was flowing at over 2x the recommended flow...ooh, exciting!!

AND I AM MISSING IT!!!

So, with that in mind, I thought I would post my image of a whitewater rodeo at Bob's Hole, on the Clackamas River in Estacada, near Portland. When I drew this toon, rodeo's consisted of jumping into a nasty hole, and trying to look cool...a smile...twirl your paddle...some have even juggled balls while riding sideways in the hole. Today, the dynamic is completely different. Now, it is how many acrobatic tricks can you do in the hole...cartwheels, flips, etc. Crazy stuff they are doing now. As for me, I just try to survive while in a hole like Bob's Hole. It is scary stuff!!

Enjoy the spring runoff!!