This is where it went wrong … didn’t swim though. (GoPro screen capture)
Rushing upside down through the rapids at Dutch Water Dreams isn’t the experience I’d advise to be comforting, though it is a brilliant teacher. Making a small mistake at the entrance towards a large hole made me run it backwards, with not enough momentum to punch through. The edge of my kayak caught the curler pushing me upstream, while the other edge caught the incoming current, flipping me in an instant. The undercurrent pushed me, thankfully, past the stopper in the hole, giving me a bit of breathing room for a eskimo roll; couldn’t wait too long though, a next wave was waiting, where I again didn’t stick it.
Although this first run – yeah, my first run ever at Dutch Water Dreams – wasn’t that smooth, and not sticking any lines, I made it down without having to involuntary exit my kayak. Arend-Jan, having the experience of running DWD more often, gave me some advice and made me think about why it went so wrong during this last run. So why did it go wrong? Being too lazy, and waiting for the water to push me; I should have been far more active and let me decide where the boat should go.
This advice didn’t always stick with me, and also the second and third run were spent exploring the course upside down quite a lot; yet for some reason the fourth run made the difference, being more relaxed and now knowing the course. Still had to perform a couple eskimo rolls, but a rhythm was found that kept me upright for most of the course; with even some spots trying to surf a wave.
All in all, thanks to the guys of the former NKB Wildwateracademie that organized this hour-and-a-half timeslot at the DWD course, without having rafts on it. As training for a new adventure next year, I will be paddling Dutch Water Dreams more this and next year.
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