Reading the River: how to spot those pesky rocks
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ม.ค. 2022
- When I started out as a kayaker, long before canoeing, I could never understand how others missed those pesky rocks. The ones that were either just below the surface or only showed a small amount above. This video explores how to spot those rocks and that is the first stage in missing them.
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Many thanks to Carwyn Dwyer for the drone footage.
My pfd, drysuit and helmet are by www.nrs.com
In the UK I paddle canoes by: www.venturekayaks.com
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My website: www.RayGoodwin.com
Signed copies of my illustrated book 'Canoeing', are available direct from me or from Amazon. It covers far more than my TH-cam channel.
Outside of the UK the cheapest way to get my book is via the Book Depository which does free postage worldwide: www.bookdepository.com/Canoei... - กีฬา
Bingo, next level of learning has just unlocked ! As beginners we are taught to follow the Vs downstream which has lead me to a few hidden rocks, but now I know to look for the slow water at the same time. Thank you for the mini-tip, Ray.
Glad to have been of help.
At last! The dark art demystified!!! Thanks for this one, Ray. I found the drone footage particularly useful; being able to hover above the feature with the water still moving, rather than looking at a still photograph, really helped to improve my understanding of what the water is doing.
Have you got any plans for a mini-series on "Reading the River"? I think that would be very interesting.
All the best.
Glad it was helpful! Luckily a friend of mind has a drone and at present will get me some shots for free. And you are right it really adds to the video. I have been wanting to do this one for quite a while but the shots from the canoe just didn't do enough. Yep I have in mind a 'Reading the River' series. I will grab footage as opportunity presents and gather it all up when I have enough. Many thanks.
Best explanation I’ve seen at a nice easy pace.
Wow, thanks!
Love the border collie at 3.41.
That's Billie. Generally a very good river dog.
@@RayGoodwinCanoe the most adaptable dog in any situation
Sorry to have missed the Canoehound Adventures live - but thank you for doing that in the wee hours in the UK for us. Living in Alberta now and having glacial rivers to explore this video will come in handy - thank you.
Glad that it is of use.😁 Yep it was a late one for me, getting to bed at 3am in Uk, but lots of fun.
Thanks for this ray - useful!
Glad it was helpful!
Another great video Ray; many thanks 🙏🏻
Thanks 👍 Richard, appreciated
Great pointers Ray... thank you!
My pleasure!
more great content Ray, really useful. Thanks and atb
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks
Thanks Ray, another excellent video and great stimulus material. 😁👍
Glad you enjoyed it. And it is great following your sea kayak and canoe adventures on FB. Keep well
Another excellent video!
Thank you Bert. Keep well
Great info, thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Glad it was helpful!
Top advice! Thank you.
You're welcome!
As always a great video and expertly explained
Thanks again!
Very helpful, thank you
Glad to hear it!
Another great vid Ray, I learned the hard and fast way to spot rocks on the Spey, but showing how you can use them to manoeuvre on the water is another little chink of information learned.
Many thanks Ray, 👍👍👍☕☕
Nige.
Glad it is of use. Keep well
@@RayGoodwinCanoe you are the yoda of the canoe, keep well my friend ☕☕❤
Great video. Very useful
Glad you think so! Many thanks
Very informative. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks, Ray, more good advice.
You are very welcome
Very useful. Thank you.
You are most welcome
Thanks Ray, that explanation was very helpful. Also really enjoyed your session with Dennis of Canoehound yesterday. Best wishes in getting some time over in Canada this year!
Glad you think so, thanks.😁 It was great fun with Dennis so again thanks. Yep fingers crossed for Canada.
very informative Ray
Glad it was helpful!
Ray - this is such a clear explanation of Eddy lines and how to get in and out.
Thank you Shilpa. Appreciated
I learned a lot - thank you. As others have said, the drone shots were very helpful but so were the shots where you panned with the obstruction as you paddled past. I subscribed and look forward to watching your other videos.
Glad it was helpful!
thanks for this video , your explanations are clear and concise.
better that some people I go rafting with who charge through hoping for the best and then tell you what we went through afterwards.
You are welcome! The rafting sound a bit epic. A few lesson to be learnt by those who run it.
I used to be a valued pathfinder in groups I paddled with ,they followed me and avoided the rocks with green gel coat on them from my Prospector,when I moved onto Royalex I found I was less valued.Great video wish I had seen it 35 years ago
That has made me chuckle. Mind I still employ the 'pathfinder' technique on the shallow areas of the River Spey. Make sure there are a couple of canoes out ahead of me. If they get stuck I take a different route.
I enjoyed this - it's definitely still an area I need to work on at times but a big advantage of being in a canoe rather than a kayak!
Yep but this applies to any river craft (as you know), Trouble is I am selling myself short by giving away all this information🤣 rather than putting it on a course
Great little tutorial on how to spot and use rocks to your advantage.
Glad you liked it. And a great pleasure to be on your channel the other evening/morning.
Nice one Ray. Great for newbies. And the bit about using them to move across the river was new to me (I now know what you were talking about on the Spey 😝)
Thanks Mikey. So think about the move as another S-turn but this time going current-eddy-current as opposed to eddy-current-eddy. Choose some easy ones to start with and then have some fun. again thanks.
Good one Mate
Nice one. Hope you are well
The poor dog was terrified!! 😀
Billie had a natural tendency to look worried 😱 but he is so excited when the canoe goes on the car. Jumps into canoe eagerly. Gets concerned though when I start throwing the canoe about.
Very good video Ray! I have only paddled white water once before, just smaller rapids with a friend who was experienced in white water. When we paddled it I had no idea what was a rock or not up ahead if the rock was not showing, my friend did all of the reading of the river. This video was excellent in showing how to spot rocks!
I am really glad that it was of use. I so remember those early days of paddling white water and it would have been useful to me back then. Many thanks for your comment.
Ah yes the video you mention last night on Canoehound. nice to hear your stories. Those edies are great to learn by poling up stream and eddy hopping, scales in variance, same tell tail indicators be it low water or big water.
Thanks for the comment on the Canoehound chat. Yep absolutely on the eddy hoping upstream with a pole. As soon as I have the right venue I will get a film of that.
Good explanations, Ray - nicely done. The drone shots really help to illustrate the points you are making.
It's nice to see a video about reading the river. Paddle strokes and canoe tilting are the easy part of running whitewater; find a line is the hard part. Do you have any more examples, maybe in a very bony river?
Many thanks! I will be trying to get videos illustrate finding lines. It is a case of having the right opportunities. I will be looking for them.
Love it!
Thank you! I hope it was of use
@@RayGoodwinCanoe i plan to pay attention next time i am in my kayak 😉
Great video Ray, really informative. Looking out for the slow water is a great tip. Dont tell paul i watched it though, in case i pinball us down the Porcupine haha.
I had a coffee splutter reading the last bit! Glad it was of interest and use.
Great little video, wish I'd seen it a few years ago. Would have saved me a couple of swims. Oh well, self rescue practice is good too. ;) Another tip, at least in clear water is to wear polarized glasses, often you can see the rock under the water before the calm patch or pillow is visible.
I had forgotten the polarised glasses thing: not paddled on water that clear for age. I am presuming all your water is solid now and you are waiting on spring/summer. Keep well
@@RayGoodwinCanoe Yep, best way to go down the river right now is a pair of skis. I won't be paddling again till at least May. Take care.
Thank you
You are most welcome
Nice video Ray, plenty enough info wrapped up in five odd minutes.
Q, Are you doing a series on reading rivers Ray?
Thank you for that comment. Re reading the river: as I am out and about either for myself or with customers I will collect bits of video to make more for the series. So hopefully in due course there will be more.
Dziękuję za Film. Proszę rób więcej takich poradników, są bardzo pomocne przy nauce pływania np: Venture Prospector 155.
Like i Sub dla Ciebie 👍 Dziękuję i Pozdrawiam 👋
Via Google translate: Thank you for the movie. Please, make more of these guides, they are very helpful when learning to swim, e.g. Venture Prospector 155.
Like and Sub for you 👍 Thank you and Regards 👋 Answer: You are most welcome. I will be trying to do a few more of these as the opportunity presents over the spring and summer. Again thank you. Serdecznie zapraszamy. Spróbuję zrobić jeszcze kilka z nich, gdy nadarzy się okazja na wiosnę i lato. Jeszcze raz dziękuję.
Helpful! I haven't been on a kayak since high school and do remember to look for the "V".
Now at age 40, my dog and I are novice at being on a canoe.
I struggle to find lines through shallower sections. Often observing ahead, and ending up choosing what looks like the best way and often isn't.
Any advice there? Darker areas are deeper, ripple faster looking areas are often too shallow it seems.
Ah shallow sections. It becomes a guessing game and we all end up getting stuck and walking. If there are others with you, let them go first. When they get stuck try a different line 😂. Smile if you manage to float past them. Sorry no other advise
Merci
You are most welcome. Thank you.
Great video, thanks. Beginner here and going down local river and doing ok except for hidden rocks.
Incidentally, would you recommend a helmet camera? I want to film my trips and watch back later to read the river better. At present I drive and walk to the points of the river I struggled with to get another look and see what I would have done differently!
Thank you. A helmet cam certainly records well so you have a record for fun and learning. What you get will come down to how good a picture you want and how deep your pockets are. I currently have a GoPro 8 which is very good and an 11 which is awesome with a horizon lock (so your videos are not tilted). If I could have only one it would be an eleven or twelve. But there are much cheaper alternatives on the market.
Great, many thanks for the quick answer!! I sent you a wee email about your book as well. Cheers.
The drone works well.
Yep it really add a lot to the content. Thanks
Hi Ray, thanks for the informative video! Thoroughly enjoyed listening to you on CanoeHound Adventures last nite. Thanks for staying up past your (and my) bedtime to share your life with us--please take it easy. For those who may have missed his interview, you can see it here:
th-cam.com/video/vZHGeNayYZM/w-d-xo.html
Awesome, thank you! Yep I did enjoy doing the CanoeHound chat. Great fun. PS I had to have sleep this afternoon
Dang this doesn’t look like Great Britain at all…😂
Well spotted. Some of the footage is from the rather wonderful Big Salmon River in the Yukon. Rocks are rocks where ever you go 😁