18-20 May 2007
Water Level: 90 cms
Peter, Greg, Sean, and I ran the Lower Madawaska on friday afternoon. The weather was great. I managed to run all the juicy wet lines. I also had to pull over and empty out the boat quite often. I can't wait until I get the pumps installed. The best thing of the day was I did not swim.
This is the my 3rd PalmerFest.
This is my personal opinion about how it went.
But first of all:
I would like to thank Scott and the RapidMedia crew for putting together another great festival.
I would also like to thank Shawna and the Paddler-Coop crew for allowing the festival to be held there.
I would also like to thank all the clinic instructors as the comments I was hearing from people attending them was positive.
I had a great time. It was nice to see old friends and meet new ones. The weather was better than last year. At least it was nice and sunny on friday and saturday. Sunday was different as it got real cold. It definitely showed who were the dedicated paddlers as the fair weather ones packed up and left early.
This was the first time I actually did 4 clinics but it was also the first time I did them for open boating. I actually learned quite a few skills and plan to practice them until I get them right.
I creamed a kayaker who decided to jump on the last hole wave after I was already 3/4 thru making my run. He looked real shocked when all he saw was the bow of my boat coming for his head. Luckily he dropped his paddle and covered his face and I did a roll to the left and subsequent swim to avoid having the last 13 feet of my boat run him over.
I did repay my debt to society when I chased/rescued a 16 foot tandem boat with no center bag and a kayker who was going for the swimming for distance award.
The party saturday night was very festive and loud to say the least.
