White water SUPing is born - Part 1

My first attempt at WWSUPing was on a recent African trip, whilst on the Kunene River that flows along the border of Angola and Namibia, just below Onderusso Falls. All I had with me was my 8.5 ft surf SUP that proved less than ideal! Anyone who knows this river will tell you that this is probably not the best place to try out WWSUPing for the first time. If it’s not the class 4 white water that catches you out, it’s the crocodiles lurking in the eddies. With more than 20 years of experience in rivers around the world, I had to use all the skills I have just to get down the 6 km of white water alive.

Only when I was back home did I get the opportunity to try it out with the right equipment and under the right conditions. Winter in the Western Cape see the rivers flow with fresh snowmelt and rain, allowing us to explore what this new sport had to offer. I made the decision to paddle at higher flows, minimising the amount of rocks and opening the lines available to get down the river but, of course, increasing the speed of the river and hydraulics created by the converging currents. The Doring River, in the Cedarberg, proved to be an ideal section to try out the Red Paddle inflatable I had on loan as there was more than 30 km of white water, over two days, ahead. However, when scouting the first rapid from the bank, it was evident that I had perhaps bitten off more than I anticipated. Sure, in a kayak I would not even have flinched but here, having to stand up through the rapid and with the possibility of falling off and hitting rocks at speed, swimming past a siphon on the river suddenly brought home the reality and difficulty of the sport.

One positive is that with the upright stance from standing on the board you have much better vision over the rapid and are able to view the entry and lines much more easily than sitting in a kayak. This allowed me to avoid the rather large hole on the left of the entry and make it through the crunch of the rapid. Half celebrating, I lost concentration and lifted a paddle for a photo and in a split second I was in the water. With the siphon coming up on the right, I launched myself back on the board only to fall off just as quickly. Do I swim left or try to remount the board in time to get a stroke in? One more launch and a quick draw and I skimmed past the siphon rocks. I was safe, but drained of energy and filled with lactic acid that made my muscles heavy and breathing hard. This was not going to be as easy as I thought! As it turned out, the fast-flowing water and small rapids enabled me to get to grips with the new board, as well as work out some new paddle strokes and stances on the board. I was stoked to make it through the next long and big rapid, Krans, with a perfect line. One thing is for sure, WWSUPing is tiring and you need a fair level of fitness.

My next opportunity was on a flooding Palmiet River after some unseasonal rain and storms. The river was the highest I have seen it in 20 years and although this flattened out most of the rapids, it was fast, big and intimidating.

The biggest differences on the water were the boils and underwater currents, which had a sucking effect on the board that slowed me down and pulled me off line at will. Numerous swims, some great lines and a few nervous moments and I had made it through for the first SUP descent of the Palmiet.