2012 Day 3-Whitewater with Kayaks and Duckies

Hello troop 820 followers! First of all, Will sends a double shout-out to J.Z.(Jake). Today Parker and Patrick are your news anchors for the thrilling events that you will eventually be told. First off, the day started off with a little rain around five o’clock. Then, a huge downpour of rain was enough to get the boy sleeping in the hammock out of bed and under the tent shelter (who would have guessed, no not Will—Parker). Slowly the campers arose from their never-ending slumber. Around eight o’clock, we started to prepare the food—cereal, poptarts, crumb cakes(mmmm so good), and muffins. After that, we headed to the whitewater place around 9 o’clock, letting us arrive at 9:15. Most of us hit the can and then the adults checked in. We ran to get our life jackets, helmets, and splash jackets(to keep the cold water out) and they divided us into groups. Eleven of us started on the kayaks and the other half went to get their duckies. I personally(Parker) went to do duckies first and let me tell, they were a blast! We went down six class III (moderate difficulty) rapids. They were a blast! Literally. After that, we paddled down to the whitewater place to eat sandwiches (which the canoe instructor calls samiches).

After lunch the eleven of us were split into groups of two to carry kayaks. First of all we got used to the paddle strokes. Then we got taught how to recover from a wipeout or “Wet Exit”: lean your head forward, tap the side of the boat three times with both hands, pull the lever that releases the water skirt (yes we looked very manly), and then do a front flip to get to the surface. Next we paddled around for a few minutes to get used to the maneuverability of the kayak. Once we mastered these skills, we paddled upstream to our first rapid, regrouped, then shot the rapids in our kayaks! 

Kayak Wet Exit

When we were done, we met back at the whitewater place. We were finally finished with the whitewater merit badge!!!! After that, we headed back to home base. Half of us went fishing and the other half stayed put. The half that didn’t go fishing started to: build a fire; chop, saw, and split wood; and just sit back and relax. When the other half returned, we prepared the food for the almighty BURRITO PIG-OUT!!!!!! Now, everyone is sitting around, some of us cleaning up, preparing for drum roll please……. ALL-OUT SKIT NIGHT!! I hope you have a wonderful night and get ready for another Blog post tomorrow!!
P.S. Hope you get better Dad, thanks for planning all of the meals and portions. We appreciate all of your work and wish you were here!

Parker and Patrick signing off,
GOOD NIGHT!  

[Parents Note:]  This was really much more challenging than we anticipated.  The pictures really can’t convey how scary some of these maneuvers and rapids were.  Being in a duckie (inflatable kayak) or kayak all alone with a guide simply pointing at some rocks and saying “Go left around that rock over there that looks like a turtle.  Then spin left hard or you will hit a big hydraulic that will suck you under.  As soon as you pass that rock, the next one that looks like a walrus, you want to pass close enough to touch it or you will be in trouble again.  Now shoot the center of those next two rocks then break left and hold up in the eddy.  Got all that boys?Good.Lets do it!”  They talked about as fast as you can imagine, and the water is thundering by and you know you are in that craft all alone…. pretty exciting stuff!  Even the adults might have mumbled “well, that one scared me!”

The boys did a great job and were very attentive and responsive.  Our younger scouts especially really rose to the task at hand and we are all really proud of them.  Our guides were great and made sure we were all safe and spread themselves out along the rapids to quickly help anyone who got in trouble.  It was truly a fantastic Boy Scout experience that these boys will not soon forget!