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Eastern Canada Trip – Volume 2

click here to download the Lachine/Gatineau Video

Music on the video is by Despistado courtesy of JadeTree.com

50 feet. That’s a really tall height. 60 degrees. That’s a really warm temperature. 25,000 CFS. That's a lot of water. Keen observations no doubt and merely a sampling of the knowledge that Chris has bestowed upon me thus far on our trip. Being a man of little formal education I am very thankful for all of Chris’ college. There's no doubt in my mind that he aced sarcasm class. Seriously, Chris is a real intelligent guy with a lot to offer on and off the water. That whipper-snapper is a much better paddler than myself, and I learn a lot from him every time we’re on the water. Enough about that cracka’. Let’s talk chicken soup.

As we had planned, on Friday we went out to Lachines on the St Lawrence. This river is certainly all it’s cracked up to be. I can’t believe I’ve never been there. Mistaaaake! I’m definitely going back. Video of this place really makes it look good but it’s just not the same effect as the real experience. There are three or four waves you can surf so if there is a crowd everyone isn’t always waiting on the same spot. Pyramid and Big Joe would be the best two waves you can surf and paddle back to most easily. Apparently the best way to surf there is to go with jet boat or jet ski assistance. We left our jet ski at home with our hover craft and the batmobile. Can’t forget that next time. It was either my camp stove or the jet ski. Don’t leave me in charge of packing next time. So, we went with the olden method of catching eddies and paddling back up. How barbaric!
Chris does a helix on Pyramid wave

I did a back blunt. wowee!

click here to download a small video clip of a couple moves we did at Lachines.

Understand that the St Lawrence is the largest river in North America, serving as drainage for the great lakes. The channel that these waves are in is the “small” channel, separated by islands from the rest of the river. And this part is like a mile wide, the small side. So that explains why you have a bit of a trek back up when you wash off the wave. Ropes, anchored to rocks, have been placed here and there to make the eddie hop possible without getting out of your boat. Great experience though. Montreal residents definitely have it made for play boating.

Saturday, May 21, we paddled the Gatineau with a cool crew of guys from the Ottawa area. The Gatineau River is another large body of water flowing from Quebec, and South, dumping into the Ottawa. The water is very tanic looking, almost black, really pretty.
About four to five miles long, this river barely missed a good opportunity of being a lake. But, with five or six good rapids in between the pools (lakes) we’ll let it squeeze into the river category. The level was 16 feet and a couple of the rapids included some nice waves. La Haute Tension (High Tension), the real reason we went to the Gatineau, is the most desirable wave. Located about mid way through the run we found this wave, but the water was too low. All that was there was a mean looking hole that we didn’t surf. If you want to see what High Tension wave looks like click this link to download a video. Chris got sponsored by Necky two years ago. This was his first day in his Vibe. Poor baby. Okay, proceeed!!! L’Anus De Lucifer, the first rapid, had a nice wave at the top.
Oneself doing a blunt there.

Le Mur, the next to last rapid, had a really nice wave at the top of it as well.
Chris does a nice aerial back blunt.

I washed on this one but hhheeehhhawww!

When you washed off the wave you went through this hole. There were a couple nice beatings there.

click here to download a small video clip of a couple moves we did at the Gatineau.

We walked back up and surfed the wave at Le Mur several times getting some decent tricks on a couple of the rides. Chris’ left hand smelled like fish at the takeout. Hm? Cool river though. Highly recommendable. Thanks to brothers ,Gilles and Rich Durepos, and their friends Bruce, Mark and Dave, for showing us down the river.
This is the pasture at the takeout. We grazed here for a couple hours after our paddle. It's a delicious blend of kentucky rye and crab grass.

We’re off to the Ottawa now. More posts coming soon. Wing ding ding dang diddly doo.