Eric Starr has been a kayak instructor working for Tom McEwan, owner of Liquid Adventures, for 18 yrs.

Starr has traveled multiple continents seeking high adventure on many of the world’s premier whitewater rivers.  Starr began his kayaking career in 1987 and is known for his vibrant personality and professionalism on the water.

Personally, the decision to go was tough. Not because of Mexico, as I’ve been to various states before, and knew how beautiful the countryside was, how gracious the locals could be, despite world headlines to the contrary.  For me, it was a question of confidence.  Somewhere in between one’s comfort zone and panic zone is where the magic happens, the stretch zone, as psychology coach Lynda Wallace, publisher of Active Happiness, explains.  You can’t grow by staying in the comfort zone, and the panic zone is a step too far.  If the step feels uncomfortable, but manageable, you’re in it.  And so I was.  Sure I could paddle the Lower Yough confidently, but could I do THIS?  Six days of continuous class III I had never seen before?  I was tired after one day of paddling, let alone a whole week. While I’m one who likes to be prepared, I also love a challenge.  So despite more than a few folks questioning my decision, I signed up.  I was uncomfortable.  Game on. This was a challenge of what I could accomplish.

To prepare, I paddled when I could, which honestly wasn’t as much as I wanted due to the weather, holidays, and work travel. But I tried Dickerson several times, paddled the Cheat and the Shade, both excellent preparation for the Barranca Grande, in hindsight.  Equally important, I increased my game at the gym, critical to preparing for the endurance needed for continuos class III. When you get tired, even a little, mistakes are often made.  Even though I also was sick for a few weeks, the work outs sharpened me, and prepared me well.  I was tired each evening, but fresh and ready each day after.  The prep helped me enjoy every moment, glimpsing new bird species on the hike down to the Filo-bobos, seeing relict rain forest along the Barranca Grande, and finding quite unusual plant species in unexpected places. I was stretching myself, and enjoying each moment.

At the end of the trip, during our last meal together, Tom McEwan took a reflective tone, asking what makes a river hard to us.  Some answered technically, regarding consequences, or distance, or skill.  But the tilt of his head and lilt in his voice seemed to suggest that we dig deep, to ask what makes a river difficult for each of us, personally, both yesterday and today. And what does it take to conquer that apprehension, even fear in some cases.

Each of the 8 paddlers on the trip paddled the same rivers, started and ended at the same put-in and take-out.  But each of us started and ended in very different places.

Whether it was someone who swam and overcame injury to achieve their own personal victory (we’re all in between swims anyway), or another who barreled down the rivers without a care in the world- or me, who loved all the technical moves but tried to never forget to observe the unique beauty of the area’s wildlife and plants- we were all on the same river, but each had a unique journey. We each stepped into our own personal stretch zones, and emerged stronger, not just as paddlers, but as individuals.

-Marcia Pradines

The crowd in Tlapacoyan

 The fifth Alseseca River Kayak Race took place on Saturday January 12, 2013 in Atzalan County, Veracruz, Mexico. It was organized by Aventurec in collaboration with Liquid Adventures Kayak School, Atzalan County and the City of Tlapacoyan, Veracruz.

 This was the fifth edition of the race put together with the joint objective of cleaning and preserving the waters of the Alseseca River and to promote kayaking in Mexico. 47 participants from Germany, Spain, Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Switzerland, France and Canada joined in two different categories (short and long).

The competition began at the Seven Ranch, located at the 7^th kilometer of the Atzalan-Tlapacoyan road. Before the start of the competition a pre-Hispanic ritual was performed to thank the gods and ask for their blessing for the participants. This was followed by the official welcome and opening of the event by public officers from the counties of Atzalan and Tlapacoyan, the Secretary of Tourism of the State of Veracruz as well as Mr. Antonio Reinoso, Mr. Tom McEwan and other kayaking personalities.

At the conclusion of the ceremonies, the short race began, with 8 participants. It covered a distance of 1.2 km (.75 miles), which included various Class 3 and 4 rapids and waterfalls up to 7 meters (20 feet) high. The winner of the race was Jesus Rafael Rodriguez (MEX), with a time of 8:38, followed by Enrique Fermin Aguado (MEX) with a time of 8:52 and in third place Iñaki Amuchastegui (MEX) with a time of 9:13.

The long race had 39 participants, who paddled 2.2 km (1.5 miles) of Class 3, 4 and 5 water. At the end of the competition, a tie for first place occurred between Eric and Dane Jackson, father and son from United States with a time of 13:21, followed in third place by Nick Troutman (CAN) with a time of 13:32.

At the end of the activities, an awards ceremony took place at Tlapacoyan’s City Hall, during which prizes were awarded to the winners. These included items donated by the sponsors of the race: NRS, Shred Ready. Liquidlogic, Spokiz and Immersion Research. After the ceremony, the contestants, staff and fans went to Aventurec to join the celebration after a long day of competition.

Whether it is the Upper Yough, the Lower Yough, or maybe even Great Falls, you just want to run a harder river, move up in the ranks of paddling, take on a bigger challenge, and stand out and be bold….  But are you prepared? And do you have what you need to take that step responsibly, being master of your own fate?  Or, will you be paddling on that thin edge between survival and calamity, swimming in the middle of unforgiving boulders, gasping for air,  struggling to drag yourself into the closest eddy ?  How can you advance your abilities and diminish your exposure to hazards that at this time are beyond your competence?  How can you avoid placing the burden of rescuing you on your paddling friends?  To take on a difficult rivers you must build inner resources.

Workout  -  Every paddler has a responsibility to bring him or herself to a white water river in good physical condition.   It takes cardiovascular conditioning to be able to hold your breath while upside down for more than a few seconds in a fearsome rapid or to maintain good body position and boat control for a long day on the river.  You should be able to control your breath and swim efficiently despite chilly water temperatures.  Paddle, run, swim, bike, workout in the gym, and push your physical limits. The body has a way of renewing itself when you use it hard. Develop your athletic side.

Master the basics – Take lessons in kayaking and learn from skilled paddlers, then practice what you have learned until it comes naturally.  If you feel awkward or not knowing what to do, go back and get clarification from your instructors.  Practice challenging moves on easy and inconsequential features until you can perform them with relative ease.  Understand what is effective and what is counter productive.  Be a student of the sport.

Understand the river – Do not be reluctant to scout. Get out of your boat for an overview of the rapid and to make a rational decision about whether to paddle or to portage.  View the rapid from every angle and evaluate various lines it will take to paddle it successfully.  Observe the flow of water and the obstacles of resistance, and locate the waypoints of your line.  Watch your more skilled friends paddle the rapid and learn to estimate whether it is within your abilities.  Do not hesitate to walk around a rapid if your evaluation tells you it is beyond your skills: it often takes more guts to portage than to give in to the pressures to run it.  Finally, understand the basic characteristics of the river you are paddling and be aware of what different river levels mean.  Become a student of the river.

Build your confidence – You will become more at ease on the water with repeated success.  Repeating failure will only build your frustration… or even fear.  Stay within your competence and push against your limits, but do not try to jump ahead of your abilities and attempt what you cannot do.  You must earn your progress in a sport such as kayaking, otherwise you will always carry tension and nervousness when you head to the river.  Fear can put a serious damper on your fun.  You know when you are exceeding your competence by the way you feel.

Be self-sufficient – It is not all about you.  Do not become a burden for your paddling buddies.  In case you make a mistake, respond quickly and work your own way out of trouble.  Your friends can back you up, but you must have the inner resources to make your own recovery, and enough extra energy to help others in your group when they need you.  Being accompanied by skilled paddlers is not reason enough to take on a difficult river.  Develop you own resources.

Don’t go out there with defective gear – On the river you are often dependent upon your gear.  Only you are responsible if your dry top leaks, or if your skirt pops off your boat, or if your paddle breaks.  Find a boat that will help you accomplish what you want on the river instead of one that increases the challenge.  The river is challenging enough; choose a boat that helps you.   In the event your equipment fails on the river or causes you a great struggle to stay upright, your group may be affected by the effort to get you to the take-out.  Be responsible for yourself and bring the right gear.

Paddling a river can teach you a lot about yourself.   Develop your abilities step by step in a comprehensive plan that includes the items above, and you will be ready for new experiences. Overreaching your skills will only break down your confidence.  The reason we paddle is to expand our experience – somehow bringing together in one place the excitement of the complete chaos of white water and the elation of being at peace with the river .  But the experience is better when your mind and your physique are prepared for whatever the river has in store for you.

As always, the actual course will be finalized the day of the event and will be determined by water level. However, we should have an educated guess on the likely course a week before the race.

As it happened, the night before the water level was at a minimum of 2.76′ rocks were showing in inconvenient places on the VA lines.  If the level were to keep dropping the location of the race would have to be changed to the MD side.   We had already announced the VA lines on Paddle Prattle and on the Great Falls website, and it would have been difficult to change over night.   Fortunately, during the night the water came up to 2.8′, and the prominent rocks were covered over.   With a group of highly skilled competitors and competent volunteers,  the race went smoothly.   In two hours and ten minutes, the race was completed.  Congratulations Everyone!

For Bill and Sonya, it was an exciting day just for the thought that this was their first time ever down this river, and for Jenn and Jeannine it was their second time after a year-long hiatus.  In 8 miles of continuous rapids everyone expected to make an error or two, and, well, they did.

The first boo-boo came with Jenn picking her own line down “Bastard.”  She deflected off the right hand boof-rock and bombed straight down the rapid.  It actually turned out just fine, since she kept on bombing and deflecting off the boulders until she reached a large eddy over half the way down.  Then she stopped to wait for the rest of us.

Next boo-boo came from Bill who flipped in the hole at the bottom of Triple Drop, and missed his first attempt at rolling.  There is not much space before the start of National, but he made his second try at rolling and got into the eddy in the nick of time.

Jenn went for another creative flourish at National as she tried for a 360 spin off the ledge above and landed in the hydraulic in the eddy line.  This caused her to flip, so her roll had to work in the short space before the drop of National.  Once again her ability to bomb through things came to the fore, and she arrived smiling in the eddy below National.

Bill thought he could top that, so at Little Niagara after the boof, he went for a quick roll,  and broke his paddle on rocks beneath the surface.  But he was only two swim strokes from the shore, and only his boat was washed down stream.

After that, Sonya got jealous with all the attention the others were drawing, so she had to show how exciting she could make our trip by getting sideways in her effort to make the eddy above Cheeseburger, and was washed into the ledge rock that creates the drop.  The rock was overhung so that when she was washed into it, she was flipped.  Without a pause, she recovered and rolled up and squeezed into a small eddy created by the ledge rock.  When the outcome to this escapade looked so doubtful, I followed her into the small eddy, but she quickly recovered on her own.  We then both carried upstream to the missed eddy and ran the rapid correctly.

Jeannine, feeling left out of the excitement in spite of her multiple flips in the middle of rapids, saved her best for one of the last rapids – Fudge-Up Falls. Just when she thought she had passed all difficulties down the rapid, she landed in the middle of the hole at the very bottom that I had warned them about.  There she hung out upside down for a while counting fishes, I guess.  Her time-tested and signature response to difficult situations was to stay upside down for as long as it takes for danger to pass.   So in the hole, after waiting a few moments for the currents to push her out, it was easy to roll and restore herself to normal paddling postion.

Thus went the day’s adventure for the less experienced group.  It was a fine day on the Upper Yough, and no one was spared a little dash of extra excitement, even while demonstrating that they were all well prepared to take on the mighty Upper Yough.

-   Tom

Hollie’s liquid  adventure began years ago in a recreational boat, but after several years of thinking “those whitewater kayakers are crazy”, she finally decided to try it out.  (For most of us this moment usually comes after paddling a long stretch of shallow, flatwater in a raft!)  Since she already had a passion for the outdoors, water, and adventure, whitewater kayaking seemed like the perfect fusion of the things she loved.

Nearly a decade ago, she met Tom and began to hone her whitewater skills (a.k.a. “polish the nub”) and teach for Liquid Adventures.  After following Tom down several rivers in the States, Canada and Mexico, Hollie started racing and really getting to know the water.  When she wasn’t racing, she was teaching!!  It didn’t take long for her to discover that she LOVES teaching people how to paddle.  She learns so much from teaching…plus, how could she keep this much fun to herself?!

Kayaking for Hollie is like life.  Her students often hear her say “it’s 99% belief that you can make it…the rest is moving forward and getting up when you flip.”

Favorite Tom McEwan phrases: “Do I know you?” or  “How ‘bout we try this?”

All-time Favorite River(s): Jatate and Salto River (MX), Upper Yough (MD), New River (WV).

Favorite Things to do out of the boat: Everything from Acting to Zumba!!

Finally she has decided to share this project with the rest of the world!  Her blog is honest and candid.  She talks about her frustrations and chronicles each swim. She documents learning to roll, to surf, and paddling under a waterfall.   She also introduces us to river dynamics and to characters from the DC area paddling community.  This is the shared kayaking experience!  Whether you are just getting into paddling or have been at it for a while, you should totally check it out:

Super Inexperienced Kayaker

Cost for after school classes: $200 for 6 classes.

Days:  High School Kayaking meets Tuesday and Friday afternoons at Walt Whitman high school at 2:30.  Often students from other nearby high schools meet us in the parking lot.  Please contact the office to make arrangements.

Middle School meets Wednesday and Thursday.  We pick up at Westland at 2:40 and Pyle at 2:45.

The drop off for all of the classes is Whitman High School at 6:15 pm. Visit our online calendar.

Signup: visit our website: liquidadventureskayakschool.org click register, and create a student account.  You will then be able to select High School Kayaking, After School Pyle or Afterschool Westland.  Note: Scroll down to the heading Youth.

Transportation: is provided for students from Westland, Pyle & Whitman.  BCC students can catch the Metro Bus to Whittier Blvd. and be picked up at the bus stop near Pyle.

For questions:  call 301 229 0428 or email office@liquidadventures.org.

 What to bring:  All kayak equipment provided, including boat, PFD, helmet, spray skirt, spray jacket, and paddle.  On chilly days, students should have one or two layers of synthetic pile or fleece shirts to wear under the spray jacket. Students must have shoes appropriate for kayaking.

About us: Liquid Adventures’ staff ACA certified instructors, known for a love of whitewater adventure. Director Tom McEwan is a long time devotee and coach, having designed both the Valley Mill Camp and Camp Calleva programs and trained numerous Olympic and top-level paddlers.