3rd Annual Lumpy Waters Symposium – Pacific City, OR – October 14 – 16, 2011
Written by Alex Stoeffl
After a 12-hour drive from the Bay Area, Kim Grandfield and I arrived in Pacific City, Oregon late on Thursday the 13th. We had been invited to attend the Lumpy Waters Symposium as volunteer support/safety boaters and were excited to see what was in store for the weekend.
The Lumpy Waters Symposium, organized by Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe, is a skills development event for intermediate to advanced paddlers held at a perfect venue with bountiful surf and rock gardening. This year, they offered a number of classes varying from improving boat control, getting comfortable with the surf zone, to advanced rock garden rescues. A number of great coaches came to the event, including a few from California: Sean Morley, Bryant Burkhardt, and Matt Palmariello of California Canoe & Kayak, Jeff Laxier of Liquid Fusion Kayaking, and Gregg Berman.
Over the next three days we participated with a variety of classes ranging from rough water rescues to flat water stroke refinement. I really enjoyed working with some top notch coaches and learning a few new tricks and how they teach their classes. Another great benefit of the event was the evening dinners. Who better to serve as short order cooks at a campground than a rafting company. They did a great job of preparing good food for the masses. Along with the dinners was plenty of time to talk to other participants, gain new paddling partners, learn of some great paddling destinations, and simply enjoy discussing a common interest with others.
The event itself was great and many kudos to Paul Kuthe and Alder Creek for making it happen. I highly recommend to anyone wanting to advance their surf or rough water skills to make the drive up to Oregon and attend next year. I certainly plan to. In the meantime, check out the short video below of our Saturday “Nestucca Bay Tour.”
CalKayaking 