Mike and Jessica,
Thanks for arranging this paddle. K & C enjoyed ourselves. I am still re-living my swim in the river. I hung my still damp clothes up in the bathroom to dry and this morning the room reeks of the Mahoning! I'm sure that's like cologne to you... but I'm not too sure??
It dawned on me later why I took a swim. I was trying to ferry across that really swift channel with the good waves and get into that small eddy on river left...like you did. One of the waves pushed my bow slightly to the right. I lost my "ferry angle". I buried my up stream paddle to correct and the current just grabbed it and pushed it UNDER the boat! Of course, since i was holding the paddle I rolled under with it. I distinctly remember doing a face plant in a wave on my upstream side.
And a
WARNING to other paddlers... As soon as I surfaced I grabbed the flipped kayak and my paddle. The water was very deep and very swift. In the couple of seconds it took me to get my feet up to the surface and pointed downstream I bumped several LOGS that were hidden in the murky fast moving water! You DO NOT want to get tangled up in logs or rocks in moving water! KEEP YOUR TOES UP!
I floated downstream to where the water slowed and I could stand up safely. A thanks to Mike for assisting in emptying my kayak. (And to Jessica for taking photos!)
---KenM