On May 8th and 9th I took private whitewater playboating lessons from the NOC on the Tuckaseegee River in North Carolina. The lessons started with lake practice, which I was thankful for, as my instructor Andrew covered some edge control drills that I had not seen before.

Then we went to go paddle in the man made hole on the Tuckaseegee called “Eternity Hole”. It was made by students piling up rocks to divert the river and create an eddy. It is a prime example of how to build a man made feature.

Paddling into the hole. It is considerably smaller than Tarp and Play on the Puntledge, and that makes it perfect to practice the basics like cartwheels and front loops.

I spent a great deal of time practicing front loops. I did not get any, but I got close. Andrew was a fantastic instructor for this.

I kept setting up for a roll instead of keeping my paddle out in front of me - which, as you can see turned my kayak away from upstream…

And I practiced carwheeling. This photo is not one of me linking ends, but I did start getting linked ends by the end of the second day.

I had such a great time I am going back to paddle again on May 15th for another day of practice before I head back to Memphis to work on the client’s project.

I also managed to get a Palm Stikine Drysuit for a steal of a deal, and a new Sprayskirt, and the total price of both was under $800, so I won’t have to pay any duty!