10 Whitewater Kayaking Terms to Know

Beater (noun); also, to beater (verb)

Below are 10 whitewater kayaking terms every paddler should know.

1.       Swimmer (noun)

a.       A transitional period; when a kayaker fails to roll upright and swims out of their boat.

b.       YOU. You are a swimmer. Never forget that.

2.       Kayak (noun)

a.       A vessel, commonly plastic, used to navigate rivers, lakes, oceans (see sea kayak, whitewater kayak, et al.).

b.       Home. Your kayak is your home. Don’t you want to stay in your home?

3.       Paddle (noun) to paddle (verb)

a.       A stick-like tool with a thin, long shaft and wide, flat blades at each end.

b.       Otherwise known as that thing that you lose all the time and other people have to fish out of the water for you.

c.       Also, To paddle (v); to flail ones arms wildly in an attempt to maneuver a kayak.

4.       Boof (verb)

a.       A paddle stroke used at the lip of a drop or water fall to lift the bow of one’s kayak vertically to clear the base of the drop.

b.       The sound you make when you miss your boof stroke, slam your bow into the drop and face plant into the base of the water fall.

5.       Bow (noun)

a.       The front of a kayak.

b.       To take a bow; what you do when you nail your boof stroke.

6.       Stern (noun)

a.       The rear of a kayak.

b.       The look on your face when you have to fish a swimmer out of the river for the third time in one day.

7.       Eddy (noun)

a.       Unidentified man, possibly a criminal, because everyone constantly yells at you “Catch Eddy!”

b.       also, a location on the river, created by a large obstacle (such as a boulder), where the water is calm and a swimmer (you) can escape the current.

8.       Wave (verb, noun)

a.       Kayaking maneuver performed when going over a sick water fall in front of a big crowd.

b.       Also, a feature on the river used by playboaters to perform tricks in their kayak.

9.       Hole (noun)

a.       The thing in the top of a kayak one uses to crawl into it

b.       Also, an inescapable feature on the river that you never seem to avoid

10.   Shuttle (adjective)

a.       To drive oneself from the river trip take out point to the put-in location.

b.    Eternity; see also, limbo

Underrated Wave in Munroe Falls

The wave is downstream of two water treatment plants, so after a heavy rain expect some unpleasant odors. 

There's a little-known park-and-play surf wave in Munroe Falls, Ohio, at Brust Park on the Cuyahoga River.

The gentle wave is at its prime when the USGS Old Portage gauge is reading between 900 cfs and 1,100 cfs. Unfortunately, the gauge is several miles downstream, so the reading can be deceiving if there's been a lot of rain, but it's the closest gauge we've got.

The wave forms in the tiny remnants of what was once the Munroe Falls Dam, which was removed around 2005. It has decent eddy service at the right flows, but it is shallow, so if you roll expect to scrape your blade, and possibly you're helmet!

The Munroe Falls wave is great because it's gentle and wide, so it's good for beginners to get a feel for front-surfing and side-surfing with a low probability of rolling. Downstream of the wave is a large, flat pool. And the parking lot is about 100 feet from the wave.

Need more convincing to try out this underrated play spot? Check out these photos.

The wave has room for a max three surfers.

If the river's high enough, the wave hands out flat spins like candy.

Winter flows are best, as it's not rain but melting snow at the headwaters that provides most of the flow.

Yes, that's a large Nomad side-surfing.

It's shallow, so try not to roll.

Fun times.