I wanted to post an update to this thread so future members and guests can see how this panned out.
My wife
@Kharrick and I attended a 2-day whitewater canoeing course at NOC this past weekend. We stayed in the Dogwood Lodge on-site in a king room. It was perfect for our needs. There are opportunities to camp nearby, but it was Mother's Day weekend, and Kay and I considered it a date, so we opted for some luxury. The lodge has a common area with a shared refrigerator and coffee pot. The NOC Outfitters store had a lot of great gear and you get a 10% discount for attending a course. You also get $100 off a new boat if you decide to purchase one. There is a riverfront bar, but it closed every day at 5 pm before we could check it out. We ate at the Rivers End Restaurant next to the outfitter store both nights and it didn't disappoint. There is a really nice waterfront area and adirondack chairs along the river where you can relax in the evenings.
We were provided all necessary equipment for the course including: an Esquif Prospecteur 16 canoe with air bags, foam kneeling pads, paddles, wetsuits, helmets, footwear, and splash jackets. Lunch is provided and included deli wraps, granola bars, chips, and snacks. There was only one other person in the group, and he was paddling a tandem canoe solo from the bow seat. Our instructors' name was William Dupree and he paddled an Esquif Zephyr 2.0 for the entirety of the course.
The class was from 0830 to 1630 each day. The first day started by gearing up with all the necessary equipment. After that we spent about 30 mins discussing the hydrology of the Nantahala River where it flows through the NOC compound. We then discussed our individual course goals and loaded up in a van to head to Fontana Lake. At the lake we worked on our paddling strokes and foundation (I think the main purpose was to make sure the instructor thought we could handle the river), but it was beneficial for my wife and I to talk and work through the different moves we would have to make on the river. We practiced paddling straight, draws and cross draws, prys, ruddering, sweeping turns, back paddling, etc. We also worked at heeling the canoe while making turns. After finishing up at the lake we headed to the Little Tennessee River for our first taste of moving water.
At the river we spent about 15 mins sitting at the put-in discussing how to peel out and re-enter the put-in eddy. After practicing that a few times, we ferried back and forth across the river several times before turning down river. We finished the day catching and peeling out of as many eddy's as possible along a 3 mile stretch of the Little Tennessee River between the Rattlesnake Access and Needmore Takout point. This section of river felt pretty tame with small rapids and tons of rocks and partial ledges that created a lot of eddy's to practice on. Will was present at all times with encouragement, advice, and funny stories to make the day enjoyable. Kay paddled in the bow the entire first day.
The 2nd day started with another hydrology lesson on the banks of the Nantahala at NOC. This lesson built on what we discussed the previous morning and learned while paddling the previous day. We then sat down as a group and discussed the plan for the day. We had the option to paddle what Will described as a more "spicy" river, or we could return to the Little Tennessee, put-in at the same spot, but paddle a longer stretch of the river that included some fun ledges. The adventurous part of my brain lingered on the word "spicy", but when I considered that my wife and I wanted to swap bow/stern positions and the other member of our party had struggled a good part of the day to reign in the tandem canoe he was paddling, I locked my "spicy" thoughts up and approached the situation logically. The way I looked at it, I wanted
@Kharrick to have a great time. The last thing I wanted was to throw her in the stern for the first time on a more difficult river and scare her away from this fun new activity we were exploring. Everyone else appeared to be in agreement, including the instructor, and we loaded up and set off for our put-in on the Little Tennessee.
We started the day similar to the previous day, but with our positions in the canoe swapped. Will waded out and pulled our canoe into the current so Kay could see how the canoe responded to her rudder adjustments, we practiced peeling out and catching the put-in eddy a few times, ferried back and forth across the river, and then we were off. We spent the first hr or so catching as many eddy's as possible and challenging ourselves to catch some smaller eddy's that we hadn't attempted the previous day. We also practiced a back ferry before breaking for lunch at our takeout from the previous day.
After lunch we had about an hr of what I would call "free paddle" were the instructor just let us do our own thing and enjoy ourselves. The beginning of this stretch of river was quite mild and the scenery was great. Kay and I worked on our communication and decided which features to run and which eddy's we would catch. After this calm stretch there was a surfing wave that was the perfect size for our longer canoes. We were able to catch this wave, and the instructor said the smile on
@Kharrick 's face almost brought a tear to his eye. This section of river ended with a class II series of ledges that had well defined downstream Vs and required more aggressive maneuvering. This was the highlight of the trip for us. We finished up at Wiggins Creek for our takeout, and the first thing
@Kharrick and I said to each other was that we wished we had one more day to tackle the "spicy" river mentioned in the morning. I don't think you can ask for a better way to keep the blood pumping for next time.
On the ride back to NOC we discussed our accomplishments for the day and what we thought needed some more work. Will was great at facilitating constructive conversations and keeping the mood light. He was a major reason we had such a good time. We found out that he offers private instruction and plan to reach out to him for a future trip.
*I want to note that we helped Will load and unload the boats and gear each day. I'm not sure that he would have required that, but we weren't about to stand around and watch one person load and unload 3 boats + gear by himself. It was also useful to learn how someone else secures their boats and stows their gear. He seemed to appreciate the help.
*The only negative thing about the course was the shuttle situation. Will requested shuttle help at specific times each day, and something happened both times that required him to basically hitch hike back to the put-in after dropping the van off at the take-out. He would drop the van and start running the road back to the put-in and luckily someone stopped and gave him a ride each time. This did eat into our paddling time, but he extended the days to make sure we got our money's worth.
Overall, this course at NOC was money well spent, and
@Kharrick and I plan to return for a course in the future.
-Jake
noc.com
