{"id":24594,"date":"2025-12-18T14:16:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/?p=24594"},"modified":"2025-12-18T14:16:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:16:19","slug":"carving-out-time-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/carving-out-time-to-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Carving Out Time To Play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m having to come to terms with the fact that I\u2019m no longer young and wild and free. I\u2019m still a kayak bum, but with responsibilities, mortgage, kids, and muscles which disappear if I don\u2019t look after them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to be able to work for a few months until I could afford a flight somewhere with great water, then live cheaply next to a river, hitching shuttles and spending weeks, even months a year paddling. Now I have to sneak in a quick flood run before breakfast, convince my partner it\u2019s training, and sing nursery rhymes to young children while getting ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love my family and the chaos of family life, but I dream of being carefree. It\u2019s going to be a while before my kids can join me on trips, but the oldest has already been in a kayak a few times at the age of 3 and loves it, so there is hope of sharing the joys of boating in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udcf7: Chris Evans \ud83d\udef6: Ian Adey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

My wonderful partner suggested that I should organise a trip, albeit a short trip, somewhere with good boating, whilst she is still breastfeeding and can\u2019t leave the kids. (Apparently, she will be cashing in the time with interest in the future). So I asked around some of the better boaters I know, who I would feel safe with, but still push some boundaries, and a plan formed for 3 of us to have a busman’s holiday. Chris (www.tametheelementcoaching.com<\/a>),\u00a0Dave (https:\/\/river-flair.com<\/a>),\u00a0and I<\/span> would go to Norway and possibly meet up with (young) Alex\u00a0(@notsolittlechild<\/a>),\u00a0who was working there.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Good times on the Brandset, L-R Dave, Ian, Chris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While I get more time in a boat than most, running Kinetic Paddlesports<\/a> and living next to the River Kent, there’s always a difference between operating in your comfort zone coaching, and stretching it by paddling for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was trying to get as much personal boating in as possible anyway, but this plan motivated me to grab any time in a boat, before work, or more likely before my partner has to go to work, and I have my days of childcare. A quick trip up to the Morriston for a day, to test out the new ReactR after a season mainly spent in my Ripper 2<\/a>. I even started going to circuit classes to make sure I\u2019m strong enough when I do get in a boat, which I never used to have to do. And skipping lunch when working on the lake just to practice some tailies and fall in.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udcf7: Chris Evans \ud83d\udef6: Ian Adey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s safe to say I was nervous in the final few days before going because I have never had as little time for personal boating. My partner and I work on different days, so we can look after the kids, which leaves no spare time. However, I do have to remember that I have more experience, a deeper understanding of technique, and better river skills than ever before, and my benchmark for a good line is much higher, having critiqued photos and videos and coached others in the precision of paddling for over 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sheltering behind the ReactR’s bow rocker,\u00a0\ud83d\udcf7: Chris Evans \ud83d\udef6: Ian Adey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Boat design has also changed a lot since I was first in Norway. The creekboat of the time was the h2, and I remember doing some great blunts in the then-new S:6 on the Otra. This time round I was in the new ReactR<\/a> which dwarfs the boats of my previous trips (which I thought were huge at the time) but it’s still easier to turn, adjust your line on and so much faster and predictable over aerated water when it gets steeper.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dave on the Brandset, \ud83d\udcf7: Chris Evans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I\u2019ll admit, I didn\u2019t manage to run everything I hoped to; I\u2019m not as slick or brave as I was when I came back from 2 months in Chile in my early thirties.\u00a0 But with a few extra decades of paddling under my belt, I was slicker, more confident and more precise than my last trips to Voss and Sjoa during a season of rafting in Southern Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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The view heading into the Lower Myrkdalselva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When I was in my twenties, I ran the upper Myrkdalselva and had a great day. Back then, I looked at the steeper lower section, with all its waterfalls, in awe; it was beyond even my wildest dreams. This trip I hoped I was better and could do a bit more, we paddled the upper then came back the next day with Alex after he had finished work and paddled \u2018most\u2019 of the Lower.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dropping into friends in the eddy below in the Lower Myrkdalselva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Ula slides, in an alpine valley, was a bit high for a chilled day when we first looked at it, so only Dave was up for the main event, but returning with different expectations a week later and a bit more boating under our belts we had a great day on this unique playground.. Maybe time in a boat or more realistic expectations were the key, or maybe we just needed some time to get our heads into a better space.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Carrying speed down the Ulla Slides<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It was a great trip and great to have some back-to-back time on the river, from the low-volume, clear-water slides of the Brandset, to cruising on the Sjoa, it was just what I needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a dad is great, but hard, and a difficult adjustment to my lifestyle. For the first time, I missed home! Boating is still my happy place; it just takes a bit more effort to arrange, and trips take a different shape, but it\u2019s all still possible and thoroughly enjoyable with fantastic friends and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m more motivated than ever to sneak in the time for a quick lap, learn a new trick and keep chasing the water as to what form that takes next, we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I used to be able to work for a few months until I could afford a flight somewhere with great water, then live cheaply next to a river, hitching shuttles and spending weeks, even months a year paddling. Now I have to sneak in a quick flood run before breakfast…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9005,"featured_media":24619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,690],"tags":[1807,1808,1809,1124],"class_list":["post-24594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paddler-lifestyle-articles","category-trip-reports","tag-fitting-kayaking-around-childcare","tag-fitting-kayaking-around-work","tag-making-time-for-personal-paddling-as-a-paddlesports-coach","tag-whitewater-kayaking-in-norway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Good-times-on-the-Brandset-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9tk9G-6oG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24594"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24627,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24594\/revisions\/24627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}