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Gearhead
Every issue we ask a local boater to review a piece of whitewater gear
Body Board(by Chris Rhees)
Seems like more and more people are jumping on body boards and going down the river. This week we asked 3-year
guide and lifetime ocean body boarder Chris Rhees to discuss river body boarding. Here’s what he had to say:
Ocean body boarding is nothing to compare river body boarding to, yet the opposite is true as well. The ocean seems to have much
more power and grace. The river, on the other hand, is relentless, never giving an inch. Body boarding the river does not hold to the
ocean, but being so far away and lake Atlantic in effect I'll take what I can get.
So far body boarding the river is like nothing other. I have rafted, duckied, kayaked, tubed, even swam the mighty Kennebec and to this
day I have not surfed as long as I can on my body board. I have also yet to find a river so great to offer 6500 cfs all day for weeks at a
time. We are truly gifted for this amount of water.
To me I run the river to surf its waves. What I love is the waves are almost endless. After wiping out all you have to do is climb back up
the treacherous edge to surf again. Surfing on the Kennebec’s waves is nothing like with an ocean wave: the river’s waves surge, reform,
and stand still. They have comparable power to an ocean’s waves but in a different way. All the water is more moving right from under
you. The sheer weight of myself and position on my board keeps me on these waves. One unique thing about the waves are they are all
different. Each one has a different face, foam pile, and surges in its own way. Each has its own way of getting on them.
My favorite surf waves starting from the top include, the one river left right below Last Chance eddy, River left in taster both only at
4800, both waves at the top of Big mama rapid, the center one at 48 and the right one at 6000+, Kahuna wave after White washer, Of
course Z-turn, the wave river left just above the Magic Eddies (I started calling Mc Nasty), top center of magic, a bunch in dead stream
the best being the five-O wave near the end, and lastly Sneaker at 6000. Although all the waves are fun surfs, Mc Nasty, Z-turn, Taster,
and Last Chance are the ones I can pull all my tricks on. I enjoy hitting 360's, phat cut backs, and huge rolls off the waves. To land a 360
it takes perfect surge timing, proper balance, and a committed rotation.
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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