dal bhat power 24hrAs usual I left my family in Ottawa to go back to my Nepali family at the start of October... I preface with this because as usual I write a blog post 6 months after what ever I intend to talk about. So here is my year in review.
My original plan was to stay in Nepal for as long as possible, then go some where in Asia. The issue it turns out was a lack of water in Asia. Countless companies in India, Vietnam and Indonesia, said that there just was not any aqua. :( where else to? I headed back to the Nile. Uganda400 cnd lighter (boat transport fee) I was on a flight bound for Qatar, then Entebbe Uganda. After a surprisingly short taxi to Jinja (thank you Pineapple Express) I arrived at Moma Flows, and with a belly full of Irish potato and matoke I went to bed. This is where you shit, This is where you eat, this is where you sleep, and that's where you kayak.... |
When Tom Dunphy said he was moving to the village obviously I was in. Cheap accommodation, close proximity to the river, sounds like Fraser As the days rolled in to weeks, and weeks to months Village life became my life. I am no stranger to the hardships of life on trip. Pooping in a hole in the ground, and cooking on a fire or stove. What I found hard was getting the required calories that I needed. By the end of my stay I was ready to leave, I was emotionally and physically done. |
Personal growthLooking back on my last few months living in that village, I have gained so much as an individual. I have never in my wildest dreams thought I would have the opportunity to skin an animal. I mean I have always wanted to get into hunting, I just thought my first introduction would be on a deer not a 6ish foot long cobra. The aforementioned animal was found next door and was dispatched. Very sad! An animal like this should not be around humans, but with so much deforestation they have no home. The kids then used it for two days as a skipping rope, I tried it a couple of times but found the idea very macabre. I then took away their toy, and skinned it. I obviously have never done that before, but have a reasonably good head on there my shoulders and made quick, although some times sloppy work. From then I needed Google in order to tan the skin. |
For three months I lived in area where poverty, death, and malnutrition are very prevalent. When we first arrived one of the children's parents died (unsure the cause of death), in the my time there another's father would drown in the river. I lost about 25lbs in those three months, but that is nothing to the countless bloated bellies, there were days when if we had not given out our left overs, children would not have eaten that day.
That's powerful!
That's powerful!
So how did we give back. By creating jobs. Dishes where washed by the kids for 500ugx (17 cents Canadian), these where done once or twice a day. the house was washed for 1000 ugx and done once or twice a week. I say these numbers first because a kilo of Posho 1500ugx. you only need one or two kilos to feed a family. Sometimes the kids would ask to us to save the money they where earning and buy them a ball. The joy in the kids eyes when the receved what they had worked so hard to get is intoxicating. The aftermath, when 30 kids are playing outside can be irritating. |
Some times the money would go towards food sometimes it would go towards sweats. I don't care. When I was a kid my parents would give me a bit of pocket money so I could learn to save, or buy candy. These kids have to grow up so fast its sweet when they can just be kids once and a wile. |
Big Hole flushes
This is by no means a guide on how to run this rapid, however there is a lot going on and I would like to explain it. The first things is convincing your self 100% that it is a safe and good idea to do. To do that you need to understand what is going on with the water. Finally, safety is imperative! You need a good safety team at the bottom and on shore.
Holes
types of holes
There are three different types of holes, they are: smiling holes, frowning holes and ledge holes
Ledge holes look like a ledge and depending on the circumstances can be very bad. The worst, the low head dam (called a drowning machine) is bad because there are no natural exits except the bottom. It is often very hard to exit because one must crawl along the river bed to get out (self rescue), or someone must rescue you via shore, water or both. These holes (often called weirs) do appear naturally, and are blocked of on ether side by rock or water. Ledge holes can also be angle meaning they have one release point angled down stream. |
Hydrodynamics, what I know of it anyway
So I don't know too much about this, and I am sure my friend Ben will cringe if he reads this. However, here is how fluid dynamics relates to white water, and in turn how it relates to holes.
The flow of water in a river is a sandwich of different layers; surface flow, laminar flow, helicoidal flow, bottom flow. Surface Flow is the top layer. It is the slow moving aerated water at the top. When you are paddling in a rapid, this is the area you will spend most of your time. It is slow moving because of the friction against the air and the next flow. Laminar flow or linear (straight) flow is the second layer. It is the fast moving water that if you have ever directly jumped into white water, or capsized from your boat. You have most likely felt your self being swept-ed away. this is that layer. It is fast because of minimal friction. Helicoidal flow is responsible for everything that we see on the surface; waves, boils ext. as the water moves down hill it is pushed up by hitting objects off of the bottom. The larger the features we see on the surface the deeper the river. The Helicoidal flow hits the laminar flow bellow it and is pressed up, it in turn pushes the surface flow up creating what we see on the surface. Laminar flow or linear (straight) flow is the tertiary flow. It is a fast flowing layer at the bottom of the river it is relatively unhindered as it moves in a straight line up and over any undulations and rocks on the river bottom. As it follows over these undulations it pushes the helocoidal flow upward. Bottom flow like the surface flow encounters friction between the bottom of the river and the laminar flow above. This friction makes it slow moving. |
The big hole flush
Now that we know a bit about holes and types of water lets put it all together.
The Idea when flushing through a big hole is to catch the helicoidal flow and allow it to push us as deep as possible so it (the helicoidal flow) pushes us out, or pushes us into the deep laminar flow at the bottom of the river. As you can imagine it would be less then ideal to be in stuck in the slow moving aerated water at the top of the hole. The top Laminar flow dose push out, however its not ideal.
Determining whether passing through the hole is a viable option is usually pretty evident when scouting the hole. Can I see water exiting the hole? How much is exiting? If the answer to these questions is positive then one may opt to go for the flush. If not, one may decide that the best line is walking around.
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I'm Fraser, an International Outdoor Professional specializing in water, both liquid and frozen. Take a look at what I have been up to.
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