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Mission "Facemask rules" or "Face masks are great" - Hildesheim - 24.08.2007
Thursday evening
We hear on the radio that the Innerste dam is overflowing and a look at the Internet reveals that the Oker and Grane dams are also almost completely full. It almost sounds as if the lower Oker has enough water to be navigable - and that in summer. But the last time I paddled white water was at Easter, so I decided to get to know the moving water again on Friday in Hildesheim. I've also wanted to try out how a long boat (T-Slalom) performs in white water for a while.
Friday 14:30
The boathouse of the Hanover University Sports Center is not really full. There are just 3 of us, including the instructor, and as he has a cold, he doesn't want to go on the water and wouldn't be too sad if the course was canceled. But I can hardly contain my motivation and so we pack our bags. But the T-Slalom has to stay behind, because with 3 people the trailer is left at home and it's a bit too bulky to take with us in the van.
15:30
When we arrive at the Bischhofsmühle, we take a look into the canal. There's hardly any water flowing at the top, it's flooded at the bottom and there's so much water at the natural stage that there's no wave left - great :-(
Fortunately, I'm not so easily discouraged. A few years ago, a buddy once told me that there should be a nice wave when there's a lot of water above. So I scouted around. And lo and behold, about 200 m upstream, at the beginning of a bypass trench, after a shallow ramp, there is a fat wave with a strong roll. Behind it is calm and on one side there is a large eddy from which you can easily get into the wave.
16:30
In the meantime, a few more paddlers have arrived and of course we tell them the good news straight away. We have changed and make our way to the wave. Above the junction, we enter the innermost section - we have to take the shot on the ramp with us. A few onlookers are already gathering on the bridge over the canal. I'm the first and arrive safely in the eddy. After a few seconds, Christoph is also there.
Now we're ready to go, I throw myself into the fray. The wave holds well, it's easy to surf sideways on the left and the water shoots under my boat on the right during the front surf. I also get out of the wave on the right side, even if I have to roll afterwards. Now Chistoph tries his luck too. After a short surf he is thrown and after a bit of spinning he is spat out upside down. The roll doesn't work. I sprint off and help retrieve the material.
When I get back to the top, the other two paddlers arrive. One of them, Matze, has also been out with Hannover University Sports, but I don't know him. I don't know the other paddler either, her husband is standing on the bridge with their child watching. Matze surfs a few miles in his play boat. The paddler capsizes on her first surf and gets an extensive full wash before she finally gets out of the wave. After that, she decides not to try again. Matze and I surf a few more laps. However, Matze hits the concrete ramp when he capsizes and is standing on the shore a short time later with a bleeding lip and a few abrasions on his face - a face guard definitely has its advantages.
Finally, the paddler, Christoph and I paddle a short round on the white water section. After paddling, we ate the obligatory ice cream and then headed back to Hanover.
Saturday
On Saturday and Sunday we paddled the Untere Oker in pleasant temperatures and sunshine. It was there that I saw my second facial injury of the weekend - a laceration on my eyebrow combined with a huge, bright purple file...
Stefan