The Ferry Glide is probably one of the 1st moving water skills that most paddlers learn. It simply involves crossing a flow of water without drifting off downstream.

The critical elements of the move are the paddling speed and the angle of the boat in relation to the flow. Imagine you sitting in an eddy facing upstream. To your right is another eddy that is sperated from you you by a nice steady flow of river water. To get to that eddy you need to paddle through the eddy line and “glide” across the current to the opposite eddy.

Upstream is 12 o’clock and you are travelling from the left hand bank to the right. As you leave the eddy get the boat pointing somewhere between 12 and 1 o’clock. At this point you can make a judgement whether or not the angle and or the paddle rate needs to be changed. A fast paddle rate and steep angle of attack (closer to 12 o’clock) is perfect for very fast flows, a slower paddle rate and a shallow angle of attack (around 2-3 o’clock) is better for slower rates of flow. Getting the right angle of attack and paddle rate is important and is a case of judegement and correction as you make the move.