In May, when the water temperature becomes warm enough, local construction worker James Smithdeal adds Tour Guide to his job title.

GreenFlash Watersports is a unique company offering weekend tours along the French Broad River with stops at breweries in the River Arts District. 2024 will be Smithdeal’s fourth season guiding guests down the river.

The majority of his guests are tourists to the area who find GreenFlash through their AirBnb rentals. He calls himself a ‘facilitator of friendships’ or a ‘river bartender’, as he introduces the area to visitors and visitors to each other as they float down the river and enjoy local brews.

“It’s fun to have a mixed group of people from a variety of places,” Smithdeal said. “Usually after our first beer at our first stop, it’s easy to get everyone talking. Throughout the day, we all become friends, sometimes connecting on social media and keeping up with each other for a long time.”

Smithdeal said he really enjoys hanging out with his guests, allowing the group to dictate the speed of the tour. Tours can range from four to six hours, depending on the weather, how much fun the group is having, and if any participants have evening plans. Groups never have to feel rushed, as some enjoy spending more time at brewery stops than others.

Tour guests’ vessels can vary as well. Some choose kayaks and others choose stand-up paddle boards, but Smithdeal prefers the SUPs because he can see everyone in the group more easily. GreenFlash also has new hybrid SUPs with seats, which he said is great for guests who are new to the sport.

Regular paddle boards are easier than they look, according to Smithdeal. After an instructional briefing, guests learn to find their center of balance and how to steer, and the tour down the river goes easily. This learning curve is different for everyone, and sometimes guests need a bit of extra attention and demonstration, but he said most get the hang of it within about five minutes.

“The French Broad is a great, easy place to start out on a paddle board,” Smithdeal said. “I’ve had women in their 80s come out and give it a try, and they all have a great time.”

Though the job is a fun one, Smithdeal said he does have some challenging moments, usually when the river’s water level is unusually high or low. During dry spells, the water level is down, and he must work to navigate his guests through shallow spots. He said this can be challenging on paddle boards because fins can get hung up on rocks. People can more easily lose their balance if they are bumping rocks, and this became a big challenge during the drought in the summer of 2023.

The opposite type of weather can also be challenging. When there is a lot of rain, the water level is high and the river flows faster. This can make it more challenging to hit the correct take-out spots for their brewery stops, and can be dangerous if the level is very high. They have had to adjust the tour to a section of the Swannanoa River which is usually too low to run, but in the case of excess rain, it made for a safer tour which still allowed the guests to have a good time.

The tour is fairly safe overall, but there is always some level of risk regarding water sports, and keeping guests safe is an important part of the job. As a former Navy medic maintaining CPR and First Aid certifications, Smithdeal is prepared to help manage injuries should anything happen while on tour.

Smithdeal creates his own “challenges” while he is working. He likes to challenge guests to a headstand contest on their paddle boards while floating on the river. He said doing a headstand on the water is easy for him, and of course no one has to try, but some people enjoy that challenge and have a good time with their attempts.

Before and after each tour, Smithdeal has to load gear, perform set-up and break-down tasks, and tie kayaks and SUPs on a trailer. He said it is hard work, but he enjoys his days working as a tour guide.

“It is work in the sense that I’ve worked all week and I’m also working on summer weekends, but it’s really fun,” Smithdeal said. “It’s great to break the ice between different people and make new friends, and it’s quite a perk of the job to play outside, be on the water, and have a beer with people who are out to have a good time.”

James Smithdeal is a Tour Guide with GreenFlash Watersports. Learn more at GreenFlashWatersports.com.