May 22-23 Armada update....

[PAC]

Well the 2nd 2004 NBofP Armada went off smoothly including the usual mandatory vehicle problems and stop at the Fox’s Pizza place! Hey what’s an Armada without vehicle issues or stromboli??
Boaters included the DC in Slalom boat crew (it HAS to be a DC thing! ), the southerner play boaters (Mike and Scott) and northerners in C2s (Jim K-R and Mike, and Jacob and I). Hard to believe there was only one plastic boat (excluding Holly in the K) in the Sat. crew.
I’ll let Scott, Mike or Neal write about their Friday Richmond paddle, and Scott B. update us on his Food Lion vehicle repair experience - since this time he had the pleasure of being the “chosen one”! Note: This also limited the group’s access to the ginger ale that we so much enjoy and look forward to!
As for Sunday, I’m not sure if anyone paddled since Jacob and I left after Stromboli on Sat. However, there were some salivating slalom boaters on the foot bridge that overlooks the Savage River 89 Worlds site, prior to dinner at Fox’s Pizza. Dave was right in that we should have nailed that first… next time!
As always, it was nice to see the crew again and watch the C boats work their way down through rapids. I think some of the other pods on the river were a bit intimidated by the Cs since they sort of hid in the eddies when we showed up and watched while the Cs surfed everything in site.
I especially appreciate everyone keeping an eye on our C2 - making sure we were covered while running each of the drops.
Folks did get to try out different boats and this lead to some laughs and general silliness with paddlers “falling out” of upside-down boats. We also had the plastic pusher sporting a big smile while gliding in glass!
Jacob definitely had a great time and was chatty ALL the way back to the cabin. He even asked to stop at Ohiopyle to check out the Yough (which was 8'+ and getting bigger ). He loved surfing in the front of the C2 (while singing “everyone has gone surf’n, surf’n USA!”) and “racing” the slalom boats (you guys didn’t know you were in a race did you??? )! He learned a lot watching you folks paddle – with him starting to get his leans, strokes and pries working as we worked down the river. I would appreciate any photos you guys took of us since it was a really good river day for dad!!
We didn’t see much of Jim and Mike in their C2 since they put on behind us and seem to be “enjoying” the river to it’s full extent! Hopefully others will add to this since I’m sure I missed items of interest. I was focused on dad duty and getting the C2 down in one piece!
I have some photos that I’ll scan and email Adam for posting - if he has time, space, etc. on the site.
Until next time!
CU Paul C. (aka PAC)

[sbroam]

I had a great time and appreciate the tolerance the glass boaters showed for me in my milk jug. And I did hop in two glass boats - the prospect of the new shorter slalom boats is very intriguing to me. I have some pictures that I'll scan when I get a chance, including a couple of the KC-2 (C-2 with a kayak paddle up front).

It only took Mike Watson and I 15 minutes to get the new alternator on Fredericksburg and I made it home under my own power.

Scott

[Mike W.]

Friday was great on the James. Half a dozen single bladers on a Friday ? What a day. Brendan & Gunst were in Atoms, Scott in the Score, Mike in a Shaman, KNeal changed my thigh-straps, whined about the extremely loose outfitting & paddled my Acrobat, & I paddled my Viper. We surfed a bunch at 1st break (photos coming). Mike even back-surfed the Shaman ! Everyone had good runs at Hollywood, with KNeal demonstrating the longest low brace in history. After some squirting behind bridge abutments it was on to Pipeline. Wow that's a big, bouncy hole ! I think that's the first time that I've been bounced in glass. The toughest part of the day was the take-out . I saved the boat, was able to paddle Saturday (with only minor pain) & the knee is healing.

I don't think Scott wanted to leave his truck in Fredericksburg . But it was the only way that he was going to be able to paddle Saturday, so he did.

Big fun was had by all on the NBP. I had forgotten how much fun that river is. I think it's one of my favorite runs. Strange thing with the boat swapping, at least two people said that my seat was too high in the Viper . I maintain that there is no such thing (it's ONLY 8"). You've got to be comfortable . I learned how to quiet a mouthy butt boater too. All I had to do was a stern squirt & grin at him as the bow went over his head . I probably should have (as Scott recomended) whacked him on the head, but I was in a good mood .

I got a first hand look at Trevor's hip pads (they look real good). He also makes helmets. I ordered one from him & it came in today. It looks great!

We should have run the Savage. I have been kicking myself for not running it . That 1st drop looked messy, but as Scott said, there was room to roll afterwards.

Sunday, we broke camp early & headed to Fredericksburg to pop in the new alternator. If I had known it would be that quick we could have paddled.

I enjoyed paddling with everyone & look forward to the next one.

[jKelly-Rand]

Hey it was only 2 weeks ago. Ya, this post is a little out of date but it is in keeping with my buddies paddling motto, "it's never too late to paddle".
Well Walt and I arrived at the armada put in after 12:30. I missed out on the chance to take Mike's Acrobat for a spin, well there is next year. Mike, does that have an 8 inch saddle also? Our friend Mike decided to S-1(shredder) the run. He's an aspiring C-1er who's knees are not conditioned yet. I think he would like Mike W's saddle set-up. Walt and I paddled the ArgueMax and spent a lot of time at the slide rapids below the put-in. We finally caught up with the tail end of the armada at the lecge pool where I tried Mike W's Viper and got some pointers on stern squirting. I too had a wet exit from that tall saddle set-up. Paul and Jacob were also there and they spotted for Walt and I as we tried and made two roll attempts in our C-2. That was a good feeling to say the least. Continueing down to lunch hole Walter abandoned me so he and Mike could run the shredder in the hole, so I proceeded to solo the C-2 into the hole. It was looking good, I slid into a nice side surf and exited the opposite side where everything fell apart as I had too great a down stream lean flipped and couldn't make a popped skirt roll this time:) Well by the time we left lunch hole the rest of the armada was well ahead of us. Sorry not to have met up with Kneal, Dave Miller and the rest of the DC contingent. The take out was deserted of C-boaters by the time we arrived, so to console ourselves we decided to do an S-3 run of the Savage.
This was my first time in a shredder, and I was really worried because it has no recognizealbe acceleration. Spin, spin, spin is what I was told to do. So at 1000 cfs we spun down to Bailey with only a couple of portages. On our way back we stopped and visited with Mike W. and Scott Broam at their camp site. We stayed until the minges got the better of us.

I spent the next eight days paddling on various Pa, Md, and WVa rivers. I am still recovering.

Till next
Jim