Oldest C Boater

[Brendan]

There is a post below regarding oldest canoe- some go way back- my Blue Hole OCA at 20 years seems young. I'd be interested in oldest C-Boater ( I know, age is all in how you feel, etc.), but what about the range of age of folks paddling C-Boats. A few years ago I had the pleasure to meet Carter Hearn during a NB Armada- he came sliding smooth as silk into an eddy in a glass boat. I didn't ask his age but I have no doubt he is the oldest C-Boater I have ever seen on the river. It gave me hope that I might be as fortunate and be able to still 'assume the postion' in my later years. At 46 I am glad that my knees and ankles can still hold out with limited pain. So, what's the age range out there?

[John Coraor]

I'll be 50 in November, and thus can't beat out Carter. However, I can testify from personal experience that it is particularly hard to have been out of the sport for 20 years (a combination of job and what was once four kids under four) and then try to get back into it when one is "of a certain age" (not to mention out-of-shape and overweight)!

John

[msims]

I think the winner might be up here in Canada - Victor (cant remember the last name)

He's 71.

He paddles the gull almost every weekend 50/50 between a yak and a rival. He paddles his Rival pretty much from top to bottom, I think he even runs Whitehorse falls (he does in a yak at least)

Here's a photo of him on the Gull River race, last year the weekend after labour day. I think he'd make a pretty cool grandfather!

http://www.farhoumand-sims.com/albums/g ... W_3957.jpg

[sbroam]

I am not the oldest c-boater. Yet. By the time I need new knees and ankles, they'll be making them of carbon nano-tubes and weigh less than my 2 kilogram boat!

[Sir Adam]

John Berry perhaps?

[cheajack]

This is a very sensitive subject since I will be turning 60 in under two weeks now. I have been wondering for quite some time why there is not a 60 and older slalom racing category so that us old fat and out of shape wannabes wouldn't have to compete against 41 year old former olympians!

Jack

[Jim Michaud]

I can't beat Victor because I'm only 67. I'm still in pretty good shape having done a high water trip on the Selway and a Grand Canyon trip so far this year. I also have two more Grand Canyon trips to go this year and so far one next year.

Today I paddled the Little River in Massachusetts which required carrying my boat two miles through the woods in order to get to the river. I can't see myself slowing down much any time soon. By the way, the boat that I paddled today was a 1960s model Morrison Hahn.

Jim

[kaz]

John Berry is probably in his late 70's. He probably paddles more than I do. In the marathon canoeing world, Phil Cole would win it at 86. He just finished the 70 mile General Clinton race, beating several younger racers.
JK

[LEW]

She may not be the oldest Cboater, but I she and her boat may lead in the category of "Oldest boat still paddled by it's original owner". Last weekend I paddled the Esopus Creek with Betty Lou Bailey in her Blue Hole OCA that she purchased in 1981.
Betty Lou is very well known around here for her paddling and for her powerful influence in river conservation and access. I'm not sure about her age (and I'm not about to ask!!), but she is a retired GE engineer. At the time she retired, the folks at Social Security didn't know what to do about a woman who had never been married and was eligible for FULL benefits on her own!
When you pull into an eddy on class III, with her doing a cross draw, the young hot shots in kayaks don't even realize that they are starring. I can only guess at what they are thinking.