C-Forum

I whole-hartedly agree with Mr. Longboatin'. There is no need to paddle 8' :evil:boats, why don't you go the extra 3' and hit up the 'Scade? The Dagger Cascade is one of the greatest boats ever designed. In fact. O out of the last 10 green races have been won by a 'Scade. I guess that goes to show how we really compare to the cayacken fool's out there... Fact is, I have heard Mr. Hilleke himself say he would like to convert the venerable 'scade to K-1 hisself....Long life long C1's


....tis long 'nuff fer dunken rant..........

Yes we have been reinventing the wheel over the past several years trying to convert the short kayaks to c boats and paying the price. Cascade and Atom are great boats, no doubt. Iwould like to find an old Gyromax sometime that's not brittle.

Chuck

there are many great old boat designs. I'm not sure I'd include the Gyramax in that catagory. That said, I do know of one for sale, cheap, albeit here in the Northeast US, that I believe is in good shape.

As someone who has "a few" different boats of "varying" design, I say paddle whatever you want! Short boat, long boat, just get out there and have fun. And if you ever think a different style of boating is "easy", try it. You'll find not all of your skills in one size translate to the other, but by becoming proficient in a few different types of boats you're comfort level and ability overall will increase.

Adam,

Others share your Gyromax opinion. I had a Gyro and a Slasher that were destroyed in a house fire. This came after several years away from the sport due to other commitments. During this time the idea of park and play had come into popularity. When I returned I found that designs had changed dramatically. THis began the conversion process.

I recently found a very nice Atom to add to the Noah Atlantis, Vahja and GTX. I like the GTX for creeks, Atom for bigger stuff and the two glass boats are a hoot to paddle.

Chuck

Yeeesss, I knew there was some support out there. When the LB crew took a roadtrip up to Mass and ran the Dryways, people wuz asking if we's from down south, An we're like hades yeah, southern PA, for canoeings sake, the MD line should be moved a little farther north, so us longboatin injuns would feel closer to those that understand.

Longboatin:

You'll be happy to know that I don't own a boat shorter than 12 ft. With the exception of a Mad River St. Croix and an old Grumman, they are all slalom boats. Having started paddling before there were short boats, I got accustomed to running rivers in my slalom boat and have never felt the need to change. Yes, I do get lots of stares from people who've never seen a 4 meter boat before, but you can't beat composite slalom designs for the combination of light weight, speed, and manuverability.

John

I appreciate the point there LB and am glad you clarified. As a matter of coincidence, I was reading the updated West Virginia Whitewater Guide by Charlie Walbridge. I was skimming through and reading all the first descents in it. I was amazed at how many where done with LLOoonng C1s .

If you need speed, you need waterline.

Tom

Longboatin',

Down in the deep South we love our old school canoes I and my friends paddle Captions solo on class IV runs. Every once in awhile we take our boats up North to show 'em just how its done. They don't have to hear our southern accents to know where we're from cuz' they can tell by the way we paddle

Come on down to the Chattooga or the Tellico or South Sauty or Little River Canyon and you'll find us old timers having a blast in Whitesells, Outrages, Captions and such. Not everbody paddles those little squirrelly plastic bobbers down here. No sir!

Ol' Milt (Mr. Paddlesnake) himself will tell you that his favorite boat is a Caption. Nothing is nicer than a long, fast boat, especially crossing Lake Tugaloo after a great day on Sect. IV.

Come down south my southern PA brother...we understand ya'



Way down here in the Land of Cotton
Ol' times in long boats are not forgotten
Lok away, lok way, lok way........Dixie Land


Michael

(a unreconstructed long boatin' rebel)

anyone seen deliverance? there's some good LB footage in that (among other interesting footage!)

Long boatin',Did ya check out the"Who say's big boats can't play too?"post? There's 7 1/2 ft buried in that hole.
I'll talk long boats with ya anytime.
let's see some yankee longboating picks from up yander.

So how long is a long boat?
Is a 12' Outrage a long boat?
Is a 13'2" Slalom boat a long boat?
How about a 14' Caption (and what are y'all going to paddle when y'all wear them out?)
A 15' ME?

Longboatin' what's yins paddlin'?

Inquiring minds want to know!

There are a few PA longboat pics on the easternpaddling website, no real good action shots, but if I can get this darn scanner working I get some posted. On the AW site I posted a few taken at the Deerfield, check out the Dragons Tooth surf pic in particular.

Now at the risk of alienating some of the longboat support, I'll try to layout what the LB crew envisions longboatin to entail.
1. Get yerself a tandem, a 16 footer. We're partial to the OldTown Kennebec
2. No flippin the boat around backwards, and paddling from the bow seat. Yes this probably offers the most stability, however, get yer butt in the stern. Sure about 4ft of boat is out the water, but she'll turn like a bitch, and surf and carve like no tomorrow.
3. Next, run the boat empty. My outfitting consists of a couple beer foamies glued down in front of each seat, to hold the brewskis.
4. Last, bust a move. Longboatin is great for clearing out eddies at busy festival runs. Those pesky yakkers haul butt when you come blowin into an eddy with what appears to be a fishin boat, probably makes em feel a bit less extreme too.

I know, I know, no flotation makes most people cringe, but lack of it is the most crucial element of longboatin as we define it. Its sort of a tribute to Native Americans and slalom racers. Practice with it if you must, but once yer there, the flotation must go.

I definitely would like to get back down south. Back in the day the crew took a southern trip after guide training had ended. We boated the Tellico, Nantahala (including Wesser falls), Section IV, and the Nolichucky. We were running an MR Fantasy and an HD1 back then. Longboatin Section IV is on my list.

Longboatin',

I love to paddle my 16 ft. Old Town too.

Let me know when you want to paddle Sect. IV. I'd love to set safety for y'all and take some pics. If Milt comes along he'll video your runs for sure. His eyes kinda' glaze over when he thinks there's gonna be any carnage in the Five Falls.

You coming this year? We had great water levels last summer and fall. Hopefully this year will be as good.

Come on down!

Michael

Sweet,you sound pretty much like my old tandem partner,minus the beer foamies.I bailed on him a couple of years ago and hit the Outrage X as my first BIG/small boat.He still paddles his Discovery 157 down most everything I do in my Nitro.
I still on occasion take the ol'Sawyer out to rough it up.I does clear out the eddies,and people get the frick out of the way,minus the occasional drunk redneck swimming in the playspots.

lb, you are busted!

1. Get yerself a tandem, a 16 footer. We're partial to the OldTown Kennebec
2. No flippin the boat around backwards, and paddling from the bow seat. Yes this probably offers the most stability, however, get yer butt in the stern. Sure about 4ft of boat is out the water, but she'll turn like a bitch, and surf and carve like no tomorrow.

sounds like you LIKE the shorter waterline..

you rebel