C-Forum

I'm curious... Squirtboating is a minority sport, Downriver squirting is a minority of a minority as is C-quirt; so are there many devotees of C-quirt Downriver, a (minority)³ sport.

I gave it a go a while ago, and really enjoyed it but with the river in question being so shallow (and me being so dense) it ended in some repair work... I'm assuming that for those of you living in areas with more volumous rivers that's less of an issue.

I'll run the river in my Woodie when the water is high. The boat's volume is on the lowish side, so I don't run solid class II in it. I have had higher volume boats that I wouldn't think twice about running solid II's in.

The greatest popularity of downriver squirting was the 80's into the 90's. This was when boats like the "Vampire" and our very own "Viper" really took off. The downriver squirt boats are the longer ones (*gasp*), about 12 feet. I use my Viper when the local river gets into the flood stage range. That is when the boat and the river is most fun. If you ever get to watch Nolan Whitesell's video of him running the Niagara Gorge, you'll see one or two squirt kyackers with him.

When I had the full cut Acrobat I often used it to run the LY at Mid levels..... challenging... but lots of fun!

It was looking at the viper that set me thinking of this, the meltdown was great downriver but very slow...

I'm going to have to take it to the river festivals this summer and hit up some big splatwheels and grinds; then go home and spend the winter patching the hull again

I like my medium cut cquirts (Acrobat cut for approx. 185 when I'm 175 with gear, for instance) up to class III or so.

I DO know a fellow who took the Oxygen down the Class IV Black River... but he knew every rock and eddy (good thing to, as the water up there is nasty and the rock is brutal (chert)). He made it down, but even he said it was work....

For cruising cquirts like the Viper I think it's the style of boating that has changed a bit... folks are more inclined to surf every tiny feature (not easy in a Viper... too long) rather than try for epic stern squirts and only surf the bigger features. Which is good... it leaves those eddy's empty for those of us who like to:)

Sir Adam wrote:For cruising cquirts like the Viper I think it's the style of boating that has changed a bit... folks are more inclined to surf every tiny feature (not easy in a Viper... too long) rather than try for epic stern squirts and only surf the bigger features. Which is good... it leaves those eddy's empty for those of us who like to:)

I certainly don't subscribe to the surf every wave mentality, much too much effort... I'd rather go big with the assistance of the water, than fight the river till it's played me like a big glittery game fish...

The principle of running hard things in a squirtboat actually appeals to me (dense boat theory and all that jazz), but the reality of being semisubmerged on mainly shallow rocky rivers with suspect rock formations everywhere is, outside of freak flooding (which engenders problems all of it's own); not very pallatable. So I've stuck to a few class 3's I know well with deep channels.

Are the Vipers and Acrobats still in production?

PS Composites has both Viper & Acrobat molds. He'll be happy to whip one up just right for you. It would be awesome to see a new one of either. Rumor has it someone up North also has a Viper mold...

I have run the Middle and the Main of the Ottawa in the 1/2 Cut Acrobat, the Main as high as about 4 or 5, the middle at up to 16.
My most memorable downriver squirt day was when I ran, on a day when I guess I felt a bit funny, ran the Middle of the Ottawa in the Ceemweaver at about 13, determined not to walk anywhere. Somehow I made it down Little Trickle without flipping, I think I was about wait deep all the way down.
The highlight was Garvins, as it was a good level forST chute. When I hit the hole at the bottom I went pretty deep , it got dark and quiet for a few seconds. According to my friends who watched I resurfaced a good 40 ft behind the hole.
Don't remember much about Lower Ostrom, I went guts and was pretty much under the waves for most of it...

TGG!