My excuse?
I had a few. First, I'm really trying to get my girlfriend Holly into paddling---she just bought a slalom kayak, and really wasn't ready for the North Branch. With thanks to Paul Cline for offering the Shredder, she didn't want to paddle an inflatable...so I really felt bad about the prospect of going without her (or having her stand around on the banks while I paddled).Secondly, my shredded knee was an ugly sight, and I couldn't bear the thought of kneeling on it for hours..
As it turned out, we did paddle Saturday---on the Rappahannock (through Fredericksburg, VA). I wanted to check out the section recently "uncovered" by the removed dam, and I knew it would be lots of class 2 stuff that Holly could handle. It was an okay paddle, but my knee was oozing pus by the end and I was paranoid when we took out near a sewage outflow that I'd be infected and lose my leg!
I do regret not making the Armada...but next year is mandatory for me---as well as Dave and Chris and Trevor and Brian Zimmerman! I'm glad it sounded like a good event! It's great to see the "C-Spirit" carry on without us!
Scott
PS - I'm still trying to get some mid-Atlantic C-boaters together for a Lehigh River trip in the next month or so---anyone interested?