Thanks to Armada participants

DaveM · Post by **DaveM** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:55 pm

I just wanted to thank everyone who came to the armada this year. It was really good to see everyone, catch up and paddle.

I haven't been in a boat much lately and it really showed....At the beginning of the trip I didn't have any water wings and towards the end of the trip, I was so fatigued, I couldn't even catch an easy surfing wave. At the take out I flipped doing stern pivots and almost had to get out because I was just too tired to roll.

Scott and I concluded that next year we are gonna have to "train-up" for the Armada.

If you have never attended an armada, I would encourage you to do so, I find it to be a very uplifting expereince seeing so many c-boaters on the river at one time. I

Additionally it's a great place to see and try all kinds of C-boats..I can't even begin to guess the number of different C-boat models present at this years armada...must have been over 30.

But THE BEST part of the Armada is the people. You will not find a better group of people and it is a privledge to float down the river with all of you.

Thanks again to everyone for coming...See ya next year and if I can get in a boat a little before the armada, I'm gonna try some of those funky boats you guys brought...I think this year I would have been lucky to keep them going straight.

Trip Highlights:
Jay's face after surfing the lunch spot hole
CBoat shirts with "Staff" and "Sponsor" on them...this thing has really grown
The parade....although I understand from Brendon I missed "Miss Fire Marshall Assocaition"...dang it!
Open boats that go "pee pee" after each rapid..still not sure how that works

Trip Lows:
Not being able to stay Sat night
Missing the squirt session on Friday

Take Care see ya soon....DWM

Alden · Post by **Alden** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 3:22 pm

sorry I missed it . . . again!

Alden

squeakyknee · Post by **squeakyknee** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:26 pm

Absolutely Rockin'!
I had a great time with everyone.Sorry we didn't stick around the group too long,I had others there to catch up with.
The squirt gathering was great,I got to paddle all sorts of sweet boats.Thanks to Adam for letting me get in the Maven.
Hope to make the next Armada with y'all.
How about the Lower Yough for next year?
Shawn

Sir Adam · Post by **Sir Adam** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:26 pm

For me this was the best armada yet, though I admit to being biased as it also coincided with folks hopping in the Maven:)

Highlights:
- Seeing MikeW mystery (chest deep anyway) LEW's Maven 3 times
- Getting a chest deep mystery myself, albeit in my Acrobat (PAC (2 mysteries?) and MikeW were MUCH more adept at finding "the spot" than I was).
- Meeting and getting a tour of Keith Backlunds shop. Gorgeous wood and paddles!
- Meeting and touring PS Composites. For a non-on-the-water event, this was tops. I've got new ideas, and a lot of new info to improve the quality of Mavens:)
- Saturday was a great time, and i actually hopped in to a few holes in my Fanatic II...being primarily a river-runner and squirtist (is that a word?) I usually avoid holes like the plague. It was really good to play in them a bit and actually have a good time.
- Trying the Sith. THAT IS A NICE BOAT. Thanks again Martin!
- Meeting a lot of new faces, and putting them to handles on the forum. DaveM is right on-you won't meet a nicer group of folks. It's nice paddling folks without any airs...we're all just here to have fun, and we do

- The annual Sat. dinner at Fox's
- Sunday's run down the NB with SBroam, Kenneth, and Court. we had the river to ourselves!

Low points were getting stuck in a few traffic jams to and from the Armada. It really doesn't need to be an 11 hour drive, but is was in both directions.

I hope to C everyone there next year, and at a few other gatherings as well, hopefully, including next year's "Hudson Derby Armada", in conjunction with the 50th annual Hudson River Whitewater Derby! It'll be the first weekend in May 2007, and I can provide camping space in several locations.

Thank you all who had kind words for the forum and site-it means a lot to Kenneth and I to hear that!

the great gonzo · Post by **the great gonzo** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:50 pm

This was my first time at the Armada, and I will be there again next year! it was absolutely worth the 11 hour drive on our way down.

The highlights for me were:

-meeting a lot of people who I communicate with on this forum and finally being able to put a face to them.

-running the NBP on Saturday in a big group of c1 and oc1 of all kinds of shapes and sizes.

-trying the Acrobat! thanks PAC, that boat is a blast

!

-sitting around the campfire on Saturday night and getting to chat with everybody.

-running the Loop on the Lower Yough with Lil'D, LEW, Big Al, PAC (thanks for guiding us dow and showing me the inteesting slot lines!) and Scott C.

The low point for me was not to fit into Mike W master cut Acrobat (having a 36' inseanm is definitely a drawback when interested in squirtboats) and having to walk away from the boat...

(does anyone know of a c1 squirt that fits a guy with a 36 inseam?)

Overall it was a great weekend!

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

John Coraor · Post by **John Coraor** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:34 pm

Sorry to have missed another Armada. Alden, my son Everett, and I, along with other slalom types were paddling the Esopus Slalom. I hope that next year's event doesn't leave us so conflicted!

John

old and in the way · Post by **old and in the way** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:16 am

My first armada since the concordia in '99. What a blast!! Loved the river trip, met some great people, just wish the old knees held up better.

i really enjoyed lamenting the current lousy state of slalom with Dave, Scott and Natalie, and reliving our own slalom glory days of 20 years ago.

i remain as my screen name indicates...

Scott C · Post by **Scott C** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:54 am

In deed a great time. Although I did not get to try out any boats I will have to try some next year. The water was good and the company great! I will defiantly be back next year.

The only low point was that I had to go home.

A great job organizing the weekend guys! Keep up the good work.

KNeal · Post by **KNeal** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:45 pm

Including the squirt session at Calamity definitely was a great addition for this year. It was great to see many familiar faces (and remembering some of THEIR names

) plus meeting some new attendees whose names I have seen on this message board, especially Martin, Scott C., "Old and In the Way", and "Squeaky Knee".

KNeal

Mike W. · Post by **Mike W.** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:59 am

Another great Armada

I'm already looking forward to next year. I think the Cheat was a great idea for Friday. We got to play in squirt boats & others ran the river in surface boats. Win-win

3 Mavens, 3 Acrobats & 2 Oxygens in one spot...WOW

LEW & Adam, thanks for bringing the boats.

Adam, you got chest deep in your Acrobat?

Dude, I must have been doing something wrong. As much as I weigh, I should have gone DEEP in LEW's Maven

I guess it's not all weight vs bouancy, you've got the skills my freind.

The Armada is still my favorite paddling trip of the year

Thanks to those who continue to show up every year & to those new to the Armada. It's this great group of people who contiue to make the Armada a fantastic event.

Post by **PAC** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 2:37 am

All of the above plus more!

It was great to see everyone (new and old), get schooled (Backlund Paddles, PS Composites and then at the Narrows - in the Cquirt boats), and most importantly just paddling with folks.

Always nice folks with lots of smiles and tons of laughs! Getting the chance to paddle 4x in 3 days was a plus (yes I squeezed a LY Loop run in Fri. night after missing a months worth of runs)!

The Maven was a blast (and then some

) and the Oxygen was... different.

The Master Cut Acrobat was way cool as was the Grove. Not to mention tooling about all day on Sat in the full cut Acrobat and playing in the Sith. Oh and Martin thanks for the loan of the Wheel Boy on Sun. - you and Scott have to come back down for more fun on the LY (remember to bring Steve too).

Top honors of the weekend (in my book) go to 1. Jay's face in the BigBoy at the gravel bar hole, 2. Adam's comments after a "spin" in the Sith and Big Al's cheering for all the trucks at the fire truck prade!

Hope to see everyone again soon! Paul C.

Post by **sbroam** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:34 pm

Another great Armada - can't wait for next year!

High points -

-not having any more of a vehicular adventure than to need to get two wheels balanced

-the Fleenor's hospitality
-the weather! we've seen a *lot* more rain before!
-being honored with a "CBoats.net Staff" shirt!
-getting to know my new Viper
-getting in on the ground floor of "Team Old Guy"
-that drive home wasn't nearly as bad as dreaded...
-and last, yet best - seeing all of the familiar faces and meeting the new

Low points -

-it'll be a year till next time...
-not having my kids along! Maybe next time...

Not-so-sure point -

-Finding myself commiserating about my nemesis software vendor while on a trip intended to escape from that sort of thing - it was somewhat reassuring, bordering on schadenfreude, to hear that we are not alone in our woes

Scott

Post by **kenneth** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:21 am

Then it shouldn't surprise you that in my cube, while working with that miserable software vendor, I had "schadenfreude" and the definition printed up and posted on my wall - I thought I was the only person keeping that word in daily use, I'm glad I'm not alone.

It was great to see everyone and see so many C boats!

LEW · Post by **LEW** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 11:12 pm

We got home Monday night after a visit to Pine Creek, PA (Grand Canyon of PA).
Thanks to PAC for accomidations Thursday night and for setting things up for us on the Lower Yough on Sunday.
Extra thanks to Bob for retrieving my paddle at Robin's Nest (paddle wax is on my shopping list).
I had a great time, I think the highlight for me was the visit to P.S. Composites.
Here is a link to the photos Lil' D got before the camera battery went.
Mike W. seems to have stolen the show:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/cboater1/al ... 8340#page1
LEW

Li'l D · Post by **Li'l D** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 1:48 am

I had a fun time at the Armada. It was great meeting more of the people who post on this forum. Thanks to PAC for putting us up in his camp Thurs. night and arranging the visit to Backlund paddles and PS Composites. On Friday I enjoyed everyone trying different squirt boats on the Cheat Narrows. It made me wish I could do some of those moves but so far I haven't found a boat small enough for me to sink (even LEW's Oxygen is a surface boat for me.)
The North Branch of the Potomac was a great level this year. I had an exciting ride through Robin's Nest. It was unusual for me to have another Zoom on the river with me. (Big Al) Between us I think we prove that that size doesn't matter when it comes to paddling a Zoom. We also saw what a Zephyr can do in a hole.
Other highlights included dinner at Fox's, the parade and sitting around the campfire at the campground on Sat. night.
On Sunday morning LEW and I made a last minute decision to go up to the Lower Yough and run the loop. Then we started for home which unfortunately is a long drive.

C-Forum

Thanks to Armada participants

Thanks to Armada participants

boatin

I'll second Dave's comments...

Armada...

some photos