After many years being involved with other water activities, I've decided to enjoy the pleasures and pain of WW river running again. I found a beautiful Dager Atom, pratically brand new, with all origional saddle, padding , thigh straps and skirt. This site has been a wonderful source of info for me, and the recent thread on the Atom has already help me. Since this is my first decked boat, I've yet to accomplish a roll, so it might be a while before I'm willing to take it out of the pool until I do. Any suggestions for reading up on the C-1 roll and where to look for the info?
I'm 6'4", 195#, and when I'm set up in the boat my feet are always pointed straight back, the just isn't any room to bring my toe's up on the ball w' the heel up. So as a result my lower leg below the knee and ankles have been going numb after only about 15 minutes in the boat. Any thoughts on how I might deal with this would be a great help as well.
I use to paddle open boats and had the good fortune to have Charlie Walbridge as our instructor during NCOBS instructor training back in 1974 while he was employed with NOC. I was amazed how easily he could move those old Blue Hole canoes on the water. Here is a link to some pfotos I have posted, and there are some pics of the Atom as well. Thanks again for the effort keeping hosting this site for Cboats. Cheers
Hey Neil,
If you can wet exit then river running without a roll is fine. I just got a dagger cascade 7/9 and paddled the nanty and the tuck the next day. (though I didn't run the falls) I still havent gotten my roll but I try to work on it on most river runs. If you search the archives I put a link to a c1 roll video clip. I'll be happy to email it to you if you cant find it. Would you be up for the lower green 8/15 if its running? I've taken my son on it twice this summer in the mighty probe 14. If my wife is home I'll take the spanish fly otherwise I'll go with my son and the probe. You can either make an ankle support or buy one to help with your ankles.
Keep searching previous postings, there is a lot of info there.
If you are not already aware of these ideas:
Wearing shorts or cutting a large area out of your wetsuit behind the knee can really relieve any restrictions in your the lower legs and feet. Any wrinkles in the fabric behind the knees puts my legs to sleep.
Don't be afraid to raise your saddle height. Personally, I would rather paddle a tall saddle than have painful or sleeping legs. Try carrying a 3/4" thick seat pad on the river that you can slip under your butt when your legs start to act up.
I agree with billcanoes, mess around with ankle supports. I don't use the ankle blocks to raise my ankles by much, just to support them. It removes a lot of pain for me.
Get a cheap basketball or equivalent, and spend 10 minutes a day sitting on it in the C-1 position. You will be able to go lower and lower by letting air out of the ball over time, and will find yourself doing all sorts of posturing and stretching while you are on the ball.
I've been streching my ankles already and have been able to stay in the boat for a half hour last night before major discomfort set in. The Basketball sounds like a good idea. I don't know about the raising of the seat any higher though. The seat is 8" above the floor of the boat, any higher and I would feel like I'm falling out of the cockpit. Thanks again for your help...cheers[/img]
If it does not interfere with wet exits, try widening your saddle. I noticed on my boats that if the saddle is to narrow, my lower legs are more likely to go numb.
I think it has next to seat height and ankle support, a lot to do with your legs going numb.
I think if your saddle is too narrow, some nerves in your bum get pinched, causing your legs to fall asleep.
martin
Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing - Henry David Thoreau
The saddle was untouched when I recieved the boat and I have now rounded off the square edges of the saddle, but have not made the width any smaller. This has helped already for comfort. I have nitced that the seat is a little off center so I plan to carve a little foam off the left side of the saddle. No more than a 1/2 inch of foam. The thigh straps are next for modification, the stock straps do not have a quick release action that I will add. Cheers
Walbridge has a book on C-1 outfitting. Last time I looked, Amazon.com had a $5 download edition. Might be some additional ideas in there, and it will be a good volume to have around anyway.
The Whitewater Park hasn't broken ground as of yet. The last I read in the newspaper was they were behind in donations for the park. But it is still suppose to be completed by 2006. We'll see.
I took the Atom to the Pigeon last week and set a new record for the shortest run, the most time under water and the quickest exit from the river, all in about 100 yards of the put in. It was the right decision, more practice and a class 2 river are now the next order of bussiness. The pigeon had all three turbines open, so only my ego was bruised by making the right choice to exit when I did.
Cheers
for the ankles, I find it more comfortable to have my feet pointed back and in a bit towards the center of the boat rather than straight back, adjusting the angles of the ankle blocks accordingly
After many years being involved with other water activities, I've decided to enjoy the pleasures and pain of WW river running again. I found a beautiful Dager Atom, pratically brand new, with all origional saddle, padding , thigh straps and skirt. This site has been a wonderful source of info for me, and the recent thread on the Atom has already help me. Since this is my first decked boat, I've yet to accomplish a roll, so it might be a while before I'm willing to take it out of the pool until I do. Any suggestions for reading up on the C-1 roll and where to look for the info? 