(which proves that Scott is almost as bad of a photographer as I am – water on the lens issues )
Aw man! I hate that, especially since I burned off most of your roll of film for you! And I had such good chance, especially of Mike's bow squirting run of Robin's Nest...
Hey, I been thinkin' about hows it is that some folks be sayin "say hello next time," but i'm thinkin wait just a minute there's only two 16ft open boats here compared to a plethora of c decked boats, how the heck are we 'sposed to know who you guys are, when its completely obvious who the longboat posse was, sheeeet. Yins just refuse to recognize the skills. Big deal yall got some pics of some c1s floatin' on the edge of that railroad hole, we blasted up that hole in the longboats, and everyone hanging out there was silent. I don't know why, if i saw myself out there, i'd be hootin'.
I see we're gettin' some sightings though, Stony Creek, Tohickon, Deerfield Dryway, the Elk and of course the Yough. Cheat's next on the list, up the Narrows for some surfing, then let's run on down the canyon. Howz about a high water Lower Yough run. When should we call you gentlemen, when the level is say 4.5 to 5 ft? Easy
Hi, "Longboatin'". Ummm, what can I say here? Well, I guess I can say that the next time you come out to join a large group of cboaters on the river, come on over and say, "Hi!", to any of them. You may just discover that this large group of canoeists ARE the armada .
Hey, I been thinkin' about hows it is that some folks be sayin "say hello next time," but i'm thinkin wait just a minute there's only two 16ft open boats here compared to a plethora of c decked boats, how the heck are we 'sposed to know who you guys are,
Never done the LY in a 16' but I know at 7' in a 13' OC it can be a real hoot! Rivers End takes on a HOLE different meaning!
I guess the C2 counts as almost 16 (15'6") so maybe we can KNeal up for some fun when it rains!
CU out there LB'n and be assured next time I see a big old red bow standing up out of a wave I'll stop by and say hi!
PS: KNeal feel free to stop on up!!!
Paul C.
Cboats Moderator
Official TOG Member (Team Old Guy)!
Mmm, mmm! Now that's bait that I can hardly pass up, Paul. July is full up so I'll check into June and August and see if we'uns can make it up for the weekend. The big question is--who gets to sit in the front this time! I'll bring our slalom c-2 just to keep things even between you and me.
Ellen and I are leaving for York, PA. tomorrow morning, so y'all have a really good weekend of boating.
KNeal
P.S. The James is holding really good water levels and should stay this way through next week. If anyone wants to paddle the James in Richmond, give me a holler. (804) 405-3767
13 ft, now your talking PAC. Im of the opinion that no open boat needs to go below 11ft. I've paddled an Ocoee, and while its great for creeks, and drops, running river lines sux, its too dam slow. So I'd sure feel comfortable with any slalom boats or certainly the c2, but I don't know if I can hang with a bunch of dudes talking about whose is smallest all the time . I'll stick to openboats, longboats specifically. I need a lot of room for the equipment, boieee. Easy
Just a young chap currently on the other side of the Atlantic, but if you ever get over to Switzerland, give us a yell. I'd love to see you take a 16' boat down some of the creeks here - if you tried to eddy turn you'd end in an end-to-end pin. On the other hand, there are plenty of rivers with more than enough space and I'd really love to learn how to guide one of them there beasts solo in whitewater. I have a lot of respect for that and I think I'd be a better paddler in my shorter boats afterwards. Paddled the Muota (lots of class II crazy water and class III-IV on a couple of drops, also running HIGH) with a guy in a solo ME last weekend - I don't know if I would have taken it down that river (of course I'm also not at all dialed into long boats - my longest is a 11' Master Cut Acrobat squirt boat, but that doesn't really count).
People keep telling me my 9.5' Zoom is too big for some of the creeks here too ... or maybe it's the need to empty occassionally....I recently got a complaint from one of the guys I was paddling with that went "that's no good for Bernese Oberland rivers" something about them having to wait for me to empty.... and I thought 6 times on 7km of continuous 3-4 whitewater was pretty good (there was maybe 2km of class II in the run). A lot of folks here just point downstream and go as a tight pod, no stopping. Fun and intense, but not my normal way to run a river (and it makes it real hard to get photos).
Anyway, enough meandering...I should be working
Matt
NZMatt
Hmmm....new country, new rivers...-
Still not enough c-boaters....
I don't know about you, but my trip to the Armada had its own particular soundtrack...
Music -
Beck - Guero - track two became one of those aural viruses and my soundtrack for most of the NBP Midnight Oil - Scream in Blue Live - good, "get you fired up for the river" music, and there just happens to be a wave on the disc... Morphine - Like Swimming - thought that was appropriate after Little Falls... Jimmy Dale Gilmore - Spinning Around the Sun - memorable hook "...babe, you're just a wave, you're not the water..."
Book on tape - they help the miles go by, especially helpful when there are as many as I had...
Thomas Pynchon - "Mason & Dixon" - I didn't even think about the geographic relevance until recently Part of it takes place on "Savage Mountain", as in the "Savage River"? I'd never read any of his work before, it's kind of surreal. I suspect Pynchon is an acquired taste (lke Umberto Eco).
Anybody else have their own soundtrack for the weekend?
Got the Zoom..........now I gotta learn how to paddle it. I was supposed to be runnin' safety at the Slip Clinic this weekend but now it looks like I'll actuall be a student!
Sounds like everyone had a good time at the Armada, sorry I couldnt come . I haven't got the chance to do the North Branch, but I did get to sneak over that way this spring to run another river, although I was warned by a local kayaker over the phone, "Do you know what you're getting into, doing that in a c-1?" (or something like that). He then mentioned that he wasn't that worried though, because C-1ers are usually "thinking man's boaters." I thought that was pretty funny.
When I got to the river, I was lucky enough to meet up with some random boaters at the put in. They were definitely giving me the once over, but I think when they saw the tattered gear and dented bow, they thought I was alright. Until I mentioned it was my first run. Then they looked at me, over to my c-1, then back at me, then back at the c-1 -- as if it was a real bad idea to try this for the first time in a c-1. I wanted to assure them that my attempting the river in a kayak would have no doubt ended in even greater misery.
Fortunately everything went well. I think Tomko Falls is one of my new favorite rapids. They all thought it was pretty funny that I had memorized the rapids ahead of time from Jay Ditty's video (haha). But at least I knew the rightie lines.
Alden
Congratulations on your new boat, Big Al. We have the start of a Zoom Armada. Don't worry the boat will teach you how to paddle it.
What's the Slip clinic?
S
L'il D - the Slip is a paddling clinic that the Three Rivers paddling Club has held for 27 years at Slippery Rock Creek in Butler County, north of the 'Burgh. This year there were about 120 participants of all levels, including instructors, safety boaters and other hangers' on (like PAC, who we didn't see after he hooked up with his C-1 buddies and the wheelboys on Sunday). There were 180 signed up for the pig roast dinner Saturday night, done up exquisitely by the Cheeseman family who owns the farm and campsite, and a few adult beverages are consumed. In short...a very nice event.
I paddled the Zoom Sat and Sun, and love it. As I pushed it more and more the ease of the boat to roll came in quite handy, especially when surrounded by dark-siders (you get cheered around here if you roll an OC-1...). The only negative was my knees. For some reason my knees felt it more than my "long" boat and on Sunday I had to get out after almost every rapid to stretch. But I'm not used to paddling 2 days in a row and probably just need to paddle more anyway.
A "Zoom Armada"? hmmmm........gotta think about that one.
Thanks again for letting me try out the Zoom at lunch on Saturday. Thats one cool boat. I'm sure once you have time to play with the outfitting a bit you'll get it comfortable for you.
Aw man! I hate that, especially since I burned off most of your roll of film for you! And I had such good chance, especially of Mike's bow squirting run of Robin's Nest...
Well, I guess I can say that the next time you come out to join a large group of cboaters on the river, come on over and say, "Hi!", to any of them. You may just discover that this large group of canoeists ARE the armada 
.
July is full up so I'll check into June and August and see if we'uns can make it up for the weekend. The big question is--who gets to sit in the front this time! 
I'll bring our slalom c-2 just to keep things even between you and me. 
. I'll stick to openboats, longboats specifically. I need a lot of room for the equipment, boieee. Easy
... or maybe it's the need to empty occassionally....I recently got a complaint from one of the guys I was paddling with that went "that's no good for Bernese Oberland rivers" something about them having to wait for me to empty.... and I thought 6 times on 7km of continuous 3-4 whitewater was pretty good (there was maybe 2km of class II in the run). A lot of folks here just point downstream and go as a tight pod, no stopping. Fun and intense, but not my normal way to run a river (and it makes it real hard to get photos).
