Dry around here

Well folks, it is pretty dry in these parts. We have been able to make it out to a few dam releases like Gauley Fest and the Upper Yough, but there hasn't been much of import to report to you. I guess in one part of my mind I am somewhat thankful for the dryness, as I don't feel as bad that I have given up a large portion of my free time to continue my graduate studies, and more than likely would not have been able to boat as much as I normally would have had the rain kept falling. Additionally, I like everyone else I know, suffers as a kayaker beholden to the price of gasoline. Thankfully the price is dropping steadily as we speak (it is funny how it does that just before every election), so perhaps this barrier t boating will shrink further as time goes on. Just to let you know that we still get a few chances to paddle, I decided to give you this shot taken in September at one of our favorite local runs, the Lower Big Sandy.

Rest In Peace Isaac Ludwig

You Will Be Missed

2nd Annual Got Boof & TRPC Intro To Creeking Clinic

Matt Gets It Done

Sunday July 27th saw the second iteration of the Got Boof and Three Rivers Paddling Club Creeking Clinic, held at Valley Falls State Park in West Virgina. This year's class included over thirty students and safety boaters making it the largest one yet. The class began with an introduction between the students and the instructors/safety boaters, and an overview of design specifics relating to creek kayaks. This discussion progressed into a discussion of both general safety and some safety specifics relating to the creeking end of kayaking. Then it was off to the drops.

Classroom Instruction



Pretend Boating

Boof Demonstration

Jason Hilton Leads By Example

Each drop was broken down individually and at each drop a specific technique was assigned to work on for each drop. Then the drops were run by the instructors to physically demonstrate the technique a few times for the visual learners among the group, then it was time for the fun. Students each took turns firing up the drops, which for many were definitely were the largest drops they had seen (judging from the size of their eyes). After each run, they were able to discuss the run with an instructor and off the went for another lap.

Good Posture

Practicing a Tuck

Post Run Discussion





Good Boof Stroke



Technique Discussion







More Instruction



Rolling Boof Demonstration



Lookin Good!









Twist and Shout


While we definitely had some carnage on this years trip, the number of excellent lines far outweighed the bad and many students, after having a less than perfect line, took great pride in walking back up to run the drop again and fix errors in their technique. This confidence to rerun drops is best placed upon the tireless efforts of a number of the safety boaters who joined me to put on this event. Of specific mention are John Giorgini, Art Barket, Matt Bernstein, John Rudland and Tom Dubois, who made sure to watch after every boater and free me (Jason Hilton) up to focus on instruction.

Safety

Safety Required (You The Man John)

Rudland Has Boof

More photos from this years event can be found in the following locations.

Jeff Macklin Photographer

Art Barket Photographer

Karolina and Tom Dubois Photographers

Swiftwater Rescue Class

Charlie Walbridge Instructing

A number of us recently had a fantastic opportunity to learn/refresh our swiftwater rescue skills. Got Boof member Matt "Math" Pascal contributes the following:

To promote and assure the safety of those joining us in whitewater fun, several regular Got Boof adventurers spent last weekend with AW Safety Guru and old school C1 boater, Charlie Walbridge. Despite the rain bringing up many of our favorite creeks, we were all glad that we resisted the temptation to paddle in lieu of Charlie's exercises. After all, these exercises were designed to simulate many of the typical binds we all hope to never encounter, but probably will (or have).

It started with a rainy Saturday in Charlie's century-old barn off of Little Sandy Creek Road in the "classroom" phase by setting up mock pins and entrapments and then self-rescues and victim and boat extractions. Dodging the rain inside the old barn, Charlie contrasted the technical knowledge of knots and mechanical advantage with social rescue issues like team structure, dealing with emergency personnel, and liability. When the skies cleared, we stepped outside to practice using ropes and life jackets.

In a belaying exercise, Charlie challenged an unnamed member of the group who responded by leveling the big man with a fierce heave on the rope he was holding. With that in mind, we practiced rescue the techniques we'd just learned about and then discussed how they can go wrong and what to do to minimize these dangers. Charlie demonstrated the danger of using the mechanical advantage of a Z-drag system, by applying the force to a small piece of cord. When it broke, the snap it made sounded like a revolver as the system sent ropes and caribiners flying in both directions. Charlie was a safe distance from the flying debris because he'd added a change in direction to the system.

Strangely exhausted despite little activity, our group traveled back to our weekend home at Teter's campground on Saturday evening, split into groups, and spread out to most of the edible options available to us in Kingwood. A group of three secretly skipped dessert to run nearby Muddy Creek (Sneaky, guys) while the rest of us drank exactly $62.50 worth of lousy beer around a classic campfire.

Single Wading

Sunday was a long day on the river though most of us didn't paddle more than a few yards. We rendezvoused at Rockville on Big Sandy Creek at 8:30 am and within an hour Charlie had us wading across the waist-deep rapids just below the bridge. For hours we found out that each and every one of the activities Charlie had in store for us was simple to understand and unpredictably difficult to initiate. Lessons abounded that day.

Macklin and Coop Pair Wading

Now that the weekend clinic is over and I've processed, I'm overcome with a general desire to never use the techniques I learned on the Sandy. I discovered that I wish to never have to wade out into whitewater to get to a victim, though I now know how to do it effectively. If I have to use the Hand of God rescue, I hope that it's in flat water. With luck, my rescue vest will never find itself supporting me as I'm lowered in strong current to assist a friend in trouble. But, I'm now comfortable enough to do it, unless setting up a zipline or line-assisted wade seems more prudent. God forbid I ever find myself swimming toward a strainer because the seemingly easy technique of aggressively swimming up onto it is tremendously difficult. And, if I either experience or stumble upon a foot entrapment, then the severity of the situation and the critical role of timing will be on my mind as I decide how to resolve the situation.

Jason rescue swimming/surfing

Math Pascal on a rescue vest lower

By the end of the day Sunday, our minds were overloaded as we stumbled around on the rocky shore in exhaustion. A few participants found the energy to paddle off into the bright evening sun for the last run of the Sandy until the next rain. The rest of us slowly packed up for the ride home and thanked our instructor for the valuable lessons.

Old School Huckin'

Recently a local boater sent me this nice piece of Ohiopyle Falls history.



From Ted Proctor:
Billy Z and I were (are) long time river guides at LHRT so we were used to coming up with goofy ways of amusing ourselves.

You might remember (and you can see from the photo) that the Ohiopyle locals used to have "yes" and "no" painted on the rock shelf in between the viewing platform and the falls. This was so that kids knew where to jump off. One day Billy saw a local kid riding his bike around the park and got the idea ride a bike off the falls. He ended up doing this twice. I think Scott Patton may even have it on videotape.

Anyway, it's such a goofy picture that one person who saw it thought we had photoshopped it. I can guarantee it's the real deal.
You gotta love the shorts and Ace helmet - a nice 80s touch (the picture is from the early 80s).