Florida Canoe Symposium

Paddling is not
like playing the violin. One Stradvirius is not enough. You need one for each concert.



:slight_smile: Peter

Cross Reverse Christi
Glen,



It’s really very simple. Position yourself in cross transverse, paddle in reverse, initiate with a hard cross reverse jay, palm roll into a low brace … perhaps it would be easier to show than to explain. I hope you make it. It’s been a while since we had a good argu… uhh discussion.



Have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Thats another neat thing
about “school”. Everyone gets into lively discussions at mealtimes and sometimes into the gentle dark Florida night.



The tables are leveled with the beverage of ones choice.

That is exactly what I fear.
I am content with my 3 kayaks, but there is some lingering feeling for canoes.

Hear, Hear!

– Last Updated: Dec-10-13 8:54 AM EST –

Well said, Pete, well said!

What about
You left out the violas, cellos, and bass fiddles.

A “string” fears a Stradivarius?

No, this string fears his wife if he
acquires a Stradivarius.

Well Pete
My favorite piece of chamber music is Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A major - the Trout Quintet. So, we’ll need to add a piano to the violin, viola, cello, and double bass.

Stradivarius
Stradivarius could make wonderful music with any violin. Thus the idea is to become Stradivarius, not necessarily to acquire one. Of course there is the danger of becoming and doing both.

Seems to me
a Stradivarius is a decked boat, not an open canoe.



I haven’t paddled one personally but just looking at at I don’t think it would be worth a damn.

If I had a little Grumman 129

– Last Updated: Dec-11-13 4:27 PM EST –

I would bring it to FCS.. I would like to see the lakes at the event peopled folks paddling elementary school grade instruments.

If it floats, bring it!

I read somewhere that Davey and Kathy
Hearn learned play cello as kids. I thought of getting an old slalom c-1 and rigging it as a string bass for them, with the cockpit as soundhole. The long stern will serve for a tuning peg location, and the bridge can go down on the bow. With any foam removed, the resonance should be awesomely hideous.



Sam Rizzetta in West Virginia makes mountain and hammered dulcimers, and makes composite canoes and kayaks. If you want something wasp-wasted like a violin, he has a canoe/kayak that is pinched in along the center so that he can paddle it with the shaft vertical and close to his body.

Well I wish he would come to FCS
cause a wider variety of musicians are needed. They are all good but I think aside from one the other six are guitarists.



A good dulcimer would be sweet.



Yes there is music after dark and around a campfire.

I have the old classic Cortot/Thibeaux
recording. I also love the last three string quartets and the string quintet.

What is the creeking class?
Is this a whitewater program? What class water is this?

I haven’t paddled it
But the highest point in Florida is at less than 350 foot elevation above sea level.



If you could manage to put that place 3 miles away from the Atlantic Ocean, or the Gulf, and arrange to have a stream bed running in a direct line between the two, you could have a hell of a whitewater run, albeit on the short side.



But failing that, I think it is safe to say that this is a Class I or moving flat water run.

Running Florida’s highest waterfall
In ‘89 I moved from Woodstock, NY, to Tallahassee for a year to teach. I was then just past my peak as a whitewater boater. So I brought my Whitesell Piranha, figuring it would be a cinch to run the highest waterfall in those flatlands.



This was before the internet.



So I shlepped my magic bus, Whitesell atop, over to Chipley, Florida, to Falling Waters State Park one day.



And chickened out.



The waterfall cheats. It falls into a sucking sinkhole about 70 feet deep. It would be a little difficult to get “ashore”.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTIM8Oq2Jjw



I’m still thinking about the highest waterfalls in Louisiana and Rhode Island, but haven’t researched them yet.



I don’t think Marc runs the Creekin’ class at Falling Waters. He wants paddlers who are unfamiliar with moving water to get the feel of how to use on-side and off-side post, axle, christie and wedge turns, along with sideslips, in moving water – and why.

The Creekin Class is
an opportunity to use the precision paddling techniques we teach in FreeStyle, in a real world situation. The creek in question is narrow and meandering, with modest current. There will likely be some dead fall adding to the necessary maneuvering.



This will be an up and back trip. We’ll begin by discussing river currents and how to use them to our advantage, as we work upstream. The essence of FreeStyle is maximizing efficiency and effectiveness. Working upstream should be no exception.



We will use most of the basic FreeStyle maneuvers to position our canoes most effectively to traverse the river and slip past, around, under and occasionally over whatever obstacles we are presented with. Just for fun, we may occasionally take a circuitous, obstructed route, where those less adventurous would take a clear channel.



Anyone who has taken the forward and cross forward classes should be comfortable in this class. Those with reverse and cross reverse experience will have additional opportunities.



We’ll work with all participants, at their respective levels of expertise. This class is open to solo canoeists as well as tandem teams.

Creekin Freestyle
Never heard of a Creekin Freestyle class, but have practiced many of the freestyle maneuvers on many of the small rivers in Southwest Michigan. The rivers are known for their many twist and turns and the challenges posed by tree falls. I find these rivers are ideal for a Wildfire using freestyle techniques.