and the race?
We got home late last night
The river level was perfect, and the weather was great
We enjoy that race as much or more than any that we do.
If after finishing that race a person is not a good boat handler, they have a major problem.
After about the first half mile there was about a fifteen inch tree completely blocking the river just at the water level which required getting out of the boat on it and pulling over, since the water is too deep even at both banks and too thick with brush to go that route
Luckily they started the race in the various class waves, so there was no jam up of people there. How those kayakers get over it is a mystery to me.
There were a half dozen other place where logs were blocking, but they were at river level and we were able to get up a head of steam a glide over them. The heavier paddlers and boats weren’t so lucky.
If you have ever done that section, it is eight and a half miles of switchbacks and tight curves and I am guessing the longest straight stretch would be no more than a hundred feet (feet, not yards)
Almost every turn had sweepers, poison ivy and log jam ups and it was a guessing game to read the river since around each switchback was completely blind. We lucked out and read it right and made no mistakes.
Last week we did one whole practice section on Lake James of nothing but quick sharp turns and it really paid off.
I think more than half the field swam at least one, and some of them twice.
My heros in that race were the K-1’s. It had to be murder to get over the logs.
A girl in a Epic won the female K-1 even after swimming once
P-net’s “Paddler-98” (Jim Normandin) won the C-1
We did good and even won a door prize.
Cheers,
JackL
Great! One of these years I’ll make
it - maybe. Log hopping isn’t my thing.
Trees in river
This sounds like a good place for GK to be the lead boater. Just think how much easier this would have been for a few cans of Beenie Weinees.
