If I recall correctly I started my research to buy a solo canoe in spring of 1999 and discovered Pnet about that time. I lurked for awhile. Then in late 1999 or early 2000 I started my first post requesting solo canoe recommendations. I recall writing that I wanted to use the canoe on day trips and week-long downriver trips on rivers but not for running rapids. One poster (I think it was mcwood) recommended a Krueger. Someone responded that the I was not a millionaire and was looking for something affordable. Iâm not now, and never have been a millionaire. The post quickly degenerated into a flame up about Krueger canoes: their cost, utility, value, etc.
During the next year I became a regular reader of Pnet and started to grow fond of some of the regular posters even though I only knew them from their posting on Pnet.
In October 2001 I went down to Round Spring on the Current River for the first Ozark Rendezvous. I remember thinking: âI donât know any of these people but autumn colors on a clear Ozark river, Iâm going.â Iâve been to every Ozark Rendezvous since then except when illness or my work lobbying the Iowa legislature made it impossible. Iâve met some of my best friends through the Ozark Rendezvous experience
@canoeswithduckheads said:
There once was a time,
Coffee spilled on these grounds,
when Jim-in-Paradise superlatives,
would boast their best arounds,
when skeg verse rudder analytics
zig-zagged a wayward course,
with raked verse plumb-bow epic critics
that tracked mud to discourse,
when entities and an N.T.
might bring some wisdom parsed,
by swirlinâ Verlen wannabes
whose experience seemed farce,
once Ospreys hovered fishy racks
of those deadly canoes,
while paddlers bald/plaid/wonderful
with jacklâs raced on through.
where c2gâs and g2dâs
werenât always formulistic,
but sadly wisdom shared oft goes
from grasp to gone statistic,
so in this information age
when much too much has spare,
our prattle paddle situation
like Wandaâs light as air.
but I suppose out there somewhere
the Frank ones paddle on,
so letâs not fret the com slipped net,
nor our golden pond is gone.
Too funny - I forgot about Pamlico and Coffee (wasnât there a return as CoffeeII?). Those guys could get a discussion going. And then there was datakoll who always had a google link for every topic. I do remember the âFrank - paddle onâ closing.
@thebob.com said:
I will just venture a guess without doing any research & say it is probably in excess of 17 years.
Time does fly when youâre having fun⌠B)
BOB >:)
That would put you at around 2000. Any idea when it started? When I was a newbie in 2005, there seemed to be people who had been posting here a long time.
@Vic said:
If I recall correctly I started my research to buy a solo canoe in spring of 1999 and discovered Pnet about that time. I lurked for awhile.
So we are back before 1999.
Then in late 1999 or early 2000 I started my first post requesting solo canoe recommendations. I recall writing that I wanted to use the canoe on day trips and week-long downriver trips on rivers but not for running rapids.
I loved the debates on solo canoes - especially the the composite vs. royalex Wildfire debate, and whether a Wildfire could run class III.
During the next year I became a regular reader of Pnet and started to grow fond of some of the regular posters even though I only knew them from their posting on Pnet.
I know it was TommyC1 who referred me to the site, but a few of the locals were here anyway - Wickerbutt, Riverstrider, DougD, ScottB. I met DaggerMatt here and paddled with him for years
Easy to remember, it was y2K. We waited until we were certain the internet wasnât going to âCrashâ and die a fiery death, as some predicted, then we bought our first computer. VERY FIRST SEARCH was âCanoeing web sitesâ and that took me to P.net. Things have changed a bunch. I noticed that the latest few âContestsâ donât even include a canoe to enter forâŚoh well, I guess the single paddle boat is going the way of the Passenger Pigeon?
A picture from our very first P.net Ozark Rendezvous in 2001. Missing is my wife, whom took the picture, and Walt Given, aka wgiven, aka âDr. Shwartzwaltâ (LOL)! Next week will be our Spring Rendezvous. Seems like forever Iâve been paddling with the wonderful folks I met from P.net?
Hey Vic, I remember when I was looking for my first solo canoe, and though I didnât ask for specific advice here, I saw a post by mcwood (the Kruger fan) about what a wonderful canoe the Souris River Solitude was. Apparently, in mcwoodâs mind, the Solitude was so good mainly because it had a rudder. A rudder makes sense for certain situations and in those limited situations itâs far better than correction strokes, but sad to say, I nearly fell for the malarky that a rudder was the best solution for controlling a general-purpose canoe. Thank goodness I came to my senses (which includes recognizing that a Kruger is not ideal for very many paddling situations at all!!!)
@Guideboatguy said:
Hey Vic, I remember when I was looking for my first solo canoe, and though I didnât ask for specific advice here, I saw a post by mcwood (the Kruger fan) about what a wonderful canoe the Souris River Solitude was. Apparently, in mcwoodâs mind, the Solitude was so good mainly because it had a rudder. A rudder makes sense for certain situations and in those limited situations itâs far better than correction strokes, but sad to say, I nearly fell for the malarky that a rudder was the best solution for controlling a general-purpose canoe. Thank goodness I came to my senses (which includes recognizing that a Kruger is not ideal for very many paddling situations at all!!!)
Heheheh, I canât find any pics of âMickâ anywhere, just one of me paddling his Kruger and his Placid Canoes? He liked to wear that Redskin Jersey, I know I have a few old pics of him in that somewhere? Last I knew, a mutual friend (Joe Wildlife) bought all but one of Mickâs Krugers. When I spoke with him last year he still had his Placid boats too; he had his Starfire, Repidfire, and Spitfire. Hereâs me in Mickâs Kruger at an early Rendezvous.
Lots of memories popping up here! I often think fondly of the many Raystown trips I went too. Met so many like minded people, and even some of the âbig namesâ in the paddling industry. I recall several Raystown trips that brought many manufacturers of canoes and kayaks that brought loads of boats for all to try.
Some of us get together once a year for a Maine trip. Dougd, scottB, Jvogt, kayak ken, Riverstrider are just some of the regulars. Dougd and I speak on the phone at least once a week to keep in touch, Been to two Assateague trips with Mike McCrea, Canoeswithduckheads, Topher, dougd , Jvogt, Jsaults Boozetalking and others that that I canât remember.
Also have vivid memories of those two sisters that got me wasted! They could out drink most guys!
I met very few of the regulars and only got to know them from here. For the most part a helpful and friendly group. For someone I never met, Waltâs loss really hurt .
I got to Raystown once and met Ness, McWood and Andy among others.
Tsunami Chuck , the " father" of P140 is still a favorite.
WildernessWebb - Isnât that Margret in the back row on the far left? So who took that pic - Walt maybe? (AKA: Black Walter the Pirate - who should rightly be given credit for the Pnet gallery pun, BTW) You know it is a sign of our age that we arenât remembering this well, but I think the Raystown crowd beat us for the first Pnet Rendzvous.
I recall a post a little after 9/11 ('01), back when late night TV folks felt they couldnât joke about anything and air traffic was still suspended concerning whether it was proper to have a paddle gathering in the wake of all the grief and anxiety. They did gather, and that had to have been late fall.
Our first followed the Spring Edisto Rendezvous where I first met Walt Swedge, TexasLady, CM, TippS, and Japimi. We then decided, thanks to a suggestion from Kate (good to see a pic of her again BTW), to have our next Rendezvous in the centrally located Ozarks. So that would have had to have been the Fall of '02. Thebob and you did a great job of lining all that up, but if memory serves at all, it had to have been a bit after y2k.
I wish I could have made some of those Raystown gatherings. It was just too much driving if I was to keep up with the Ozark gatherings also - though DuluthMoose and PuffinGin pulled it off. While helping a friend pick up a travel trailer near Gettysburg about three years ago I camped at Raystown just to see âthe scene of the crimeâ. Its beautiful.
Memory can play tricks⌠like now that I think of it, I canât recall exactly what happened at the Dawt Mill dam, where it washed out, though didnât we all see it when we portaged around on the resort side a few years ago? We need community to keep track of all these happy memories.
Iâm a wee babe, 2012 for me- 34 discussions. Castoff is the only pnetter Iâve met. I started posting on the forum because I wanted to branch out from whitewater and paddle other environments- Iâm still working on that goal,
The Dawt Mill dam breached in August of 2014. If I remember correctly, we were last there in Spring of 2015 Pat, so you are probably correct. This is what the dam looked like after the break:
Probably 10 or 12 years ago. This thread got me to thinking about how many p.netters I have met in person and paddled with over the years. Many donât post here any more and I canât remember all of their p.net handles, but: Bob, Dave (hi, Ness!) String, Charlie, Phyllis, Liratoad, SpiritBob (or Spiritboat??) Openboater, Sparrowood, Gnatcatcher, kayamedic, Rick, Joe. I know there are lots more, since everyone seems to come through central Florida sooner or later.
@sissy103 said:
Probably 10 or 12 years ago. This thread got me to thinking about how many p.netters I have met in person and paddled with over the years. Many donât post here any more and I canât remember all of their p.net handles, but: Bob, Dave (hi, Ness!) String, Charlie, Phyllis, Liratoad, SpiritBob (or Spiritboat??) Openboater, Sparrowood, Gnatcatcher, kayamedic, Rick, Joe. I know there are lots more, since everyone seems to come through central Florida sooner or later.
havenât been here for quite some timeâŚjust looked it up, surprised I remembered my password. Looks like 2005 was my first post, seeking advice on a second canoe. Bought that DumoineâŚthen two Encores, got a Flashback, a Whitesell, a squirtboat, 2 C1âsâŚhad 13 boats for awhile, from 8-28â long. Down to 4 canoes now, get out poling on occasion, but lifeâs a journey and I am exploring other activities more these days. Some days it just feels good to be dry.
