sweet shuttle vehicle

your vote could help a fellow paddler go to New Zealand

http://www.your-big-break.com/entry/10169

Ed Huber has been making videos as long as I've known him. He has a good eye with the camera and a solid sense of what he wants to do with each project.

Having a breakout in the creative world often means finding a way to get your bills paid for a little while so that you can make a project that will have a different impact and gain more exposure. Ed is not a trustfunder. He has always had to work. So, his creative talents have been mostly confined to regional work. (although Lake Placid and Watertown, NY have GREATLY benefitted from his presence)

Give Ed your vote, and give him a chance to sink his teeth into a unique project where I'm sure he'll make an incredible video.

Grand Canyon

http://www.nrsweb.com/clydes_trip/intro.asp?&tn=206

I have applied for permits, so I'm totally obsessing over the logistics, and the blog on NRS' website has been a good place to see things all in one place, and a nice place to start.

Log in Stairway (2nd drop)

Bulls Bridge, Housatonic River, CT
2nd drop of "Stairway..." rapid, the river right side that slides around "Little Niagra"
Looks like the old log has something new under it that made it stand up.



it's in the main line so a swimmer would probably wash into it
there is a way around it in a boat, but the margin for error is SUPER small
probably best to just wait until we get it out of there

Happy Thanksgiving

Fall Creek helmet cam (full run)

Fall Creek helmet cam from ARTandWATER on Vimeo.

Helmet cam footage from 2009

shows you the length (or really, how short) this nice little creek is.

The camera is wide angle so makes things seem a bit smaller, but not by much.

more to paddling that just the water

There are the friendships, new and old.

There is the environment;
no matter how you feel about the specifics of how we need to manage the environment, I think that most people who are into boating enjoy being outside in a more natural environment

There is the personal challenge;
whether you are pushing your personal limits
getting a personal first descent
challenging a familar move in a new way
getting used some new gear

There is the familiarity
and a sense of belonging
(oddly enough) in a sport that very few people know anything about

sometimes you just need to paddle

and forget your job
forget sales
forget repairs
forget everything else
and just paddle

The East Coast has had water, and this Fall has been relatively warm so far, so I expect that most people are finding ways to get outside and enjoy paddling.

Mad Boy vs. Gangster

Gangster

Mad Boy

in this last photo...
YELLOW boats on left: Critical Mass and Mad Boy
RED boats in middle: Mafia and Mad Boy
BLUE boats on right: Gangster and Mad Boy

some more links with additional information...
Mad
Boy Review
Outfitting
On the Water
first impressions

Mad Boy vs. Mafia

Mafia

Mad Boy

in this last photo...
YELLOW boats on left: Critical Mass and Mad Boy
RED boats in middle: Mafia and Mad Boy
BLUE boats on right: Gangster and Mad Boy

some more links with additional information...
Mad
Boy Review
Outfitting
On the Water
first impressions

Mad Boy vs. Critical Mass

Critical Mass

Mad Boy

in this last photo...
YELLOW boats on left: Critical Mass and Mad Boy
RED boats in middle: Mafia and Mad Boy
BLUE boats on right: Gangster and Mad Boy

some more links with additional information...
Mad
Boy Review
Outfitting
On the Water
first impressions

Dragorossi Critical Mass vs. Prijon Rocket

Dragorossi Reaction Vs. Riot Hammer

the Mafia loops? (in the pool)

this video made me smile so I thought I'd share
I'm glad it's still summer around here so no pool yet
think I'll go outside and loop up some creekboat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGGb7j1lHkE

Dragorossi Reaction Vs. Prijon Hurricane

Dragorossi reaction Vs. Dagger Outburst

Boat Sale

just saw this on the DR message board.
Tony Z is selling off what he has left from this past year so it's an opportunity to get a pretty good deal on a Dragorossi kayak.

http://2imagine.net/chat/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=213

Dragorossi Reaction Vs. Dagger Crossfire

Dragorossi Reaction Vs. Perception Corsica S

Dragorossi Reaction Vs. Dagger Animas

Reaction vs Transition
Reaction vs Critical Mass
Reaction vs Vortex
Reaction vs Dancers
Reaction vs Lazer
Reaction vs AQII
Reaction vs Animas

Asheville DR Demo Center; Proud to announce we have a new Madboy demo!

This year Dragorossi came out with the Madboy as their new river running creeker. I have been loving mine taking it down down mellow class III-IV as well as V+.
The Madboy is a fast boat with responsive playfull edges.
I have been calling it my class V slalom boat.
(my extensive review: http://totalwhitewaterfun.blogspot.com/2009/05/dr-madboy-review.html )

So i am happy to announce that we now have a blue Madboy with very little use in our demo fleet. Everyone and anyone should feel to contact me if they would like to try it out for a little while, lifeofloon@gmail.com .

Here are some teaser pictures for you to get an idea of what the new DR outfitting looks like as well as what the edges and hull design look like.

Sigg Waterbottles

http://www.cafepress.com/artandwater.395570652
http://www.cafepress.com/artandwater.395570377
http://www.cafepress.com/artandwater.395570866
http://www.cafepress.com/artandwater.395570881

taking-risks-is-part-of-life

Deerfield Fest July 25

directions to new location

Sad News

Kaelan Paton, one of the new generation of Housatonic River paddlers, has disappeared while trying to rescue his friend from high water on the Rattlesnake Section in Falls Village.
http://www.wfsb.com/news/19776818/detail.html
This is a shocking and tragic happening for the area.
Information as it comes out will be posted on NPMB.com

R.I.P. Kaelan
http://www.npmb.com/cms2/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?122503

Scudder's in NJ

David Millrod send me this photo of himself looping his Fish at Scudder's.
This spot has always been pretty good. But a couple of years ago, during a super low water summer, a bunch of the local paddlers got in there and moved the rocks around. What they created was a more reliable spot that gives up the big tricks.

It has gone from a good spot, to an excellent playground for freestyle boating.
So, if you are ever travelling through the mid-atlantic area, bouncing between DC and New York for work or something, it's worth keeping your playboat on your car.
Make a quick stop just north of Trenton, NJ and join the summer fun on the Delaware.

Most of the photos on the American Whitewater site are a bit older, but it will give an idea of the location, and has an excellent run down of the different spots that come in at different levels.
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/detail/id/2920/

Clarke Outdoors has new Dragorossi boats

http://www.clarkeoutdoors.com/retail.htm



They currently have inventory of the
Mad Boy for $879
Reactionfor $879
SL 350 plastic slalom boat for $749

give them a call to schedule a demo
and see if you find yourself interested in getting one of these exciting new boats

Jaws: Tri-Cities Hometown Throwdown

Today I attended my first kayak rodeo in years. For years now long lines and growing egos have turned me off from kids who can loop but not be able to roll on their offside. However today I attended the Tri Cities Hometown Throwdown rodeo at Jaws on the Nolichucky.

http://www.worldkayak.com/event_wk.cfm?eventid=456

After two days of some serious class V+ I was looking for an easier day of paddling. When my friend told me he could pick me up on his way I was glad to take him up on the offer.
Although I have never really spent much time surfing Jaws I have run the Nolichucky more then a few times now. It has found a special place in my river heart.

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/1766/

To run the full gorge is an eight-mile paddle through one of the prettiest gorges in the SE with consistent class II-IV rapids. It very much reminds me off the Bulls Bridge section of the Housatonic River in CT., just longer.
The weather was sunny and warm today and with the rain that we had throughout the week we had a good level for Jaws just under 2,200 cfs.

Well I really didn’t know what to expect with the event. We showed up to the river around 1:00 geared up and played our way down to Jaws hitting up a few different waves and holes along the way. When we got down to hole there was a small crowd of about two dozen people on the right bank by the hole. Paddlers hanging out and relaxing shredders, canoers, rafters, kayakers, and even a few boogie boarders. There were a few people in the eddie waiting there turn to throwdown or get throwndown. On the left bank there was another two to three dozen boaters. This were most of the competitors had already gathered.

Wesley Bradley was the event organizer and just asked us to go over and have one of the volunteers add our names to the list. There were two classes K1a and K1b. Despite the fact that I hardly playboat now, I could do a cartwheel which put me in the K1a class. There were two or three K1b heats that went before the two small K1a heats. Each competitor got three one-minute rides that started when you entered the hole. We were also given a ten second warning when our time was almost up. The scoring went every 180-degree spin was a point if it was semi vertical I think you got two points and if it was vertical you got four. But then there were the style points. I was hoping they would count big.

I was having a blast and I got the impression that everyone else was too. Most of the K1b were spinning and getting some vertical ends with some good window shades, survival surfs, and one swim. With the top K1a guys throwing ends, loops, are screws, and a slew of other tricks that are still new to me, I was having a blast cart wheeling and twirling my paddle. Leland and I ended up tied for fourth. I felt old school and decided to take out the DR Pintail today for my boat of choice. As the event ended some headed downstream and a few of us stuck around for some more of a surf session. I had so much fun just hanging on the bank with some like-minded folks occasionally throwing down in a great feature.

As Jaws slowly slipped out of the sun and we started to flail in the backwash, we decided it was time to start hiking out. Just a simple mile hike up the railroad tracks, as long as the train doesn’t come. Once we dried off and were able to grab a bite to eat we all gathered downstream at the Riverpark Campground for the awards ceremony.

http://www.riverparkcampground.net/index.html


For three dollars Riverpark Campground offers you bathrooms/changing rooms and a safe place to park and relax by the river at the Big Rock playhole. The awards ceremony consisted of a raffle in which everyone received a prize ranging from a new Shred Ready helmet, Gift certificates, paddling videos, tee shirts, and a few other options.
I had so much fun at this simple event. Everyone was there to enjoy the day, the water, and their fellow boaters company. It was a great atmosphere were everything ran smoothly due to the simplicity of it. I can’t wait until the next event that will be held at Big Rock.
Thanks to everyone that volunteered and helped make this event possible as well as a lot of fun.

adam

DR Madboy; Review

As one of the Southeast DR guys I have wanted to get my hands on a MadBoy for a while. A few weeks ago Scott was nice enough to bring mine down to me. I weigh roughly 180 lbs., I’m 5'10", have 30" inseam, and a US size 9.5 shoes. For the last year I have been paddling the Critical Mass as my primary creek boat and playing around in the Gangster on easier lower volume runs.



What I loved about the CM was the speed and stability that it has conveys an amazing feeling of safety. What I didn't like was the cumbersomeness and slow edge-to-edge transfer that was very apparent to me in the class II to III realm. What I liked about the Gangster was the speed it carried for it's size and the playfulness of it, can you say freewheels off of Blackwater falls. On the other hand when the gradient stepped up and the volume increased it always felt a little small for me.




My first impression of the boat was,
"holy shit, Corran actually put in outfitting!”
Ok that wasn't what I really thought. However I was drawn to the change in outfitting.



There was a simple to use ratcheting back band that easily folds down for stern access, adjustable thigh braces, Velcro hip pads, adjustable bulkhead, as well as a nice plastic center pillar up front.



The overall boat design has a forward sitting cockpit with initial bow rocker transitioning into a longer stern, which carries the progressive rocker nicely.





The MadBoy looked and even measured a few inches narrower then the CM, Nomad 8.5, and a Jefe Grande. I liked that DR has kept with the racing stripe theme as well as the molded in graphics. It has a simple planing hull with edges that start about your knees and follow to the stern.








Of all the Corran boats I have paddled over the years this one was by far the easiest to outfit to my liking. The thigh braces are adjustable by loosening an Allen bolt (Allen key included) and sliding for or aft per personal preference. They are already padded out with 1/2" neoprened foam, all I added was some triangular knee blocks to help lock my legs in from underneath.







The bulkhead is set up to easily move forward and backward as well as expand or contract depending on how far forward one needs it to be. I cut out a 5" thick piece of foam for my bulkhead padding.





The seat has padding riveted with plastic rivets to the seat pan. I have found it comfortable as is but it would also be very easy to add a small cushion underneath the factory seat pad. The outfitting also came with hip pads that easily Velcro into place and then have one strap that adds to their security. I wish the hip pads could be opened up to either add thickness of remove some padding.

Other then the factory outfitting I added two small thigh risers on the front of my seat, a thin strip of foam on the back of the seat pan (to help with a more aggressive body position), added small shims that sit between the seat and the sidewall, and added some padding for shouldering my boat.



As far as attachment points inside the kayak, I easily added a throw rope holder in the molded in slot in front of the seat, as well as added a loop of rope to the back of the seat to attach drybags or hand paddles. Both modifications took less then two minutes.












Behind the seat I drilled two holes and ran a loop of 3/8" cordelette though the holes and have an easy place to clip things behind the seat. On a regular basis I have a filled Watershed Ocoee duffel, hand paddles, and a water bottle. There is a spot molded into the back of the seat the will hold a small Nalgene water bottle. I have been thinking of adding a webbing strap to the nice plastic bow pillar as a place to hold a larger water bottle. For the throw rope, there is a molded in tray already in the seat. I drilled four small holes and ran an old piece of bungee through them.




So far I have put the boat through some good use. I started out on the Cheoah which has a great class IV bigger water feel to it (pushy, lots of holes and waves), then put it through about half a dozen Green runs which is your standard class IV-V SE creeking, then she got the real test and got a couple of Raven's Fork and Toxaway runs big manky class V+ with huge slides (you know LVM type stuff).




First impression after day one was a good one. I could feel the speed immediatly one, two stroke ferries were easy and felt stable crossing the current. I felt like I could tuck the bow into curlers and scoot straight through, as well as catching diagonals high and using them to cross current or line up for the next move. Wasn't too sure about how it would boof, as there was not much that I felt big enough to boof as the MadBoy was going through everything. The one thing that I Questioned after that first run was the top edge on the stern, initially I thought it might be a little low. I was feeling it getting grabbed occasionally or hanging up on an eddy line. With more runs in it now, I have positioned my body more forward and have rarely thought about it since.



Being on the Green for the first time with the MadBoy was great. Hey it's my home river now and well it's fun playing with a new toy on your home river where you know all the lines (or at least think you do). First real test for boofing, tight turns, and tight slots. I have not noticed any instability due to the narrowness of the MadBoy; instead I have found it very nimble. Much more so then the CM. Edge to edge transfer is much easier and I really notice this in the class II-III shoaly sections. It gets hung up a lot less and sneaks through more slots. I could really feel the speed on a river I have run hundreds of times before in many kinds of boats. It almost felt like paddling my long boat but with the ease of today’s creekers when it came to turning or boofing. One thing I have noticed; where the CM is prone to turning out on you because of how easy it is to turn the stern edge on the Madboy I find is prone to grabbing eddy lines and carving you quickly into them. Not a problem but it’s quick when it happens. Oh yeah and I can still freewheel the Madboy and throw it around out there. It was a very fun boat for me on the Green.



Ok, now we got some rain down here and well things came up. So far I have run the Raven’s Fork and the Toxaway twice. I’ll admit I was a little nervous. It is definitely smaller and edgier then the super stable CM. All I can say is this boat gets it done. Despite the edges, narrow hull, and smaller size the Madboy felt incredible stable underneath me. On the huge slides on the Toxaway I never felt my edges getting grabbed or tripping up. In the steep tight sluices it was easy to stay straight and handled the gargantuan diagonals with easy and confidence. Yet at the same time maneuvering the much more technical rapids of the Raven’s turning the bow took a simple sweep or C-stroke which would allow me to carry my speed and make moves that need to be made.
As well as paddling the Madboy is a decent hiker as well. It is about the same weight as the CM, added weight probably from the new seat/thigh brace combo as well as the nice plastic center pillar. A little padding on the cockpit rim works well for shorter hikes. For the longer hikes I have used and NRS backpack system with good success. I found it best with the bow down to help control the weight of the bulkhead better. I always got a little bit of calf smacking with it but not enough to prevent light jogging on downhills.



Overall I was more impressed with the Madboy then I had expected. I was expecting a fun boat that would be fast yet still handle the Green with ease. I didn’t expect a boat that would feel so stable and not out of its realm on the V+ yet still being a very fun boat to play around with on the easier stuff.
Kudos.

Adam,
final photo "landbridge" shot by Chris Gragtmans