Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

It was 8 years ago. There were so many messages on rbp back then.
Probably as many in a week as there are in a year now. And the most
prolific poster of all was Scott Bristow. I had never met him in
person, and yet I loved him like a brother. Trusted him so much I left
him the key to my house so he'd have a place to stay when he came to
paddle Great Falls of the Potomac on Thanksgiving Weekend 1998.

He stayed at my house, sure. He and Joe and Julie drove up from
Atlanta. I was having Thanksgiving with family in Virginia Beach. But
I was coming back on Saturday and we were all meeting for dinner that
evening. Not just me and Joe and Julie and Scott - but David and
Sheila and Matt and Rebecca and lots more. It was going to be a
rec.boats.paddle get together. And then I got the call.

It was 4 in the afternoon. I was running a nice hot bath in
anticipation of our night out. I almost didn't answer the phone. But
then, I was leading a club trip the next day and it might be a paddler.
So I got up and answered the phone. I still remember David' voice.

"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."

And with those words an era ended.

I don't think I've ever been so affected by loss - except for my baby
sister and my dad. It's still unfathomable to me how I still grive
for Scott, and now 8 years have passed.

We memorialized his passing for a while by paddling the GW Canal loop
because that's what a bunch of us (including newborn Rowan Chapelle -
just 2 weeks up and bunting'ed up in a pfd) were doing as Scott
perished at Charlie's hole.

I wonder if anyone still paddles that loop in his memory. We'd always
do it the Saturday after Thanksgiving because that's what felt right,
rather than the 28th.

This year, on the 28th, I'll be landing for a business trip in Juneau,
Alaska. I've never been to Alaska and there's 45 inches of snow on the
ground right now and its dark. Never mind. I'll look for Scott in the
night sky - maybe he'll show in the Northern Lights.

I havern't had a cry like this in a good long time.

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

I remember that time and think of it now and then, was not there, but read
all about the untimely event and attended the first memorial paddle. Still
have some of the old RPB stickers someone designed, one is of Scott with
hand paddles. Never personally new him, I'm sure others remember as well.
Love to see the Northern Lights up close some day.


"Mothra" wrote in message
ups.com...
It was 8 years ago. There were so many messages on rbp back then.
Probably as many in a week as there are in a year now. And the most
prolific poster of all was Scott Bristow. I had never met him in
person, and yet I loved him like a brother. Trusted him so much I left
him the key to my house so he'd have a place to stay when he came to
paddle Great Falls of the Potomac on Thanksgiving Weekend 1998.

He stayed at my house, sure. He and Joe and Julie drove up from
Atlanta. I was having Thanksgiving with family in Virginia Beach. But
I was coming back on Saturday and we were all meeting for dinner that
evening. Not just me and Joe and Julie and Scott - but David and
Sheila and Matt and Rebecca and lots more. It was going to be a
rec.boats.paddle get together. And then I got the call.

It was 4 in the afternoon. I was running a nice hot bath in
anticipation of our night out. I almost didn't answer the phone. But
then, I was leading a club trip the next day and it might be a paddler.
So I got up and answered the phone. I still remember David' voice.

"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."

And with those words an era ended.

I don't think I've ever been so affected by loss - except for my baby
sister and my dad. It's still unfathomable to me how I still grive
for Scott, and now 8 years have passed.

We memorialized his passing for a while by paddling the GW Canal loop
because that's what a bunch of us (including newborn Rowan Chapelle -
just 2 weeks up and bunting'ed up in a pfd) were doing as Scott
perished at Charlie's hole.

I wonder if anyone still paddles that loop in his memory. We'd always
do it the Saturday after Thanksgiving because that's what felt right,
rather than the 28th.

This year, on the 28th, I'll be landing for a business trip in Juneau,
Alaska. I've never been to Alaska and there's 45 inches of snow on the
ground right now and its dark. Never mind. I'll look for Scott in the
night sky - maybe he'll show in the Northern Lights.

I havern't had a cry like this in a good long time.

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Mothra wrote:

"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."

And with those words an era ended.

Every year around this time, the memories of those days in November '98
come back strongly. It was painful to deal with, but the positive side
was to see all those people come together and support each other. It's
amazing how much the loss of one person can mean to so many others.

I agree, RBP never was the same after that. :-(

For those RBP'ers who don't know who we're talking about, here's a bit mo

http://kayaker.nl/scott.html



To meet someone,
To truly meet someone,
Is to have a light come on,
In a room of your mind,
You did not know was there.

That light will not be extinguished.
That room will not be forgotten.

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

"Grip" wrote in
:

I remember that time and think of it now and then, was not there, but
read all about the untimely event and attended the first memorial
paddle. Still have some of the old RPB stickers someone designed, one
is of Scott with hand paddles.

I've got a collection of the images that were submitted for the R.B.P. t-
shirts that were produced (I've got two of them).

http://mayfly.mannlib.cornell.edu/gr...bpsticker1.jpg

and a full photo of Scott he

http://mayfly.mannlib.cornell.edu/gr...king/rbp-s.gif

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Yep, the first one is the one's I still have


"John Fereira" wrote in message
.. .
"Grip" wrote in
:

I remember that time and think of it now and then, was not there, but
read all about the untimely event and attended the first memorial
paddle. Still have some of the old RPB stickers someone designed, one
is of Scott with hand paddles.

I've got a collection of the images that were submitted for the R.B.P. t-
shirts that were produced (I've got two of them).

http://mayfly.mannlib.cornell.edu/gr...bpsticker1.jpg

and a full photo of Scott he

http://mayfly.mannlib.cornell.edu/gr...king/rbp-s.gif

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Mothra wrote:
It was 8 years ago.
[...]
"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."
[...]


Apparently Scott could not roll upright and so he exited the boat and
was pulled down into the hole. Makes me wonder why ww kayaks could not
be fitted with snorkels.

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

wrote:
Mothra wrote:
It was 8 years ago.
[...]
"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."
[...]


Apparently Scott could not roll upright and so he exited the boat and
was pulled down into the hole. Makes me wonder why ww kayaks could not
be fitted with snorkels.

Actually, from seeing the video of his attempts to get out of Charlie's
hole, Scott was tossed around in the hole quite violently. I can only
assume that he realized that he couldn't escape the hole while still in
his boat, so he bailed out. A snorkel in his boat probably wouldn't have
made a difference, since Scott and his boat went their separate ways
shortly after he bailed out.

Having seen the hole up close, and realizing how the currents and rocks
there are located, I doubt that anyone with a snorkel would have had any
better chance than he had. It's not a place where you want to be as a
swimmer!

Dragorossi has added a special tube to the rear compartment of their
latest kayak, which, according to Corran Addison, could give someone
five to ten minutes of spare air. I'm not sure what good that would have
done in this particular situation, where the boater was separated from
his kayak... :-(

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Exactly, Wilko! I'm not even sure Scott chose to exit the boat. As
you'll remember, the video showed him getting violently cartwheeled and
then it seemed the hole just sucked him under and all we could see was
his helmet bobbing. From all reports his boat and paddle came out
shortly thereafter, and after about a minute or so, the helmet too. I
for one am not convinced that he wasn't torn out of his boat. Either
way, I can't see him sucking air from a snorkel in that hole - would
work in a heads down pin perhaps, but I'm with you - not in that hole,
not ever. I think Bobby (who was there and saw it firsthand) said it
best: "I always knew Charlie's was bad, but I didn't know how bad
until I saw Scott in there."

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Wilko wrote:
wrote:
Mothra wrote:
It was 8 years ago.
[...]
"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."
[...]


Apparently Scott could not roll upright and so he exited the boat and
was pulled down into the hole. Makes me wonder why ww kayaks
could not be fitted with snorkels.

Actually, from seeing the video of his attempts to get out of Charlie's
hole, Scott was tossed around in the hole quite violently. I can only
assume that he realized that he couldn't escape the hole while still in
his boat, so he bailed out. A snorkel in his boat probably wouldn't have
made a difference, since Scott and his boat went their separate ways
shortly after he bailed out.

Having seen the hole up close, and realizing how the currents and rocks
there are located, I doubt that anyone with a snorkel would have had any
better chance than he had. It's not a place where you want to be as a
swimmer!

Dragorossi has added a special tube to the rear compartment of their
latest kayak, which, according to Corran Addison, could give someone
five to ten minutes of spare air. I'm not sure what good that would have
done in this particular situation, where the boater was separated from
his kayak... :-(

It certainly seems you are much, much safer if you can stay in the
boat, and to remain motivated to stay in the boat some form of
snorkel/air tube could certainly help -- and this is just an obvious
and trivial $3 bit of plastic. It could be standard equipment on ww
kayaks.

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

wrote:

It certainly seems you are much, much safer if you can stay in the
boat, and to remain motivated to stay in the boat some form of
snorkel/air tube could certainly help -- and this is just an obvious
and trivial $3 bit of plastic. It could be standard equipment on ww
kayaks.

We're talking class V white water in this case, with a pretty decent
volume of water in the case of Charlie's hole at that day. I don't
believe for one moment that you can stay upside down in your boat in
that hole and still breathe through a snorkel. You're being tossed
around violently and there is a lot of water being poured on top of you.

I can think of plenty of similar situations where the water is moving so
violently that even being able to hold the pipe of the snorkel above the
surface is not possible. Besides, considering that it's probably not
possible for your buddies to get to you (without taking an enormous risk
themselves) and with you being unable to see what they are doing, a
rescue effort from shore can be a daunting challenge.

IIRC a very good U.S. boater swam out of Charlie's hole shortly before
Scott died there... He obviously didn't see an alternative, if he wasn't
forced out of his boat by the water. Staying in your boat isn't always
an option!

I've yet to come across a situation where having a snorkel would make a
difference on someone being in trouble on whitewater. That definitely
makes me skeptical about always carrying one around for such a very rare
eventuality. I think that the Dragorossi approach might work better, but
even there one can question the effectiveness of such a device in
violently moving whitewater.

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Wow! This thread degenerated into a rather tangential subject!!

Just wanted to add another remembrance of Scott Bristow from the old
RBP days. I remember! I still have my old and worn RBP tee shirt with
the emblem of Scott hand paddling his 007 too! And an RBP sticker on
the back of my Grateful Heads helmet too, cause it's oval, and a bit
smaller than the Grateful Heads logo sticker. Every once in a while
someone notices it and asks me about it too, and I let them know that
there *was* an internet presence for boaters before the WWW and
Boatertalk days!

And Scott was among the creme of the crop in those bygone days.

Happy Thanksgiving all! :-)

John Kuthe...

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

John Fereira wrote:
wrote in news:1164401063.689912.215920@
45g2000cws.googlegroups.com:
Just wanted to add another remembrance of Scott Bristow from the old
RBP days. I remember! I still have my old and worn RBP tee shirt with
the emblem of Scott hand paddling his 007 too!

I still have two of them, one of each design.

I also still have some RBP T-shirts, both designs. Some sweaters too.

And an RBP sticker on
the back of my Grateful Heads helmet too, cause it's oval, and a bit
smaller than the Grateful Heads logo sticker. Every once in a while
someone notices it and asks me about it too, and I let them know that
there *was* an internet presence for boaters before the WWW and
Boatertalk days!

And Scott was among the creme of the crop in those bygone days.

Then there was the Rat. I've only seen one person with a rat attached to
his helmut.

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it literally
went all over the world!

Interesting character, that Rattso. One of the few kayakers almost my
size. Pretty good boater too! He used to spend some time on BT, but
rarely surfaces there nowadays.

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

"Wilko" wrote in message
...

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it literally
went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix... One of
them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my family. I hope
one found its way back to its master.


-Paul

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Paul Skoczylas wrote:
"Wilko" wrote in message
...
I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it literally
went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix... One of
them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my family. I hope
one found its way back to its master.

I suspect that there were a lot more than two. Rattso did tell me that
he expected to have them escape from his helmet every once in a while,
especially when getting one of his famous self-inflicted trashings
(still swimless in...). I think one of them managed to get three paws
out of the straps holding it to the helmet before Rattso managed to get
out of the hole. :-)

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

"Paul Skoczylas" wrote in
news:lbL9h.853$uj6.733@edtnps89:

"Wilko" wrote in message
...

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it
literally went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix... One
of them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my family. I
hope one found its way back to its master.

The one I saw just just a bit after the infamous ratnapping and I never had
heard that the first was returned. I saw the second rat, I believe, and met
it's doting owner at Moosefest. I caught my first glimpse as he was running
Fowlersville falls.

Ah, the Ratt . . .
 

John Fereira wrote:
"Paul Skoczylas" wrote in
news:lbL9h.853$uj6.733@edtnps89:

"Wilko" wrote in message
...

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it
literally went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix... One
of them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my family. I
hope one found its way back to its master.

The one I saw just just a bit after the infamous ratnapping and I never had
heard that the first was returned. I saw the second rat, I believe, and met
it's doting owner at Moosefest. I caught my first glimpse as he was running
Fowlersville falls.

I rediscovered Ratt's link in my favorites file the other day:
http://marina.fortunecity.com/heron/456/ .

Like many of you, Thanksgiving always brings back memories of both
Scott and Brian Reuff. Brian was a UNCA student who died over
Thanksgiving Break 2004 on a high water run of the Green Narrows:
http://www.steepcreeks.com/brian_reuff.jpg

-- Chris Bell

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

The Riviera Ratt and the Round-the-World Rat (or maybe an impostor that
was good enough to fool Riviera) were reunited at Gauley Festival.
Wilko van den Bergh, Chris Bell, Leland Davis and I (IIRC) were tasked
with the hostage exchange. I don't remember what the Revered Ratt had
to do to get the Roaming Rat back (he might have been required to make
a contribution of a particular sum to American Whitewater).

We had scheduled a huge production on the Festival bandstand while the
band was on break, and it was a massive anti-climax; it seems that a
tiny proportion of Gauley-festerers were RBP readers, and the rest just
didn't know or care what we were doing.

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley Winston-Salem, NC, USA
.. rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net
.. Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll
.. rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu
.. OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters
================================================== ====================


John Fereira wrote:
"Paul Skoczylas" wrote in
news:lbL9h.853$uj6.733@edtnps89:

"Wilko" wrote in message
...

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it
literally went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix... One
of them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my family. I
hope one found its way back to its master.

The one I saw just just a bit after the infamous ratnapping and I never had
heard that the first was returned. I saw the second rat, I believe, and met
it's doting owner at Moosefest. I caught my first glimpse as he was running
Fowlersville falls.

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

I just googled Scott's name because I wanted to print out a picture of
him today. I am completely touched and amazed to see so many familiar
names - I am sorry for the reason that they are familiar - but so
touched...Mothra..Wilko...I do think of you guys often.

My family is doing okay. Mom and dad are semi-separated (which I think
is a good thing). My husband and I got divorced (which was definately
a good thing), but my son, Trey is doing wonderful. He is 11 years old
- plays basketball and football and baseball. He is in 6th grade and
growing up way too quickly. He was only 3 when Scott died...I still
wish as much as I did the day Scott died that Trey knew him better.

Trey and I watch the compilation video of news stories, memorial
service and song video twice a year...on Scott's birthday and today.

Thank you guys so much for remembering!

On Nov 21, 10:26 pm, "Mothra" wrote:
It was 8 years ago. There were so many messages on rbp back then.
Probably as many in a week as there are in a year now. And the most
prolific poster of all was Scott Bristow. I had never met him in
person, and yet I loved him like a brother. Trusted him so much I left
him the key to my house so he'd have a place to stay when he came to
paddle Great Falls of the Potomac on Thanksgiving Weekend 1998.

He stayed at my house, sure. He and Joe and Julie drove up from
Atlanta. I was having Thanksgiving with family in Virginia Beach. But
I was coming back on Saturday and we were all meeting for dinner that
evening. Not just me and Joe and Julie and Scott - but David and
Sheila and Matt and Rebecca and lots more. It was going to be a
rec.boats.paddle get together. And then I got the call.

It was 4 in the afternoon. I was running a nice hot bath in
anticipation of our night out. I almost didn't answer the phone. But
then, I was leading a club trip the next day and it might be a paddler.
So I got up and answered the phone. I still remember David' voice.

"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."

And with those words an era ended.

I don't think I've ever been so affected by loss - except for my baby
sister and my dad. It's still unfathomable to me how I still grive
for Scott, and now 8 years have passed.

We memorialized his passing for a while by paddling the GW Canal loop
because that's what a bunch of us (including newborn Rowan Chapelle -
just 2 weeks up and bunting'ed up in a pfd) were doing as Scott
perished at Charlie's hole.

I wonder if anyone still paddles that loop in his memory. We'd always
do it the Saturday after Thanksgiving because that's what felt right,
rather than the 28th.

This year, on the 28th, I'll be landing for a business trip in Juneau,
Alaska. I've never been to Alaska and there's 45 inches of snow on the
ground right now and its dark. Never mind. I'll look for Scott in the
night sky - maybe he'll show in the Northern Lights.

I havern't had a cry like this in a good long time.

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Also, does anyone keep in contact with Joe Day or know how I can get in
contact with him?

On Nov 28, 10:28 am, "Scott's Sister"
wrote:
I just googled Scott's name because I wanted to print out a picture of
him today. I am completely touched and amazed to see so many familiar
names - I am sorry for the reason that they are familiar - but so
touched...Mothra..Wilko...I do think of you guys often.

My family is doing okay. Mom and dad are semi-separated (which I think
is a good thing). My husband and I got divorced (which was definately
a good thing), but my son, Trey is doing wonderful. He is 11 years old
- plays basketball and football and baseball. He is in 6th grade and
growing up way too quickly. He was only 3 when Scott died...I still
wish as much as I did the day Scott died that Trey knew him better.

Trey and I watch the compilation video of news stories, memorial
service and song video twice a year...on Scott's birthday and today.

Thank you guys so much for remembering!

On Nov 21, 10:26 pm, "Mothra" wrote:



It was 8 years ago. There were so many messages on rbp back then.
Probably as many in a week as there are in a year now. And the most
prolific poster of all was Scott Bristow. I had never met him in
person, and yet I loved him like a brother. Trusted him so much I left
him the key to my house so he'd have a place to stay when he came to
paddle Great Falls of the Potomac on Thanksgiving Weekend 1998.

He stayed at my house, sure. He and Joe and Julie drove up from
Atlanta. I was having Thanksgiving with family in Virginia Beach. But
I was coming back on Saturday and we were all meeting for dinner that
evening. Not just me and Joe and Julie and Scott - but David and
Sheila and Matt and Rebecca and lots more. It was going to be a
rec.boats.paddle get together. And then I got the call.

It was 4 in the afternoon. I was running a nice hot bath in
anticipation of our night out. I almost didn't answer the phone. But
then, I was leading a club trip the next day and it might be a paddler.
So I got up and answered the phone. I still remember David' voice.

"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."

And with those words an era ended.

I don't think I've ever been so affected by loss - except for my baby
sister and my dad. It's still unfathomable to me how I still grive
for Scott, and now 8 years have passed.

We memorialized his passing for a while by paddling the GW Canal loop
because that's what a bunch of us (including newborn Rowan Chapelle -
just 2 weeks up and bunting'ed up in a pfd) were doing as Scott
perished at Charlie's hole.

I wonder if anyone still paddles that loop in his memory. We'd always
do it the Saturday after Thanksgiving because that's what felt right,
rather than the 28th.

This year, on the 28th, I'll be landing for a business trip in Juneau,
Alaska. I've never been to Alaska and there's 45 inches of snow on the
ground right now and its dark. Never mind. I'll look for Scott in the
night sky - maybe he'll show in the Northern Lights.

I havern't had a cry like this in a good long time.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Hi Sherri -

Thanks for the personal note and for the one here. You can try


Please give Joe my love if you find him. It would be great for him and
Trey to meet, don't you think?

I didn't see Scott in the Northern Lights - got a real Alaska snowstorm
instead - guess he didn't want me to cry.

Much love,
Kathy

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
The Riviera Ratt and the Round-the-World Rat (or maybe an impostor that
was good enough to fool Riviera) were reunited at Gauley Festival.
Wilko van den Bergh, Chris Bell, Leland Davis and I (IIRC) were tasked
with the hostage exchange. I don't remember what the Revered Ratt had
to do to get the Roaming Rat back (he might have been required to make
a contribution of a particular sum to American Whitewater).

We had scheduled a huge production on the Festival bandstand while the
band was on break, and it was a massive anti-climax; it seems that a
tiny proportion of Gauley-festerers were RBP readers, and the rest just
didn't know or care what we were doing.

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley Winston-Salem, NC, USA
. rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net
. Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll
. rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu
. OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters
================================================== ====================


John Fereira wrote:
"Paul Skoczylas" wrote in
news:lbL9h.853$uj6.733@edtnps89:

"Wilko" wrote in message
...

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it
literally went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix... One
of them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my family. I
hope one found its way back to its master.

The one I saw just just a bit after the infamous ratnapping and I never had
heard that the first was returned. I saw the second rat, I believe, and met
it's doting owner at Moosefest. I caught my first glimpse as he was running
Fowlersville falls.

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Do'h! Premature Epostulation.

What I meant to say was, yes, Matt was required to make an AW
contribution in exchange for the return of the Ratt. The terms were
negotiated by His Judgeship Chris Kelly.

-- Chris


wrote:
Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
The Riviera Ratt and the Round-the-World Rat (or maybe an impostor that
was good enough to fool Riviera) were reunited at Gauley Festival.
Wilko van den Bergh, Chris Bell, Leland Davis and I (IIRC) were tasked
with the hostage exchange. I don't remember what the Revered Ratt had
to do to get the Roaming Rat back (he might have been required to make
a contribution of a particular sum to American Whitewater).

We had scheduled a huge production on the Festival bandstand while the
band was on break, and it was a massive anti-climax; it seems that a
tiny proportion of Gauley-festerers were RBP readers, and the rest just
didn't know or care what we were doing.

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley Winston-Salem, NC, USA
. rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net
. Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll
. rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu
. OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters
================================================== ====================


John Fereira wrote:
"Paul Skoczylas" wrote in
news:lbL9h.853$uj6.733@edtnps89:

"Wilko" wrote in message
...

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it
literally went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix... One
of them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my family. I
hope one found its way back to its master.

The one I saw just just a bit after the infamous ratnapping and I never had
heard that the first was returned. I saw the second rat, I believe, and met
it's doting owner at Moosefest. I caught my first glimpse as he was running
Fowlersville falls.

Snorkels -- was Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

IIRC, Revered Ratt claimed indigence and approached the RBP readership
begging for help raising the required extortion fee. I sent in my allotted
contribution, and was handsomely rewarded with a feeling of being a
participant, and supporting a good cause (or was I unwittingly supporting
Ratt's career catapult into the powerful and prestigious position of head
mucky-muck streamkeeper with AW?) Either way, my contribution forced me to
step back from my lifelong ambition of owning a rat-like creature of my own.

Brad Snow
s/v Aldonza


wrote in message
ups.com...
Do'h! Premature Epostulation.

What I meant to say was, yes, Matt was required to make an AW
contribution in exchange for the return of the Ratt. The terms were
negotiated by His Judgeship Chris Kelly.

-- Chris


wrote:
Oci-One Kanubi wrote:
The Riviera Ratt and the Round-the-World Rat (or maybe an impostor that
was good enough to fool Riviera) were reunited at Gauley Festival.
Wilko van den Bergh, Chris Bell, Leland Davis and I (IIRC) were tasked
with the hostage exchange. I don't remember what the Revered Ratt had
to do to get the Roaming Rat back (he might have been required to make
a contribution of a particular sum to American Whitewater).

We had scheduled a huge production on the Festival bandstand while the
band was on break, and it was a massive anti-climax; it seems that a
tiny proportion of Gauley-festerers were RBP readers, and the rest just
didn't know or care what we were doing.

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley Winston-Salem, NC, USA
. rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net
. Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll
. rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu
. OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters
================================================== ====================


John Fereira wrote:
"Paul Skoczylas" wrote in
news:lbL9h.853$uj6.733@edtnps89:

"Wilko" wrote in message
...

I still have that plastic Rat... After it was "kidnapped", it
literally went all over the world!

There were actually two of those rats. After it was kidnapped and
sent
around the world, someone introduced a second rat into the mix...
One
of them spent some time with me, and went on holiday with my
family. I
hope one found its way back to its master.

The one I saw just just a bit after the infamous ratnapping and I
never had
heard that the first was returned. I saw the second rat, I believe,
and met
it's doting owner at Moosefest. I caught my first glimpse as he was
running
Fowlersville falls.

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

RBP was a collection of like-minded (mostly) contributors BS, with some
personal contact and affection between individuals, but with no real group
spiritual connection. A(S)D on the board was entirely different, with a
strong group spirituality, with friendships and IRL contacts that
encompassed most who posted regularly. As such it was bound to implode, but
not before affecting all who were a part of those days, and contributing to
some lifelong connections.
Thank you, Scott. Your death was not without a profound and positive effect
on all our lives. You're still with us.

Brad Snow
s/v Aldonza


"Mothra" wrote in message
ups.com...
It was 8 years ago. There were so many messages on rbp back then.
Probably as many in a week as there are in a year now. And the most
prolific poster of all was Scott Bristow. I had never met him in
person, and yet I loved him like a brother. Trusted him so much I left
him the key to my house so he'd have a place to stay when he came to
paddle Great Falls of the Potomac on Thanksgiving Weekend 1998.

He stayed at my house, sure. He and Joe and Julie drove up from
Atlanta. I was having Thanksgiving with family in Virginia Beach. But
I was coming back on Saturday and we were all meeting for dinner that
evening. Not just me and Joe and Julie and Scott - but David and
Sheila and Matt and Rebecca and lots more. It was going to be a
rec.boats.paddle get together. And then I got the call.

It was 4 in the afternoon. I was running a nice hot bath in
anticipation of our night out. I almost didn't answer the phone. But
then, I was leading a club trip the next day and it might be a paddler.
So I got up and answered the phone. I still remember David' voice.

"We lost Scott at Great Falls today."

And with those words an era ended.

I don't think I've ever been so affected by loss - except for my baby
sister and my dad. It's still unfathomable to me how I still grive
for Scott, and now 8 years have passed.

We memorialized his passing for a while by paddling the GW Canal loop
because that's what a bunch of us (including newborn Rowan Chapelle -
just 2 weeks up and bunting'ed up in a pfd) were doing as Scott
perished at Charlie's hole.

I wonder if anyone still paddles that loop in his memory. We'd always
do it the Saturday after Thanksgiving because that's what felt right,
rather than the 28th.

This year, on the 28th, I'll be landing for a business trip in Juneau,
Alaska. I've never been to Alaska and there's 45 inches of snow on the
ground right now and its dark. Never mind. I'll look for Scott in the
night sky - maybe he'll show in the Northern Lights.

I havern't had a cry like this in a good long time.

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Good to see all of you out there, though it is a sad anniversary. It's
great to know Scott is not forgotten. Wish I had known him IRL.

Robin

Remembering Scott Bristow today. . . .
 

Good to see all of you out there, though it is a sad anniversary. It's
great to know Scott is not forgotten. Wish I had known him IRL.

Robin