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#11
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Looking for that upgade to the oc-1 ww
Pepe, I saw the pics at aw.org, and you are quite the photographer.
Thanks Jim I have a background in Fine Art photography and have worked as a pro in advertizing and architectural photography but it's been quite a few years since I've done any photography for a living with any regularity. All the photography you've seen is all done with a point and shoot Pentax WR90 and of course I tweaked the images in Photoshop. Recently I bought a waterproof enclosure so I can take my Nikon but it's still quite bulky and cumbersome to take on the river. It's pretty hard to beat the WR90 for convenience, rugedness, waterproofness in a small package to hang from my PFD. I have wondered about Talking rock before and wanted to try it. Are there good stretches of class II/III or only a few rapids spread out? And are there multiple put-ins and take-outs, or does it have to be a long trip? About my outfitting, I've taken out the rear seat (which is in the front since I paddle the boat backwards) and put in a large float bag with an aprin over it to avoid scooping water when I drop into pools. I have a kneeling pad just behind center and get up into my seat and paddle when I'm not in rough water. Most of the decent rapids are after about the half way point which is where the cliffs and Talking Rock Rapids are located and from what I understand those cliffs are "Talking Rock". The highest I've ever done it is like 2.6 and the rapids are very tame and I don't know if I would classify any of them above II+ at that level. On the other hand down at the bottom of my AWA page some other fellow posted some images of TRock rapids at 4+ feet and it looks quite fun. There are 2 put ins listed in one of the No. Ga canoeing guides by Sehlinger and Otey. I've only used the one listed on the map link I have on the AWA site. From what I understand to put in at the higher one it has to be running near the 3 ft range and it's not very scenic and it's fairly populated. As far as take outs there are none listed in the books I've looked at or have heard of other than going all the way to the HWY 136 take out at the lake. I've traced the distance in my Topo and total trip to the lake take out is 14 miles. It's generally a 6 hour trip at an easy pace with lunch and pee/stretch stops. Some one once told me that they took out before the flat last coupla miles. ther's generally pretty good head winds on those flats. They took out on private land. Someone they were with knew the folks that owned the land. So short of knowing someone with some land up there it's a 14 mile, 6hr +/- paddle The trip is definetly worth it but I much prefer it as an overnighter. I never use the seats in the Appy even with the boat backwards when soloing. The boat gets very bow light and doesn't track very well and if theres a little wind then it's extra dificult to paddle straight because of the weather cocking. I have found that the most efficient way to paddle the Appy in flat water is Canadian style which is where you kneel just aft of center and shift the weight and your knees to your "on side" this in effect tilts the boat to your on side and the boat chine becomes sort of a keel line. This helps to track better plus puts you closer to the gunwales where you don't hafta reach out as far to keep your paddle perpendicular to the water and keeps your corrective strokes to a minimum.I'm not sure about this but I believe it also minimizes the boat to watercontact area offering less resistance. I'm my New river pix page there are a coupla shots that my bud took of me in my red Cascade from behind where you see my boat heavily listing to the left. I you haven't yet tried this give it a go and you'll be surprised at the difference of how the Appy will paddle in flat water. Having a kneeling thwart near mid boat is great for this type of paddling. |
#12
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Looking for that upgade to the oc-1 ww
I'm not sure if it'd be any
wetter than any of the others you've mentioned But for a boat that is playful but can still carry some gear, I'd definately give the Shaman a look..or talk to Craig at Mohawk or Harold Deal! Good Luck, Mike I couldn't wait to sit in my new Outrage. Then after reading more and more I was imagining being on my favorite section of my favorite river in my new Probe 12. Then I decided to take it up one small notch with a Probe12II. I put a picture of it on my computer desktop and couldn't wait to make the purchase. The picture has been changed to a Shaman. I didn't really consider the Ovation. It just happened to be the boat I was paddling when I knew I needed another boat. You probably make a good point about the Shaman being as dry as any other boat of its type. It will just give me an opportunity to practice blocking, I guess, which sounds like a very fun thing to learn. And it very much appears to me that with carefull trimming I wouldn't loose very much performance at all with a load. Thanks again. Maybe I'll be reporting my first run soon. |