Jackson Kayak is so Wrong!

They call this color "moss green". They're so wrong!  It is exactly the same color as "sunshine on spring leaves".  I knew this spring I wanted a new boat.  I had been at the top weight range of my Allstar and knew it was time to find more volume.  I had tried out the Superstar a couple of years ago but found the boat itself to be too big for me to be comfortable in.  While I was comparing boats on Playak.com I saw that the new 2010 Superstars were about the same length as my older Allstar just with more volume. Precisely what I was looking for.  In my mind I started dreaming...I thought a yellow and white kayak this time and for some reason I named her Sunshine in my mind.  When I called Midwest Mountaineering I talked to their sea kayaking specialist Jerome.  Looking on the computer he said there was only one in stock and it was red. I wasn't excited.  It didn't fit as Sunshine and I didn't want to wait  as the first Wausau Whitewater release was this weekend.  I called back a bit later and talked to their whitewater specialist Peter. No he said...the red one is the older style.  We have one 2010 Superstar and it's moss green.  I thought not quite the Sunshine I imagined but I told him I'd take it and pick it up the next day.  He described it as a light green and I though it could be any kind of green but green is a favorite color of mine so what ever it was I'd be OK with it.

I got up early in the morning and headed to Midwest.  They were setting up for the Expo so they were closed but "open" for me to pick up my new boat.  Jerome led me into the boat yard and I saw her leaning next to the door.  A little thrill went through me...Damn she was cute!  Perfect! The color was unusual and alluring.  I loaded her up and headed to the river for a quick paddle before work.  I was able to play for an hour on my favorite hole.  The sun was shining down though the newly budded trees and on the carry back up I stopped for a rest and noticed there was no difference between the color of my boat and the color of sunshine on spring leaves.  I know I'm going to love playing in Sunshine!

This year I also want to go with more volume on my creek boat.  I was able to sit in the Villain S prototype at Canoecopia this February and liked the feel of it.  The larger Villain has 92.5 gallons of volume and I am thinking that this will be my next creek boat.  I was able to demo a Villain S at Wausau and was very impressed.  I took my first stroke out of the eddy and was impressed with the acceleration speed.   I took the Villain S down the slalom area of the park looking to see what kind of precision control it had.  The balance was great and it handled each move with ease and a crispness I liked.  Most of all I like the feel of the lower deck height and my knees being in a better position to control the boat.  Very nice!

Strange how things work in your life.  My Occoee that I bought last fall was the first boat I named and I call her Montana since she came from Montana.  I knew before I saw my Superstar she would be named Sunshine and she is sunshine...on spring leaves.  Daydreaming about my new creeker to come a name popped into my head and I knew immediately that it was the perfect name for my Villain. I'm going to call him McMurray.  Somethings you look at and you think...aw that's naughty...and you smile.  I'm going to enjoy riding the hell out of McMurray...that boat needs to be paddled hard.  Now hmmmm...what color should I choose?

A Day with Boof or Die on the split Rock River

This is from Andy McMurray's blog. An account of my first run of the split Rock River. Thanks for the kind words! It was a day I won't ever forget!

Nora drops the Split Rock

Six years ago, Nora Whitmore, a older female kayaker from the Midwest began her kayaking career. From then till now, she's become a solid female paddler for the region, competeing in various freestyle competitions, instructing new boaters in the area's local clinics, and has even progressed as a creekboater. Determined to push the limits and in continous improvement of the sport, Nora's enthusiasm to whitewater kayak is second to none, in addition, she's tough.

Photo: Full Face and Romping.

Taken by Chris Baer

With good warm temperatures and medium flows on the Split Rock, the Team Boof or Die crew figured that all was set into place to take Nora down her virgin run of the Split Rock. It would be the biggest and most extensive challenging whitewater she had faced to date.

The result: She styled it.

Photo: Nora sans lift tickets on Ski Jump.

Taken by Chris Baer

Photo: Even the boys were having fun.

Taken by Chris Baer

Photo: She thought long about this one. Riding Shotgun.

Taken by Chris Baer

Photo: Maybe we had too much fun.

Taken by John McConville

A more first hand testimonial of Nora's experience via words and photos can be witnessed on her excellent blog by clicking here.

Black Friday...Beautiful Day.

Finally I had a weekend off. Three days of no work and the weather for the end of November was incredible! I stopped at Midwest to pick up a few boats for Joi to try out and headed north. I actually had butterflies in my stomach I was so excited to be back on the road again! It has been a long time (for me). The sun was shining and my first destination was the St. Louis River. Actually it was the only destination in Minnesota with any water running to speak of. This late in the season I was curious to see what the mystery last drop looked like. The reservoir is drained each winter and with the dropping of the level one last drop opens up. I met up with my friend Jack at the Outpost and we ran the shuttle. We both had opted for creek boats today as the water was mucho cold and we were just into running the river. How blessed were we to have a warm (for Minnesota) sunny day with just a fun level to paddle. We took our time and just enjoyed the paddled chatting, laughing and just hanging out. We finally made it down to the Mystery Drop at the end. I wanted a good look at it as the one and only other time I ran it it sucked my playboat back in and I had to surf it out. We pulled out and looked at it from the right and then crossed over and looked at it from the left. We both took the small boof on the left and then we ferried out to look and see what the middle looked like. I am told this ledge becomes a very sticky hole at certain levels. Very interesting to see. The sun was on it's way down as we crossed the reservoir. Thin ice lay in patches around the edges and I had my fun ice breaking through. Was this my last paddle for 2009? I can't say for sure but if it was Jack and I had a stellar day on Black Friday!

Lower St. Louis on a Beautiful Fall Day

Happy Birthday to Dan! One of my three favorite open boaters. We celebrated in the best possible way...on the river! Aaron, Alan, Dan and I hooked up to catch a last run on the Lower St Louis before they cut off fish flow at the end of this month. The weather could not have been better...warm and sunny...the leaves just starting to turn colors. I haven't been on the Lower for quite a long time. I still hadn't ran Octopus and the Swinging Bridge yet. My first attempt at running Octopus was aborted due to a 20 foot log jackknifing out of the Beak in front of me blocking me from coming out of the Room. That was June 2007! Well today was the day...we had a small tight group and we were on the river to just enjoy. We leisurely meandered down the lower enjoying every possible bit we could and doing quite a bit of videoing. We set up at Octopus and scouted...everyone had a great run. The day was cruzing! Even the Boneyard was enjoyable for almost all of us. We pulled out and scouted Left Slot and the Hanging pool. With video set we all styled it. By then the Swinging Bridge was completely full of people watching us and more on the side of the river. Snakebite was just fine and we paddled towards the cheering crowd on the bridge. They were applauding us when Alan whipped off a roll...sheesh...the crowd went wild! Funny how we just ran all THAT and what tickled them the most is a roll. We pulled over and it was decision time. Dan has been wanting to run Fin Falls in an open canoe for awhile. We discussed it and the boys were all for it. I had a stellar day so I said I would run the video. At the top of Fin we scouted. I set up video and Aaron had the rope after deciding to not run it leaving Alan and Dan. Alan has speculated that he's never heard of anyone running Fin in an open canoe before so this was going to be something. Alan paddling a C1 led off and waited for Dan. Long story short Dan and Alan both styled it all the way down! What a great way to spend a birthday! Everyone has their top shelf of river memories where they store moments of very special runs. This run definitely went on the top shelf. I took a few photos along the way but here's Dan's video from the day.

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there were three, extremely hot chicks who decided to run the St Louis. Lori, Natalie, and Nora. One by one they gathered in the evening at the Outpost for a little wild wilderness camping. That night they drank a little Summit and watched shooting stars while talking about things only three, extremely hot chicks will talk about. Morning came with a beautiful mist over the reservoir and the promise of a gorgeous day. We drove to the put in and saw a wonderful couple standing by the river. Becky and Dan. Dan looked at us and said Becky, I have to paddle with those three extremely hot chicks. Really, how often do you see three extremely hot chicks on a river? Becky said she understood and told Dan she would wait for him at the Outpost...even if it took forever. So three extremely hot chicks and Dan paddled off down the river. We came to the first wave and played a bit. We soon saw three more men paddling so hard you would have thought the devil was following them in a raft. They slid into the eddy and said that they had heard way over in the small distant town of Jim Falls Wisconsin that three extremely hot chicks were going to paddle the St Louis. They drove many miles because really, how often do you see three extremely hot chicks on a river? So Chris, Daniel, and Mike joined the three extremely hot chicks and Dan to paddle the Louis. While we hung out at first wave, a cute green frog popped up between Natalie and Nora with a wistful look on his face. Being extremely hot chicks he realized that there was no getting any lip from either us and he swam slowly away. Extremely hot chicks don't fall for the "Really I'm a handsome prince routine". Soon a raft with three "domesticated" men and a wife and children on board came floating by. They looked wistfully at the three extremely hot chicks and thought "Really, how often do you see three extremely hot chicks on a river. They floated on down the river. Then the three extremely hot chicks led the men down the river. Several of the men were newbies. Some without a roll or float bags but they did very well on the rapids. The three extremely hot chicks had the only playboats so we played the eddyline in the canyon. Dan's boat was a bit of a cross over so he was able to get some enders in also. We paddled on to Electric Ledge. Natalie and Nora looked at each other and said how do you want to do this? Rock, paper sissor's, and Natalie got to lead. Natalie and Nora styled down and waited for Lori to follow. She styled it down and hit a roll just for fun at the bottom and so the three extremely hot chicks waited to see how the men did. One by one they came down and they all did very well!! We were happy. We paddled out the last set of rapids and prolonged the day by playing around Upstream Downstream for a while. One last hurrah with the seal launch in the reservoir and we were back at the Outpost. Becky was waiting for Dan on the shore. Next time Becky will paddle with us and there will be four extemely hot chicks on the river and really how often do you see FOUR extremely hot chicks on a river?

Midwest Freestyle Clinics

Last year started the tradition of having freestyle clinics the two days prior to the competition. Colin Kemp and John McConville taught some great clinics last year that were so popular Wausau added a third instructor, Brian Tupper, to accommodate the increase of students. Last year my instructor was Colin. I paddle often with John so I was secretly hoping to have the "unknown factor" of the new guy, Brian. I got my wish. Brian has all kinds of mad skills and a very calm personality that enables a paddler to relax and work on skills. Patience being one of the most important traits for a whitewater teacher, Brian had it all. In my class I watched the students visibly improve within the first day and a vast improvement over two days. I would rate Brian as a top notch instructor and I was fortunate to have him. If these three instructors return again next year I believe that Wausau is going to be known for the Freestyle clinics also. Plus the addition of Bear Paw doing the intro to whitewater course I can easily see an influx of many new paddlers to the sport. With these types of instructors I can see so much growth across all levels of paddling ability. It's interesting to see the different needs of different levels of kayaking. I believe it gets to a point that for a very experienced student the technical ability of the instructor is just an afterthought where as what is needed for an experienced kayaker is a coach that can motivate the mind. Someone that knows how to break past that barrier in a paddlers mind to push them to believe the next step is possible. Even with teaching beginners mind control/fear control is important. Bottom line is instilling confidence in your student. That said I can confidently say the beginners that took the classes were confident enough to throw down at the competition. Next year it is going to be even bigger. My only regret is that I wish they would have the classes on Wednesday and Thursday and have Friday as a rest/practice day. Just my two cents. Hint, hint.