In this issue: Upper Gauley River.... Then and Nowf.

The Gauley, the Festival, and the BWA.... How they came together at an important time for paddling Gauley 2015 Scenes Off the Cuff: Comments From the Forum Worth Remembering Eddylines of Interest 20th Anniversary of the Russell Fork Rendezvous October 23rd and 24th BE There!

Award Winning Newsletter of The Bluegrass Wildwater Association since 1976. Sept/Oct 2015

Continued on pg. 3

Upper Gauley River .... Then and Now

The Gauley is one of West Virginia’s many classic rivers. With two combined sections, there are approximately 100 rapids rated class III or more (old school) to be run on about 25 miles of river. The Upper was once considered the benchmark expert proving run but it has been supplanted by more challenging runs throughout the Eastern US. Over time as boating equipment , instruction, and skills continue to evolve and im-prove, the Upper (and Lower) Gauley may have lost some of their reputation. Still any boater attempting these runs needs a solid combat roll, excellent water reading skills, and a solid support team.

John "Chief" Kulka

Chief at Iron Ring Teresa Gryder photo

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Bowlines is the Newsletter of the Bluegrass Wildwater Association, POB 4231, Lexington Ky, 40504

Club Officers 2014-2015

Join in on the Fun!

Join the BWA! BWA Membership $20/individual; $25/Family year entitles you to receive the newsletter,10% discounts at many local and out of state outfitter shops, use of club equipment, discount at pool rolling sessions, a listing in the BWA Handbook, a stream gauge guide, and web site with a forum for member’s messages & a parking pass for the Elkhorn.

Meetings are held at 7:30, the second Tuesday of each month at location announced on our website: http://www.bluegrasswildwater.org

BWA members want to read your story! Short or long. Sad or Funny.

Tell us your paddling realated story! Please!! Files can be e-mailed tothe Editor: DonSpang@aol.com

President Bob Larkin 502-550-4225Vice-President Brandy Jones 859-312-8640 Treasurer Jeff Kirkner 859-948-1920Secretary Susan Durachta 859-230-3396Safety Walt Hummel 859-705-8215 Program Mike Wilson 585-507-3853 Newsletter Don Spangler 859-277-7314Cyber Communications Joe Wheatly 859-361-0892Conservation Eli Purdy xxx-xxx-xxxxFilm Festival Coordinator John Mello 859-327-6092Russell Fork River FestivalCoordinator Steve Ruth 606-754-4348Equipment Coordinator KC Frankenstein 859-420-1514At-Large Member Megan Larkin 859-743-8355 Membership Coordinator Howard Markowitz 859-361-8467Past President Clay Warren 859-326-0602

Coming BWA MeetingsSecond Tuesday of the Month, 7:30 pm

BWA Monthly Meeting Meet & Eat

Other meetings at Roosters124 Marketplace Dr Lexington, KY 40503

(859) 449-7737http://www.yelp.com/biz/roosters-lexington

Looking Ahead

The BWA wishes to thank Canoe Kentucky for it's support.

We urge you to patronize them for

your outdoor needs.http://www.canoeky.com/

Enjoy this issue of Bowlines?

Check out Bowlines Online Archive with many great issues going back to 1998!

Issue Archive:http://www.surfky-bwa.org/html/bowlines_arcN.html

A must read for all members, our 30th Anniversary issue:

http://www.surfky-bwa.org/bowlines/BL30thAnnv_Aug06.pdf

For more information on Club Meetings & Activities always check the online Calendar.

http://www.bluegrasswildwater.org/?f=calendar

20th Anniversary of the Russell Fork Rendezvous

October 23rd and 24th

Carson Island Elkhorn City, KY

$10.00 per person, proceeds go to American Whitewater

2 bands Dance Party Bonfires & Drums Costume Contest Paddling Movies

See Last page of this Bowlines for more info

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My first run was way back in 1981 with a large con-tingent of BWA boaters. During the 80s and 90s I would run the Upper Gauley several times a year and even a full season of raft guiding it during The Fall of 1990. I felt very comfortable on the river surfing holes and waves in almost every rapid on the Upper but as the new millennia came upon us I found most of my Gauley trips had become Lower Gauley trips. Don’t get me wrong, The Lower is no slouch and it too has nu-merous play spots throughout its course and a couple rapids that nearly rival the most challenging on The Upper. Here are some recollections of my first run and the four I have done this season.

1981 I started my kayak career at the 1980 BWA Clinic on The Cumberland, Below the Falls. It was a drought year but I managed to get a few beginner runs in with BWA trips to The Upper sections of The New and The Nantahala. At this point I knew I wanted to get better.As the spring came on I tried to paddle at least once every week mostly on The Elkhorn. I latched on with Sam Moore and others and went wherever they went often only being their shuttle driver but managed to do runs on The Lower Tellico, Clear Creek, Nantahala, Section 3 of The Chattooga, and even The Ocoee without a roll.

Big Frank Loudermilk convinced me to take a class at Madawaska Kanu Centre in Canada that August and helped me develop and bombproof my roll just before we went to Canada. At MKC we were placed in an intermediate class with Dirk Van Wijk (Katrina’s dad) who drilled us on basics and play boating 1981 style, with a graduation run on The Ottawa (Big water). My confidence and skill levels made a dramatic shift; I would run The New a few more times, The Middle Meadow and Lower Gauley at super high water (5500 cfs). Mentally I felt ready to take the next step up.

Sam invited me along on the club Upper Gauley trip during the first week of release. With my trusty Mirage, I rode in the Cookie Truck to WV in full party mode lis-tening to the B-52s and Talking Heads along the way. Our group was large (Apologies to anyone who I may have forgotten or credited for being there who was not) C-1ers included Sam Moore, Don Spangler, Terry Weeks, John Lovett and Wayne Catron; K-1ers Ed Puterbaugh, Mark Wilson, Bill Stubblefield, Jerry Hey, Dave Thomas-not Whitey yet, Rich Lewis, and me.

So here is how it went down for me, at the second

rapid near the parking lot I flipped on a not much of a wave but rolled up, I knew then I had to be game on. At our first major rapid, Insignificant, I took the far right to center line without much difficulty. I noticed that a couple boaters got worked in one of the holes; maybe we had a swimmer there.

Next big rapid Pillow Rock (Lobster). We scouted and I followed Dandy Don’s line right to left into a large hole that flipped me but I quickly rolled up and came out okay at the bottom. Seems like we had a swimmer or two here as well but I’m not sure.

On to Lost Paddle, which in my opinion is the most challenging rapid on the river. We eddy hopped re-grouping through each of the individual drops until we finished up at the bottom of Tumblehome. Several of us got sky high enders at the bottom, yee haw!

Iron Ring was simple like 99% of the boaters at that time we walked it based on its reputation as a heinous Class VI certain death trap.

Sweet’s Falls came next, basically a Leap of Faith, Blind following the Blind Flippest (me included) no swimmers to my knowledge. We continued on past Mason Branch / Panther Creek stopping for enders at Rooster Rock and on through Woods Ferry aka Insignificant #2. I deliberately went through the top left hole and you guessed it flipped and rolled. We pulled over on river left, stashed our boats, and began our walk through the tunnel and across the bridge to our campsite at Peters Creek. It was an exciting and challenging day; the next we would continue down the lower to Swiss.

I would repeat the experience a few more times that year, cleaning it up each time a little more. Suddenly The Gauley was my favorite river!

2015First release weekend 9/12/15

Arrived late in evening on a rainy night; it had been four years since my last Upper Gauley run. Because I knew the river I knew what I was in store for, still I felt more nervous than on my first run. When you know rapids are capable of flipping your boat, you realize that a swim is possible. I hooked up with Brent Austin and many others from BWA/KY boating community. All ma-jor Gauley rapids are preceded by large bends in the

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river and long flat pools. At the top of all the big five, the butterflies would build up in my gut, fortunately they would go away the instant I entered the rapid and took my first stroke all day long.

Insignificant, followed Brent’ s line just right of center, avoiding two large holes then working back to the cen-ter of the river; different but similar to my old line that starts far right. Upright throughout, all is good.

Pillow Rock, Line up in center left of river, go between the “goalpost rocks”, ride the highway down going left of the hole, then deal with what happens as you go byPillow and then Volkswagon Rock. Not a pretty fin-ish, but upright the whole way.

Lost Paddle, Start in center work right through first big waves, hit second drop at the peak of the 5-o wave square on, continue through waves avoid Six-Pack rock, work back to the right; go left for a few more drops, work right avoiding or punching holes eddy at the bottom of Tumble Home. Catch eddies and your breath as needed. Clean and upright throughout this nearly half mile rapid.

Iron Ring We run this now, and have for years. My rule is stay in the Green Water until it ends, crank your boat 90 degrees and punch through the green bottom

waves. Start far left and aim for that fluffy wave at the place where white and green water merge. Bottom right eddy line makes for tricky rolls.

Sweets Falls Good approach and staying off the eddy line usually make this an upright run. Great to have Fred Wilson in front of me showing the entry. Thanks big guy!

Awesome day, no flips or swims for me. Paddling a Nomad makes it almost seem like cheating. Take out at Mason Branch, no hiking with a boat up the Panther Creek trail. Party at Tawny Farm, Elation!

Third release weekend: Boated Friday, Saturda , and Sunday (9/25-27) mostly with a small core group of four(Teresa, Amy, and Ed) often intermingling with others. We hung at Pillow and Sweets watching and cheering others on and I regained my Upper Gauley mojo for the most part. I would flip and roll one day at the bottom of Insignificant and once at Sweets not bad for a senior citizen. Next time I hope to paddle some-thing a bit more sporting like a RPM and surf like the old days. Hope to see you all there.

Sweet’s Falls Entry John Lawson photo

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Whitewater paddling was still in it's early years, when two mountain climbers, Sayre & Jane Rodman, de-cided to raft the Gauley in 1959. The Rodmans had taken up rafting with same small miitary rafts doing runs in Pennsylvania,West Virginia and the Potomic drainage. On the Gauley they put in above where the dam was being built. Encountering high water they ended the trip at the dam site but did the run down to Swiss two years later in 1961, when they succeeded along with several other rafters. None of the rapids had names, but the one that would be named iron ring developed it's reputation on that trip. One participant got too close to the undercut and was sucked into it along with the raft. She was spit out and the raft eventually was shot out along with the oars. The raft did not have a frame, the oars used a flexible oarlocks that was glued to the raft. Needless to say, that is why most people chose to carry around that rapid for many years.

In 1960 the Corps of Engineers started on the Dam at Summersville, a project that would take till 1966 to finish. Between 1999 and 2001 generators were added to generate electricity. While the results of the dam would flood a section of the Gauley that the Rodman's would describe as having "glorious whitewater", it did set the stage for what is now the annual fall "Gauley Festival".

In the sixties the Cheat river in northern West Virginia was often thought of as the "premier" whitewater run in the east, but as paddlers began to explore the Gauley, it's reputation for it's rapids began to outshine the Cheat. In 1968 a group of paddlers including John Sweet made the first successful 'hard boat" run in canoes at 1200 cfs. John Sweet was the only one to run the rapid " Devil's Backbone" which was eventually to be named after him. After getting off the Gauley that Day they found out that another dam was to be built on the Gauley.This

The Gauley, the Festival, and the BWA.... How they came together at an important time for paddling.

BWA paddlers on the Gauley River in 1984

Don Spangler

Don Spangler

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prompted one of the participants on the trip with Sweet, Jeb Stuart, to organize a trip the next year to document and name the rapids as part of stopping the new dam.

Also in 1968 Jon Dragan with his brothers founded the first commercial rafting company on the New, "Wildwater Expeditions Unlimited ". In time, because of his association with Jeb it grew to offer trips also on the Gauley thus leading to the boom in rafting on the New and the Gauley rivers as we know it today. By the early seven-ties, Jim Stuart, had decided the best and perhaps the only way to preserve what was left of the Gauley and it's rapids was to encourage both private and commercial rafting on the river. He got Jon Dragen to supply rafts and he got a group of eight to pay to run the Gauley in them. This convinced Dragon to add the Gauley to his com-mercial trips.

But could have turned out different, there had been a proposal to build two other dams, one at Carnifax and one at Swiss. Yet another option was proposed, why build two dams, why not one giant one at Swiss that have it's waters back up all the way to the Summersville Dam? (In later years,when it was discovered that the old topo maps the COE was using were wrong and that would not work, yet another proposal was to build a long tunnel down to Pillow rack.)

By 1973 whitewater enthusiasts had taken note of the effort and got involved and came to see what the excite-ment was all about. One of these was Charlie Walbridge who wrote about a 1972 fall run in the 1973 issue of the American Whitewater Journal. Charlie, who would eventually become well know and a legend in the pad-dling community describe what an early trip down the gorge by a large group of paddlers was like. It is fascinat-ing reading: shttp://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Journal/show-page/issue/2/year/1973/page/60/

In 1973 the BWA did not exist, but what did exist was SAGE outfitters in Lexington. If you were a paddler you knew about SAGE, it had the necessities of what you needed for paddling.... at least what existed at the time. The key thing it provided was instruction in paddling, which most wannabe boaters really needed at the time. It was these instructors that were among the first from Kentucky to know about and start paddling West Virginia rivers including the Gauley. Those of us that got some formal training at SAGE took a while to get the skills and experience to even consider the Gauley. But, if you have a passion for paddling, you may take 2-3 years or so, but you pursue that passion till you get there.

BWA Paddler Karen Moore having a good run on the upper Gauley at Pillow Rock in the early eighties.

Don Spangler

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By the time the BWA came into being in 1976, there were Kentucky paddlers around that were good enough to run the "big" West Virginia rivers, and with each year more of us looked forward to paddling the New & Gauley. By the late seventies and early eighties trips to West Virginia were becoming a regular thing.

With the long tunnel still being considered Citizens for the Gauley River was incorporated in 1982 and would lead the fight to stop a new dam or tunnel. West Virginia Wild Water Association, the Canoe Cruisers, the BWA as well as many other clubs and paddlers came together to preserve the Gauley for paddling. Writing letters to our congressman or senators opposing the tunnel project as well as promoting the benefits to the local economy or the river used for recreation.

I have sketchy memories of the first Gauley Festival put on by Citizens for the Gauley River, perhaps from the exhilaration of having run the Gauley or perhaps because I had shared some Wild Turkey with other BWA pad-dlers when we got off the river. I do remember a big field, a few tents and booths lined up, but nothing to resem-ble was it blossomed into later years. Attendence was somewhat sparse and was mainly of paddlers who had run the river that day. It was October and it got dark early and I most likely found a campfire to sip some more

In the early days a dirt road that went near Peters Creek was the take-out for the upper run or the put-in for a lower run on the Gauley. It ws a long carry either way. Mike Weeks came up with the idea that if we built an indian travois or drag sled that would be an easier way to get our boats to the river. It turned out to be marginally better, if you did not have to include the effort to build the travois. Paddlers, left to right: Mike Weeks, Don Spangler, Beuren Garten, and John Davis.

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From Bowlines 1983 a copy of the BWA's club letter to the Corps of Engineers concerning the proposal for the Gauley River that would eliminate much of the river for river recreation that is loved by river runners nowadays.

Sam Moore doing an ender on the Gauley in 1986. Sam was a President of the BWA & motivat-ed the BWA to do paddling trips all over North America as well as internationally.

Don Spangler

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"Turkey" and tell stories with friends.That also probably clouds my memory of it. But it was with the money from that festival and the following ones that the CFGR was able to pay David Brown (an experienced river saver) to organize and lead the effort.

In 1984, things were more organized and the festival was at Mt. River Tours. More to eat and drink and I re-member a band and a much larger attendence than the year before. Not to be forgotten, it was the year that the BWA's Women in Rubber were the big hit of the festival. The audience (mostly guys of course) would have thought it great if they could have gone on all night. The Women in Rubber got invites to other river events and imitators soon sprang up after that.

From Bowlines Sept/Oct/Nov 1984 about the festival.

Gauley River Festival 1984

Once again the Gauley River Festival, sponsored by the Citizens for Gauley River, was a success. Each fall boaters from all over the eastern U.S. flock to the Gauley River for the running of the Gauley River. This year has been no exception. The festival was Sept. 22 & 23.The river was bank to bank with kayakers, C-boaters and raf-ter - all enjoying themselves on a beautiful fall day. Wet-suits were not a necessity. Earlier dates for the releases helped with warmer weather. This helped replace the memories of cold rainy days on the Gauley. The festival was held Saturday night at Mountain river tours’ camp-ground.Hamburgers and hotdogs were available along with all the beer you could drink. BWA’s own John Davis and Barry Grimes assisted with films, slides and videos shown during the evening. A member of the Army Corps of Engineers spoke to the group to tell of the Corps plan for whitewater recreation on the Gauley. A brave man to face1000 boaters.

Entertainment was provided by a Bluegrass band and our own Women in Rubber. They put on their best perfor-mance yet! All in all, the festival was a great time.A time to see old friends and enjoy the excellent whitewater of the Gauley river.See you there next year! The Gauley river will continue to have releases throughout the month

The effort would succeed finally, on Oct. 17, 1986, Congress made whitewater recreation an official purpose of the Summersville Dam. It also required 20 scheduled releases during the fall drawdown.

1986 also marked the year that Citizens for Gauley River, turned over the festival to the American Whitewater Association. The AWA reported it netted 5400.00 from an estimated attendence of about 1500 paddlers.

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From the 1986 Nov,-Dec issue of AWA Journal.

ITS THE LAW:Whitewater Recreation Releases Required for Gauley Whitewater

On October 17, 1986 Congress made whitewater recreation an official project purpose of the Sum-mersvillle Dam, and prescribed a minimum of 20 days of releases during the fall flood-control drawdown. More importantly, language in the bill gives whitewa-ter releases precedence over any future hydropower generation during the fall whitewater season.

The language was included in the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 by Congressman Nick Ra-hall, who hails from Beckley, West Virginia, Congress-man Rahall first included the whitewater authorization language in a version of the 1984 omnibus water project bill, which relates to hundreds if Corps around the nation.

The language is important to the future of whitewater recreation on the Gauley because of past problems in

getting cooperation from the Corps for releases, and because the city of Summerville and NOAH Corpora-tion are planning to install a hydro project in the dam. One sentence of the legislation reads, "Except in cases if emergency, no suspension or modification of such releases may be made solely for reasons as-sociated with the generation of hydroelectric power at Summersville Dam.

In recent years the Gauley River has become a mecca for whitewater enthusiasts from around the nation. The Corps of Engineers, recognizing the economic value of the fall releases, began actively cooperating with whitewater interest groups in 1985 by announc-ing release dates in January and "pulsing" flows from the dam in dry years to enhance the reliability of the season. After the fall 1986 season, the Corps reported that whitewater recreation accounted for $16 million in direct and indirect economic benefits during the 20 day season alone.

The legislation resulted from a cooperative effort be-tween West Virginia outfitters and Citizens for Gauley River that initiated the legislation in 1984.

Estimates are that Gauley Season brings some 60,000 people to the area and produces over $30 million in revenue for the state during its six week period!

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Gauley 2015 ScenesBy Kyle Koeberlein

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Gauley 2015 ScenesBy Kyle Koeberlein

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Off the Cuff Comments from the ForumWorth Remembering

Raft the entire Gauly on SaturdayAugust 10, 2015

Hey guys. This is the deal. Sue and I want to raft the entire Gauly because we just want to and we definitely can't hard boat it. So, we want to go with the following group. It's expensive and you need to make reservations by the end of this week. I need real honest commitments and we can have a BWA group together. Let me know ASAP. We need four more bodies to ride.

that trip is during Gauly Fest September 19 Saturday.

Howard

August 11, 2015Howard, Ace is a good company, albeit, these days a giant. They swallowed up some competitors over the years. You will have a good time. Not sure we will see you though as they have their own agenda and hangout spots on the river. I think seeing the whole river would be a good day for you guys. You are both fit and while you will be hungry and tired at the end of the day, it will be a great experience. You should plan to camp Saturday at the festival grounds. Always big BWA and Viking camps set up for the weekend. Biggest river festival in the world, proceeds to AW, our river champion. Brent

As an ex-raft guide and whitewater videographer on the Gauley, I can lend some insight.

First, just an aside. The best (and most expensive) way to see the entire Gauley from a raft is to book a Gauley Over-night. The pace is slower, the service is incredible, the food is fantastic, the campsites are sweet, and on the second day you're usually the first folks on the water after a lazy breakfast, which is inspiring and a beautiful way to start the day. If you were to decide to book an overnighter though, I would recommend going with either River Expeditions (for the high-quality overnight location at Sweets Falls), or with Class VI River Runners (for the overall high-end service experience).

One thing to keep in mind with ACE, they can be a ram-bunctious bunch. Good guides, highly professional, well trained and highly skilled; but if you are not interested in swimming (getting dumped), you need to clearly commu-nicate that to your raft guide. There are a lot of folks who come to the Gauley specifically for the rough ride, and swims earn tips. Of course, if you're into it, any self-re-specting ACE guide will be happy to give you the big swim at Pillow.

ACE is definitely the outfitter you want to go with for a marathon (full Gauley one day trip) if for no other reason than the fact that they have a private takeout on the Lower Gauley, right below Pure Screaming Hell (the last major rapid) that will save you from nearly three miles of mostly flatwater paddling. When you've already done 23 miles on the Gauley in one day, that's a huge deal and ACE is the only outfitter that offers it.

I can recommend guides to request, but first I have to check and make sure they're still working at ACE.

Also, the thing that Brent mentioned about ACE getting huge and gobbling up smaller rafting companies, that's the story of the New River area. Business has shrunk drasti-cally there in the last 10 to 20 years and nearly all the small companies have been bought up by larger ones. Some of them still exist, but are owned by a larger conglomerate.

Last but not least, that bit in ACE's literature about "A 14-foot waterfall. Seriously.".....no, not seriously. Sweets falls is no more than six feet tall at best, but you won't care.

Hanley Loller

Thanx for the insight Brent and Hanley. I need 4 more paying bodies to fill the boat. I don't feel comfortable put-ting down all the money myself and then scrambling to get riders. There are times when hard plans and times need to be met by paddlers that are used to just figuring it out when you get there. I guess that's my age and parenting show-ing. Howard

August 12, 2015What Brent said is right, but I think I understand the di-lemma.

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ACE probably doesn't have a marathon scheduled for that day. It takes a minimum number of people to schedule a new trip and the marathon isn't a wildly popular trip. I suggest shopping around for a company that already has a marathon trip scheduled and just attach yourself to that. You may have trouble getting six people to come along from the BWA.

Call Class VI River Runners (or their parent company Ad-ventures on the Gorge, an umbrella company for Class VI, Rivermen, and Mountain River Tours).

Try North American River Runners (NARR). Tell 'em to tell Alan Jennings (operations manager) that I sent you. wink-ing smiley

Try River Expeditions. Tell 'em to tell Sue Bess Gilkerson (general manager) that I sent you. winking smiley

If none of those pan out, call the reservationist at ACE and ask if they'll run you on a hybrid Marathon just putting you on an Upper trip and then switching you to a Lower trip at the takeout. If you get a game reservationist, they may agree to do it.

Another thought, shop around days. Saturday is the most popular day to go rafting, and by far the worst. You pay more, it's more crowded, and you don't get the same per-sonal attention you would on a Sunday (or even better, a Friday or Monday).

Hanley Loller

.... addendum.

You may find that companies are a bit more willing to bend to meet your needs on those off days when they have trouble getting bookings. It's a real problem for the raft-ing industry that all the business is piled up on Saturday. Makes it hard to give professional raft guides anything like full time work, and makes it hard for anyone to actually be a professional raft guide. Still you need a buttload of equip-ment and guides to accommodate those Saturdays....

Hanley Loller

2015 Occoe Bradfield Baddlun Results August 24, 2015

Congrats to fellow KY boys Adam Bourne, DJ Biddle, Matt Walker and Matt Rudolph. Thanks for coming out guys.

The event was a raging success. We had 24 racers, per-fect weather and plenty of suffering was had by all.

My time was not had hoped, I need a lighter bike and some better legs, but still had a blast!

Place Name Hrs Min Sec 1 Eli Darby 2 2 39 2 Zack Darby 2 3 54 3 Randall Ausdran 2 5 17 4 Stephen Sanborn 2 6 58 5 Will Enochs 2 13 57 6 Chris Pesce 2 21 23 7 Terry Smith 2 22 3 8 Matt Nielson 2 23 55 9 Adam Bourne 2 26 30 10 ChristineYario Warren1 2 28 24 11 Bobby McGrath 2 30 43 12 Christopher McCoy 2 31 8 13 DJ Biddle 2 32 32 14 Matt Rudolph 2 32 52 15 Matt Walker 2 34 38 16 Jim Enochs 2 35 49 17 Nikki Malatin 2 36 49 18 Brian Vermillion 2 37 49 19 Jason Dillow 2 38 35 20 Ben Riekhof 2 40 27 21 Justin Bolender 2 43 2 22 Josh McGrew 2 52 12 23 George Szarka 2 55 24 24 Daxton Bacalman 3 17 4

Could someone please cross post to Vikings forum.

Cheers, Justin

August 25Here is summary I posted on the facecrack page:

Now that I've had a few days to process and get the feeling back in my legs I am more and more thankful and im-pressed by the turnout. We had some stiff competition and I think we all pushed our limits. We had 24 competitors, plus two others that committed but couldn’t compete. Kevin I hope you are feeling better and Wes Prince, who had some issues with travel and equipment, we missed you man! We had awesome volunteers, some who committed their whole weekend to the cause. I’d like to thank Amanda and Alex Scharwath, Kevin Sullivan Mather, Gabrielle Marie Summitt "Gabby", Christy Sims, Taylor Walker, Kat Levitt and David Levitt and Chris Gibson for safety on the water and especially my wife Jodie Bolender who put up

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with my moody sometimes anxiety filled attitude for the past month or so. You all rocked it out, thank you!

This event was in dedication to our dear friend Scott Bradfield (Karin Bradfield) and we took up donations to be given to American Whitewater (https://www.facebook.com/AmericanWhitewater) and Save the Ocoee (https://www.facebook.com/savetheocoee?fref=ts). I am blown away by how generous everyone was with the donations. We raised $250! I'll be happily writing a checks AW and to Save the Ocoee this week (I plan to it split evenly be-tween the two). I had mentioned giving all the donations to AW but I thought the Ocoee River Council - Save the Oocee fund would also be very fitting for this cause. Scott would be so proud and stoked that we all suffered togeth-er on the race course and at the same time contributed to such worthy organizations.

The Park Rangers and Campground host were very hos-pitable to this event. I didnt' make official notifications so they handled it very well finding out about it on very short notice. We'll have to debate how the race will develop next year and coordinate with them earlier.

I rode the bike course on Friday to set out flags at all the turns (big mistake, my legs were screaming at me dur-ing the race!) but none-the-less it helped. Unfortunately, someone had taken up almost all the flags by race time. Only two of the ten or so turns were still marked for the race. Next year we will do a better job of notifying the community about the race and get more official with the markings. There was some confusion out there on the trail but overall I think most folks did ok with navigation of the course.

I didn’t get to hang with many racers on Saturday eve-ning, so I didn’t get all the stories about how each com-petitor’s day went but I did hear some of the tales. I would encourage everyone to post or comment with details of their day so we can learn and all do better next time – and have a chuckle at your miss fortune smile emoticon I know we had some wacky stuff happen; one racer’s seat bolts exploded and fell off during the first part of the trail. He lost his seat and attachment bolts in the woods and had to search and re-install his seat to the post. One racer broke a chain in the back part of the trail and had to push his bike approximately have the course back to the putin (funny thing is, this racer still beat me!). One racer got a flat on the race course and another guy stopped and gave him his spare tube, good karma! I didn’t hear much about mishaps on the water, my run went ok, got spun out twice, I was gassed! There were many accounts of folks

cramping out on the run, I know I was.

I could have done a better job of reminding folks to bring swag for the awards table but a few folks did and I thank you for that. Astral provided a pro-deal card, I will make a formal thank you to them for that, thanks Nikki Winkler Malatin! We had a brief awards ceremony after the race and that was fun. Congrats to Eli Darby for first of overall at 2:02:39 and to Christine Yario Warren for first Women at 2:28:24, good to see the lady's competing, props to Nikki Malatin as well, you killed it! I’m also posting the results again with this message for posterity. Next year, we’ll do something more official with the awards and hopefully a dedicated after party.

While I have your attention, if anyone wants to do the Pangorge Race (https://www.facebook.com/pangorge?fref=ts&ref=br_tf) in Chattanooga in November I’m looking for some team members. I did it last year and it was a lot of fun. I’d like to find some team members who want to go out and have fun, but not necessarily compete for first. Holler at me if you are interested.

Well, this race was a raging success in my book. I had a lot of fun organizing the event and making some new friends. I'm sure I'll be seeing you all out in the rivers here soon. Thanks for coming out. Let’s do it again next year.

Boles

rand or bungee - which skirt for a newbie? August 26, 2015

I am shopping for a skirt and thought I would pick up the BomberGear Aquashock since the price is so good right now ($59 online). It arrived this week and I have been try-ing it out on dry land. It is very tight and hard to get on and off the kayak. This makes me wonder if a rand skirt is too advanced for me, ie, too hard to get out of if I flip. Would the bungee type skirt be better for a beginner? Any recom-mendations?

Pat Brennan

I went to the snapdragondesign skirt years ago because it is so much easier to get it on the boat. I hate trying to wrestle a blankin skirt on the boat.

Joe W.

If you're strong enough to pull the rand then there's no problem, but if you're constantly fighting to put it on and/or

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pull it off then the bungee is better.

Linda Tribble

It'll come off much easier when it's wet and you can't breathe

WaVeYDaVeY

As long as you don't leave your grab loop inside it, there isn't really a "beginner skirt". If you can get it on, it's fine.

I agree with Joe about Snapdragon, with a caveat. Get the Snapdragon with the implosion bar. If a skirt's going to fail (blow off), it's almost always going to be downward pres-sure blowing it inward. The implosion bar easily makes up for any possible deficiency in how tightly the skirt holds and I can easily say that I have never felt as secure in a skirt as I have in my Snapdragon with implosion bar. Easi-est skirt to put on I've ever used, bar none. Love me some Snapdragon.

Hanley Loller

Rubber or bungee there are 2 factors that affect ease or installation / removal on any given boat (and cockpit rims vary as well) - elasticity of the rand and friction. In general, rubber rands don't stretch as much as bungee but offer more friction at the interface. In my experience with both, cord skirts go on and off easier but rubber seals better. However, there are cord skirts with extra neoprene that if tucked properly improves seal but in my experience are a total PITA to put on properly. I love my Skirtworks Rubber rand skirt. It's tight as a tick but does't let in much water, especially on a JK boat.

In regards to implosion, Hanley and I will forever agree to disagree. winking smiley You don't need a bar to prevent implosion. Most high end skirts now are super stretchy in the main deck part and beefed up around the edges (to prevent wear / tear). The super stretchy middle prevents implosion. In my experience it just stretches until it runs into you and doesn't pull off the rim. Tested once while momentarily pinned on the "landing rock" on the left side of Towers, RFG at low flow when I unintentionally went off the drop too far rt and sideways. I literally felt the water pounding my thighs and the skirt did not release.To test this yourself just have someone (preferably a REALLY close friend) push on the middle of your deck until either it releases or they run into something. Guarantee you can't release my skirt this way.

BTW, rubber rands totally suck when it's cold. The stretch-ability goes way down. I bought a cord skirt to wear when it's cold.

Wes

One more thing I forgot to mention - rubber rands are somewhat stretchable. You can leave it on your boat for a while and it will stretch out, or better yet the biggest cockpit you can find. Over time of limited use it tends to return to original size so consider storing on your boat if you get it stretched out to an acceptable size.

Wes

OcoeeFest this Weekend!!! September 02, 2015

I plan to be at the Ocoee Sunday. Hope to connect.

Cheers,

Millard

We're camping at AU so we can get in on the Music et al. ~ Not heading out until early Saturday so I don't miss Smi-ley's baseball game Friday night. We're taking a raft down the Middle both days ~ possibly have spots if anyone's interested. Would love to hook up with everyone at some point, some-how ~ Let's celebrate Betsy's Bday Tribe Style! winking smiley

SYOTO! Essa

As I mentioned in another thread Brit and I will be there Sat - Mon. Our primary focus will be training Brit for the UG smiling smiley Brit has to work Fri night so not going down until Sat a.m. More than likely will do top - bottom in playboats Sat then creekers on Sun and probably both on the Middle on Mon. Anyone wishing to train with us is of course welcome! We will be focusing on challenging fer-ries / moves / hole surfing. Tentatively planning on maybe a mountain bike ride or two - watching the rain forecast which is getting wetter.

The fest sounds fun. We won't be into partying but the tug of war sounds intriguing. I think that would be a fun activity for the club to do at roll sessions or the clinic. Can't find on the website where it is being held. I actually was planning to camp - honestly - if we got down there on Fri night and it

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wasn't going to rain much. Since both of those issues are in play and since my Mom may now be joining us for part of the wkend at least I'm thinking we'll be hoteling it.

At some point we intend to do the Middle on Boogie boards if the swim flippers I ordered arrive by Fri. Brit's been nag-ging me about this for years - ever since I told her about my Middle run on the inflatable alligator (pool toy) and my co-guides in tubes around 1988 or so. I talked her out of the inflatable pool toys and into the boogie boards for hole surf options and durability. My gator busted while blasting the ledge at Flipper and I had to swim the rest of the river. A canoe club at Tablesaw tried in vain to "rescue" me by trying to entangle me in about 20 ropes - the looks on their faces priceless as I ignored them and swam on to Dia-mond Splitter. Except for a few places where we'll be glad to be on the boards I'm sure, the Ocoee is actually a pretty fun river to swim - provided you are geared appropriately. We'll have on farmer john thick 5mm wetsuits for warmth and padding. Anyone want to join us for that mayhem?

Contact me if you wish to do some training with us or swim / boogie board the middle. Otherwise hopefully at least run into some of you fine folks! smiling smiley

Wes

September 03, 2015Okay, I give up, but I couldn't stop myself.

This should cement my reputation as the most hyperbolic Sammy-Safety in the club, but I feel like it's a good idea to put it out there because I could easily see this going somewhere bad.

Tug-of-war would be a fun activity for roll sessions or clinic, but (cue eye rolling) be careful, it's a surprisingly danger-ous activity, especially if performed with a stretchy nylon rope like a throw rope.

I refer you to a startlingly revealing article about the hun-dreds of injuries and fatalities associated with tug-of-war over the last century. http://priceonomics.com/a-history-of-tug-of-war-fatalities/

If you don't have enough time or morbid fascination to read it, I'll sum it up. A few dozen people pulling together can generate an amazing amount of force and easily break a very strong rope, often resulting in the rapid contraction of the rope in people's hands leading to severe rope burns, severed fingers and hands and sometime deaths when the

end of a rope under thousands of pounds of dynamic ten-sion comes whipping back. Although some of these cases are extreme (attempts to set world records, etc) it would seem that some caution would be in order.

Okay, now I'm going to go see if I can hang myself with my mitten strings, or maybe I can find a safety sucker and choke on it.

Carry on.

Hanley Loller

FYI: The reason I know about this is because I regularly read XKCD's What-If.

A while back someone asked if two tug-of-war teams could rip apart an iron bar. Turns out they can, and it only takes about 25 folks to do pull a half inch iron bar apart.

https://what-if.xkcd.com/127/

As always with What-If/XKCD it's an interesting and en-lightening read.

Hanley Loller

September 04, 2015Interesting read Hanley. Where do you come up with this stuff?

I think I'll be at the Ocoee for a Sunday Funday/Gauley warm up session. Laps on the Olympic Section anyone?

Chief and Wes, I'll give you a call or text.

Boles

Hey, it's not hard to get drawn in to the XKCD universe. I read the What-If's religiously whenever they come out and check the new cartoon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Yeah, tug-of-war, who knew? Better stick to running water-falls.

Hanley Loller

First Timers Trip - Lower Gauley (9/11-12) September 06, 2015

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The Gauley is one of the few rivers I can honestly say I look forward to paddling with as much anticipation today as I did 20 years ago. It has it all: big rapids, great current between the big rapids and if I haven't said it before, BIG RAPIDS.

Mike and crew are ready to show you new peeps down the first time. The plan is to show you some sweet lines and a lot of fun water. Above that though we will be showing you safe lines. The potential to have you offer us a beer is greatly increased if we can get you to the takeout without you getting the shit beat out of you. The list of volunteers is quite impressive, all except me. My usual instructions are: See that big fuckin' rock? Don't hit it. You are welcome then to follow me as I have learned my lesson about hitting rocks, most likely from that one in front of us.

I think most are thinking of staying a Tawney Farm camp-ground. Great location that is very close to the putins. It is quite remote so running over to Summersville for eats takes some commitment. On Saturday, the local church at the takeout will be cooking as a fundraiser opportunity for them. Some of the best slawdogs you will ever have can be bought there. For those of you who do not know what a slawdog is, it is a chilidog smothered with cole slaw. The first time I had one was there and I have been hooked since. Several choices on the hotdogs, brown beans, corn-bread, etc, etc. The food is good and the only thing better than the price is the group of wonderful people that are cooking. This is a big time fund raising event for the church and they really bust themselves to make you some great food and a pleasant experience while you are there. One of the best less than five buck meals you can have. God will like you better if you let them keep the change.

Cannot say enough for Tawney Farms. Wonderful people and nice camping. Primitive but showers are available. The place is beautiful. I think all campgrounds look like the apocalypse happened and we all gathered there when the shit went down. Just the nature of campgrounds I guess. Or..................maybe, just maybe it is me. But the setting is quite beautiful. I think this year they are planning for music and fireworks again. HINT: make friends with people who have Verizon as their carrier. It is the only one I know of that you can get a call out. AT&T sucks out there too.

Get your firewood from out there. This area has some ass-hole of a bug that is doing a lot of damage and attempts to keep it localized are improved if we don't haul it to WV in some firewood we brought from this area. A couple of good ol' toxic Duraflame logs work pretty well, just don't cook a marshmallow or a hotdog over the flame.

Here is hoping for a big turnout for the first timers trip down. Stay tuned and make plans for a special introduc-tory trip down one of the finest rivers in the Southeast.

Dallas

How to follow up on Dallas's poetic verse?...man, tough act to follow.

WHAT: Lower Gauley First Timers Trip WHEN: Friday 9/11, 10:30 WHERE: Swiss take out, camp at Tawny Farms WHY: OPENING WEEKEND GAULEY and 'Aint Swiss' fest

So far we've got Jeff Schetler, Jeff Kirkner, Joe Wheatley, Kentucky Bazooka Jim Welch, Kyle Snowden, Dallas, and yours truly confirmed for the friday run. Anybody else in that I've forgotten or haven't heard from yet post here or shoot me a text (585-507-3853 - Dave Martin, say nothing and meet us at Swiss!)

Jeff Schetler and I are leaving lexington EARLY Friday to make it to the Swiss takeout to meet everybody at 10:30.

Friday can't come soon enough! Hoping to get a PFSD (personal first slaw dog) this year!

SYOTG, MFW

Some of you boys/girls that been around a while need to come fire up the Upper Gauley with me. I know you want it...I show you good lines... Brent

I can help with them lines too, the ones I remember. But really the Gauley is just read and run. You must be river literate; if not follow someone. Chief

Chief, I just got your email. Yes, I am in for Tawny Farms Friday and Saturday night. Let's make a big sweet encampment. I have some popups, tapestries, limited but some carpet, etc., but we could use more. Will bring a drum of course.

My truck is available for lower shuttles if I can get up to the top first, and it is at Woods Ferry at the end of the day. This system has worked bomber for years now. And, yes, the gas meter is still broken, but it will have plenty of gas in

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it. Racks are a bit safer after Lou got a hold of them this summer. Looking forward to the next week and a half of boating. Whew! SYOTR, Brent

September 10, 2015Going to be a fun weekend with great water. For you first timers here is a list of the rapids on the lower.

Koontz's Flume III+ (watch out for 5 boat hole) Canyon Doors III Junk Yard III Upper Mash IV (better take the Jeff K line here) Lower Mash IV (Been eaten by this one a time or two) Diagonal Ledges (Hawaii 5 Oh) II+ Heaven's Gate IV (Gotta hug the right side of the gate rock) Rocky Top III Big Freakin Rock Upper Stairstep III+fun Lower Stairstep III+fun ( I like to call these two rinse and repeat) Rollercoaster III Enchanted Eddie II Rattlesnake III Roostertail III Pure Screaming Hell IV (Split the holes at the bottom and you will have a good day) Kevin's Folly III

Also Ace has a great video library of these rapids and I would recommend that you watch it.

http://www.gauleyriverrapids.com

Its hard to get a feel for rapids from video but I think that any exposure you can get before running is a good thing.

Now for the disclaimer: As a first timer you are responsible for deciding if you are ready to make this run. This is a long river with no real good options for walking out . It is possible to take out at the end of the middle at Buck Lick. You can run back ender rapid at the end of the middle and it will give you a good feel for what you will see on the Lower. The access road there is no longer maintained so not sure how close a vehicle can get but we had some middle only paddlers take out there last year.

Joe W.

Save the Ocoee. ORC vs TVA (Please read) September 13, 2015

Hi All,

I wanted to get out some information about the issues be-ing raised between the Ocoee River Council (ORC) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

As most of you already know, the TVA has given the com-mercial rafter, represented by the ORC, an ultimatum, which basically boils down to the fact that the TVA wants the commercial rafters, operating on the Ocoee, to pay 9.3 million dollars, upfront, or the TVA is going to stop the scheduled release of water on the river.

This proposed deal by the TVA would be for a term of 5 years and would require a renegotiation, between the TVA and the ORC every 5 years. The current agreement, which has lasted for the past 35 years was for 6.4 million dol-lars, and is due to expire in the spring of 2018, which could mean the end of scheduled releases on the Ocoee for rafters and kayakers alike.

Above, I have included some information on this issue. The OCR has asked for the support of our individual members in the form of letters to congress. On the OCR’s website is an easy to use program which makes writing letters to our legislators extremely easy and I encourage everyone to take the time to do this.

Basically what the ORC wants is simple, they want our help in pressuring our legislators to change the charter of the TVA. Currently, the TVA is the only public utility in the country that charges for scheduled releases. All other utili-ties, are mandated to provide for public recreation in return for the use of a public resource.

The ORC has also asked that the BWA sign a Resolution of Support for the OCR in this fight. During the last club meeting, we discussed this resolution and, with the per-mission and support of those present, I have signed and submitted this resolution on behalf of the BWA. Above, you will also find a copy of this resolution.

Along with the information I have included above, here is a link to the ORC’s site where you can take advantage of the letter writing tool. It’s simple, it doesn’t take much time, and it could make the difference in keeping the Ocoee as accessible as it is now.

Thanks for your help with this,

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Bob

[savetheocoee.org]

Ironman Louisville 2015 September 15, 2015

Here be all the tasty details you've been waiting for folks . Please pass this on to anyone who may want to join us . Obviously the Oct date has faded the fair weather boaters, and diverted the Russel Fork Freaks from my usual volunteers .

No excuses , all who are not signed up to compete in Baddlun have to join me for this AW fundraiser. Lots of details to follow but date(s) are 10/10, 10/11 . Yes it's very early a.m. on a Russel Fork Weekend, but there are three other weekends to hit the border ! Free t shirt , breakfast , and my continued adoration await the boaters who make the scene. We sit in flatwater for two hours, watch crazy fit people start a 140.6 mile journey . Some-times you need to let them hang on your boat, other times they need navigation assistance , and some need extraction. Nothing to it for whitewater people !! Many details to follow , sign up using the link below ,use drop down menu to find sat/and or Sun Kayak safety, password is VIKING (yes all upper case) , fill out fields and show up .

[www.doitsports.com]

if we get a good response from the central KY crew , will find a camp/ friendly accommodations for fri/sat night . Sign up early so I don't loose any undue sleep . /size]

Read away or send to your refer your friends !

Dates are October 10,11 . Sat is practice , Sun the main event . Big announcement is that we will raffle off a kayak this year ! Jackson boat of choice through Canoe Kentucky ! Tickets earned by showing up to training =1ticket, Sat practice swim =1, Sunday race =2, and gear loading after race =1. Of course if swim gets cancelled for whatever reason, so does the raffle . Chances will be your name/number dropped into the hopper , regular num-bered chances can dissolve in water, so will have a process in place to add slips during training, after sat swim, after sun race, and after gear loaded. Drawing held after Ironman crates ready to ship out to next event Sun. Winner need not be present to win , so make sure your # is on the slip. All water safety volunteers eligible , and I will keep some spare slips in my pocket to be handed out to anyone I deem worthy of extra chances (think zone captains, gear loaners, shuttle drivers etc. )

1.To volunteer, go to this site

[www.doitsports.com] ... _id=155427

2. Use drop down button and find Viking Canoe Saturday and or Sunday Water Safety Groups. Select one at a time and repeat process if volunteering both days. 3. Password is VIKING ( Yes that's all Caps ) Then click "Join Group" button. 4. Fill out required fields with fairly accurate information, then ac-cept liability terms, if they are agreeable to you. 5. Training Sessions are slated for Friday oct 9th at 6:30 at the Community Boat house/Yellow Lot/ Where we meet Sunday am, and again Sat, after the practice swim, around 10:30am . The

second training may seem like odd timing, but it allows me to work with out of town volunteers who show up for race day only. These are not required, especially if you have volunteered in the past, however they are always a great way to share your wisdom from years past and add to your skill set. 6. Show up and enjoy the free coffee, doughnuts, and time on the water wile we raise money for American Whitewater!

This same link can be used for signing up for most other Ironman Louisville volunteer groups as well.

Here's the annual volunteer info, please read to the end , some big changes this year, always good to refresh knowledge, how-ever many years you have helped in the past. The first batch of numbered items are changes, or points I want to stress, the rest is all the important info you need as a volunteer on the swim course.

1.Again we will assign exact locations on the water using the LARGE, numbered inflated buoys . Most volunteers will be given a buoy number to go to, avoiding any confusion where you are supposed to be on the course. Yes there will still be my special people who are Zone captains , roamers, or get other special assignments, but most volunteers will be given a number, and an inside or outside course location. If your zone captain (they will have different colored wrist bands) , the police, or Ironman course marshals ask you to relocate , please do .

2.As usual, please let me know if you have special skill sets such as swift water rescue , advanced life support, lifeguard training, and if you have competed in Ironman distance races before.

3. I need a group of special special people again (all volunteers are special, some are more special than others), this includes 9 zone captains (7 zones, 2 backups), shore based spotters along course, waiver/wristband help, volunteer kiosk/ shut down person(s), and the usual assertive/talented boaters to occupy the inside turn and start areas. Let me know who you are, so we can fill these spots ahead of race day.

4.The weather may hand us air that is colder than the water temps. So if you get a bad chill , just roll upside down till you warm up, and roll back up. That was a joke for most of you, do find a way to dress for the morning lows. That means no cotton , all synthetic clothing , you can get separated from your boat so think about full body thermal protection that will fit under your life jacket . If this happens, the water should feel great, until we pluck you out of the water, or get you back in boat . There should be a decent amount of loaner splash tops etc , but cold weather gear will be first come first serve. Of course if you are one of the won-derful loaners of gear, make sure your name/number are on it .

5. Yes you get a volunteer t-shirt as usual , but we will utilize wristbands to identify us as volunteers on the water . Your buoy number/course location will be written on it.

6. All athlete extractions from the course will be made on the outside of the course!! This can be tricky if there is a lot of swim traffic, and you have an athlete on the inside. If you are dealing with an emergency don't delay crossing the course carefully, if an athlete is conceding during heavy traffic, toss the extra life jacket on them, relax, and wait for a safe extraction .

7. We will have a few Anchored resting rafts to be strategically placed along the swim course (please note that athletes will NOT be disqualified by resting on these floats). I will place the approxi-

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mate location of these rafts on the course map, once we have approximate locations and numbers of them.

8. Wet suits are going to be allowed this year . That means most swimmers will float if they stop moving, however DO NOT as-sume ALL swimmers will float . High muscle density , mixed with a thin suit, can create negative buoyancy (sinking). Your #1 piece of gear on the water is that extra life jacket for anyone who seem s to be in distress.

- Our purpose on the water is mainly to provide our eyes and ears to any athlete that is in distress. This is usually a friendly bow or stern to grab onto for a quick rest, a life vest to float on wile waiting to be extracted from the course, and at worst, pointing the search and rescue divers to the last known location of a missing athlete. I'm starting off with this heavy scenario because I hope to never have it occur. Wile the swim portion of Ironman is the only historically lethal portion in the events history, no one has died on the course. That tragedy has been left to the hospitals and motor-ized vessels of EMS, after a coronary type event, not drowning! I don't intend to scare anyone from assisting the swim portion, this is simply my appeal to focus on the competitors, and of all things LISTEN during the event. Seeing someone in distress in the middle of a hundred swimmers, is much harder than hearing the call for help. Other swimmers may buoy an athlete in distress as well.

- With that out of the way let's get to the details for this years event. - Breakfast goods, coffee,etc served both mornings!

-Sat practice swim volunteers meet at the base of Joe's Crab Shack no later than 7:20 am. There will be free parking under I64, Blue Lot, just past the gate and to the right. The practice itself is from 8am-10am, any swimmers in the water past 10a.m. will be in big trouble. The practice course extends from the race day exit steps to the Kennedy (I64) bridge, no swimmers allowed past that point. We will review hand signals etc that morning. Chips will be used to monitor the number of swimmers in and out of the practice course. The short course is easy to spread out evenly on, so no need for Zone captains, or buoy assignments on Sat. This is gen-erally a very relaxing day for athletes and we get a lot of thanks from them.

-Sun event volunteers meet at The Louisville community Boat-house , at the back of the Yellow parking lot, of the Riverfront park system. This lot is across from a ,billboard,and cross fit gym, and there is a new rowing facility between the formerTumble-weed and our lot. Sign ups begin at 6:00am, I will make final announcements around 7:00 and all boats should be launched by 7:15. There is not a separate pro start this year, so all age group athletes will begin race at 7:30 . This is a very intense day for ath-letes , and we are there for the start of it, there is a lot of nervous energy on shore and in the water. What looks to us as a fairly calm event can be quite a different experience for the athletes, many of whom are getting kicked, bumped and poked as they settle into their pace. Be aware of this particularly before the turn.

-EVERYONE on water ,and not competing , must wear a life jacket (PFD), and carry an extra for any athlete who may need one! If you do not have an extra, Ironman has crates of them for you to borrow.

- Anyone who needs gear (boat, PFD, Paddle, etc) let me know. I have started a list, an we have never run out of loaner gear, but you must let me know what you need before the event.

-Your buoy number will be the point you pass before spacing your boat halfway to the next buoy, creating a halfway point between two buoys. The inside boater should stay in line with the course markers, and the outside boat should create about a 60 foot space, on other side of course, for the swimmers. Wind, current, and the water dynamics created by 3000 athletes can move you around, so adjust as needed.

- Be aware that no matter how good/important your place on the course seems, myself, police/fire/coast guard, or zone captains may need to move you about the course to fill gaps etc.

** Course Communication / Signaling These are the same as previous years, but please review them. We will cover them again in the parking lots before launching. 1. Arm raised and steady- This means assistance is needed, and everyone is conscious. 2. Arm raised and waving side to side - This indicates that the swimmer is unconscious and immediate assistance is needed. ( hopefully the other hand is holding onto the athlete or the life jacket wrapped around the athlete). 3. Both arms in an X overhead- Indicates missing swimmer from the surface and will activate the dive team, try to have a good idea where the swimmer was last seen. If you can, try to paddle to that location and stay as close as possible until help arrives. 4. Patting the top of your head- This can be a question, or answer and it means everything is under control, no emergency.5. Whistles - ironman has extras on lanyards, if you need one ask and please return . If you hear or make one blast it means give me your attention. Three sharp blasts indicates an emergency.

-Signals 1-3 can be made with the paddle as well for better visibility from a distance. Last year we were also issued signal flags, they can be stored on your lap or quivered between your life jacket and back. They can be used to make all signals. Hand signals can be done wile using the whistle.

- Once the race is under way, avoid crossing the column of swim-mers unless it is absolutely necessary. If you do need to enter or cross active swimmers, do so in the direction the athletes are swimming. Obviously if a swimmer needs immediate assistance, paddle straight to the athlete, wile trying not to harm others in the process.

- Athletes can use your boat as a temporary rest. It is best not to let them hold on close to the middle of the boat, encourage using the ends of the boat . Weighting the center may cause the boat to flip over.

-It is against the rules to give any athlete forward progress on the course, doing so could cause them to be disqualified. Be aware that some serious forward progress would be needed to affect results, so keep athletes calm who fear they will face the worst, and don't give anyone an advantage, no matter how much money they offer you.

- If you find yourself capsized, and cannot roll back to the sur-face, don't panic, you've got the life jacket on right? Try to keep your boat and other gear away from the swimmers, and either swim to a shallow place to get reset, or someone will be along to assist you.

- Swimmers may stray from the course at any time. Some areas of the course (like the turn area) can have several swimmers off line at any given time. Signaling the athlete(s) and directing them back on course is best done by banging your paddle on top

22

of your boat, then talking with them. Some athletes will want to "swing wide" at the turn, this is OK but try and keep them within 40 yards of the outside of the buoys. If the swimmer wants to go out farther than that, and they seem to be navigating well, leave them alone to tangle with the course director.

- If any athlete attempts to cut the turn short, and does not respond to several attempts at redirection, please get their race number (in marker on the arm and thigh) and report it to your zone captain, or me as soon as possible. The course is open for over 2 hours so if you don't have a good memory or paper and pen, tell others and we will sort it out later.

- You are a volunteer and are not expected to handle athletes (or zone captains, etc) who are problematic, verbally abusive etc. Simply smile and wave, then signal Ironman officials to handle the situation.

-Once all the swimmers have passed you, your zone captain may invite you to go to another zone that needs help, or feel free to follow the group to the finish. After 2 hours 20 minutes form the last swimmer jumping in (Approximately 10:45am) We will be run-ning shuttles from finish, back to the rowing club, if you want one. Do remember to bring your boat up to the Crab shack lot sooner than later if you need shuttle, we don't want to leave anyone behind.

- The first bikes will return to transition around 12:20 am. We should all be off the river by 11 am, so plenty of time to help load gear in our cars, and for those looking for extra credit/raffle ticket, helping load trucks full of swim course gear is our final task. The first bikes will come thru a few at a time, but don't linger too long, or you may get stranded till the bell curve of bikes return from their 112mile voyage. Best way out of the lot is to take a left onto River Rd, then first Right on to Frankfort Av.

-Ironman has a closed media policy regarding the race, so if anyone from the media is asking you any questions, please refer them to me or anyone on Ironman staff.

Thank you and please e-mail me with any questions or gear requests you may have. Todd Schindler bilgebait@bellsouth.net

Posts: 3290 Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 11:35 pm Location: Louisville

October 11, 2015WE blew the minds of the rookie assistant swim course staff ! Oh wait , we do that every year ! 160+ Ironman events worldwide , and once again we make the rest look bad . Thank you all !turbodog

Photos From Gauley Fest 2015 September 22, 2015

Below is a link to the photos I took at Gauley Fest. Wish I would of caught more of you on the River but had an amazing time rafting with Timmy Miller Saturday.Finally fig-

ured out how to let people download pictures from my web-site for free. BWA people need to feel free to use photos as they please. I get allot of enjoyment catching yalls crazy moments. When you click the download button it prompts for a password. Password is boofin.

Gauley Fest Photos http://www.photolandmark.com/Kayak-ing/Gauley-Fest-2015/

Keep Rockin In The Free World,

Koebs

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Advance sales for the 2015 Russell Fork Rendezvous AW Shirt

September 27, 2015

Hi All,

As you should know, the BWA is selling t-shirts this year for the Russell Fork Rendezvous to raise money for American Whitewater. Although the shirts will be available during the weekend of the 24th at the Russell Fork and possible before, I've set up a site where you can beat the crowds, make sure you get the size you want and order your shirt in advance. Advance sales of the shirt cost $20.00 and in-clude free shipping. Although I doubt they will be shipped in time to wear at the event, (but who really wants to wear an event t-shirt at the event) don't miss this chance to support an organization that supports us; American Whitewater.

Bob

Order now, order often, and remember, it's never too early to start that Christmas shopping...

To order your shirts in advance go to www.russellforkshirt.weebly.com [russellforkshirt.weebly.com]

Belated TR Brit's UG PFD (ignore if you read it on FBOctober 01, 2015

For the benefit on those that missed it on FB - the proud dad has to repost here...

Spectacular boating recently! Last weekend Brit and I couldn't work out an Upper Gauley run so we had to settle for a couple of warm up runs on the Lower. My planned week on Upper Yough between weekends didn't work out for work paperwork issues. But I did meandered up to Friendsville early Thur for a couple fun days boating the UY with Fred Wilson, Brent and others. Had a great time meeting / boating with / hanging out with the legendary John Regan. Great guy and fun to hang with. Fred and I did a challenging MTB ride Fri and ended up chasing water and busting through groups on the UY. Was a hoot! Picked up Brit at PIT Fri night and after 4 hrs sleep made an 8 am meetup with Fred our other first timer Mike Wilson and others for Brit's first Upper Gauley run. Like her Dad's first UG trip we had to make it a Marathon (Upper + Lower = 26mi). She styled the Upper and hung with the group for the lower with no complaints. Take that naysayer! winking

smiley No scouting any rapids, just took Fred Wilson's Beta and lead for the most part. One snafu was a breakup of the group due to raft traffic at Insignificant. I was a little rusty (been a while since my last UG run) so inadvertently led her right into the middle of the top right hole of Insig-nificant! I punched it without a stall and Brit stalled for a stroke or 2 but didn't surf smiling smiley At Pillow she was sucked into the toilet bowl backward and flipped while exploring Woodstock hole in Iron Ring. Great rolls in both. We had no swimmers in our large group - always a bonus! smiling smiley Great time as always Sat night at Gauley Fest! Sun it ended up being Brit and I, Jeff K and Phillip Cor-nette. Phillip missed our lead out at Insignificant and ended up surfing then swimming out of the top right hole. The rest of the run was pretty smooth and Brit and I switched lines / results from Sat at Pillow and Iron Ring - I found the toilet bowl and flipped as well on the corner of Woodstock. We did the Pillow jump / swim which is a blast and highly recommended! Due to our diligent training and preparation Brit had an enjoyable intro to the UG and I'm a proud Dad. Also thanks to Koebs for the awesome pics at Pillow on Sat!

Wes

Volunteers (really) needed for Rendezvous October 07, 2015

Hi all,

Well Rendezvous is just around the corner. It's been a mad rush to get it set up but we're in the home stretch and it's going to be a great event, a great way for the club to pull together, have fun and at the same time raise a lot of money for AW. Although several of us have been running ourselves ragged getting this event going, the one thing that we really need to make it a success is you. We need volunteers to work the gate, act as security, and of course to work the firewood detail. All volunteers will be given free admission to the event. Below are the positions and a brief description of the duties.

Gate workers; We need people to work the gate on Sat-urday night. The shifts will be about 1.5 hours long and ideally be ran with 2 people per shift. What you'll be doing during the shift it to make sure that people coming into the event, pay the admission. $10.00 per person. I've done this before and it was actually a lot of fun. You'll also be hand-ing out wrist bracelets to everyone that pays. you'll have a radio and if you need anything I'll be on the other end. The shifts are listed below.

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6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. We need 2 volunteers for this shift. 7:30 p.m. 9:00 p.m. We need 2 volunteers for this shift. 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. We need 2 volunteers for this shift. 10:30 p.m. to Midnight We need 2 volunteers for this shift.

Security People: We need a couple of volunteers to work as security for the event. You'll basically be doing wrist band patrol to ensure that those that are there have paid admission. If any trouble occurs, we need you to defuse the situation as peacefully as possible and try to head off any problems before they arise. Nate and I are available to assist in any areas where additional help may be needed.

Firewood Detail We need at least 2 people with a truck to go to a predetermined place and pick up enough firewood for the 2 bonfires. Although this sounds like a pain, we do this every year and it's really not that big a deal. Besides that, you can do it whenever you want. Friday would be great but any time Saturday before the event will be great as well.

Thanks in advance. Please respond here or feel free to call me with any questions or to volunteer.

Bob 502-550-4225

Lord of the Forks race and Rendezvous. October 07, 2015

During the Steering Committee meeting I made a promise that I'd point out that, although the Lord of the Forks Race and the Rendezvous, being held at Carson Island are gen-erally seen as one and the same, that the two events are completely separate. The Lord of the Forks race, as far as I know is being ran and organized by Eric Henrickson.

When I spoke with Eric, recently via IM he said that preparations for the race were going well and that he could still use some volunteers to work as safety for the race. If you're interested in helping out with the race, his number is 207-272-8014 Bob

October 14, 2015Spoke with Eric and it is my understanding that race will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday! Could use safety boaters and throw rope people at Climax and El Horrendo! May want to check with Eric to be sure.

B.J

Don't forget 1st drop. The one hole on the run that can be terminal even out of your boat. I would want 2 ropes / throwers there! The other holes are more likely to flush you once you are swimming and rope rescue is more a matter of convenience. Also if the manpower is available wouldn't be a bad idea to set rope/boats at Towers and a rope at Fist even thought they are above the start until everyone gets through. Be sure and set the rope above Climax. If you wash into the middle I'm not sure a rope from shore would help? I'm hoping to be there that weekend and be able to help out.

Wes

Allan's 1st GAULEY Trip 10-10-15 October 11, 2015

Super Saturday on the Middle & Lower GAULEY. Thank you Tim S. for posting an coordinating the trip. A super BWA group as always Allan, Dallas, Tim S, Kyle S, Jeff S, Phillip C, Justin, Codie, Jim, Will B, Bob (Kansas), (Jessica & Woodford for shuttle assistance) thank you for including us in excellent day on the Gauley you guys are the best.

Allan's first Middle & Lower Gauley run was super. His first encounter with Julie's Juicer showed how it feels to get juiced, however, it gets better. His skirt imploded somehow, after a couple of interesting roll attempts to roll, he Does roll up with a boat full of water and a confounded look on his face, like " What The....."!, and never even swam. Had some good looking boofs too. Styled the rest of the float like a pro. He showed how to exit the kayak and scale the huge boulder in the middle of the river where the rafters jump for a big splash back into the water. Justin & Tim S. also provided a gracefull boulder jump as well.

There were only 2 swims for the day, I flipped at the top of the drop at Heaven's Gate, the devil told me my head was down while attempting to roll multiple times but everyone else who assisted with my swim didn't agree. So, when entering Heaven's Gate stay upright, there isn't any good down there below, I looked.

We headed back to Lexington, Allan got to sleep & dream of an awesome Gauley trip while the two swimmers in the van stayed awake drove home laughing all the way.

I am so blessed to have the BWA Family to help me in showing Allan the joy in the outdoors & whitewater kayak-ing adventures, I couldn't do it without all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you all are Super.

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They call me Bruce.

Announcement, and explanation, and thanks October 12, 2015

Denile and I dropped off the radar over the last five weeks, and I know some of you have been wondering where we've been. Well, after 12 years of waiting, Denile got a kidney transplant just after Labor Day. It's been a hard road for many reasons, and there are still rough patches in front of us. Denile said it well; a transplant is not a cure, only a treatment. It does, however, hold out the prospect of a bet-ter, healthier and less restrictive life.

We're still going to be in recovery mode for at least another month or two, and we're probably never going to actually pop the champagne corks on this event. You're never re-ally in the clear, a fact we are all too aware of from Denile's first transplant which failed after six years. There is no expiration date on a transplant. It lasts as long as it lasts.

I want to thank everyone who helped us over the last several years. There were numerous times when our home dialysis schedule meant that I had to have someone fill in for me at a rolling session or I was severely restricted in boating time and had to make quick one-day turnarounds or early morning trips to the Gauley. Many of you bent your schedules to accommodate me and give me the pleasure of your company on the road and on the river, which often got me on the water when I otherwise would have had to pass. This helped more than I have the capacity to ex-press, and I possess a lot of expressive capacity. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Many of you have helped us out in a multitude of ways and I can't begin to enumerate all of them, but I am sincerely grateful for all your love and support over the years. One day, I'll buy each and every one of you a beer or a sarsa-parilla.

Have a good weekend, there are many great recreational options available and you should all take advantage of these opportunities to enjoy them while you can. Bring back stories, right now I'm living on stories, and video, and pictures.

Peace be with you,

Hanley Loller

I can tell you are a man who loves his wife w every fiber of

your being. That is such great news to hear! Your dedica-tion and devotion to your wife is something to be admired and emulated. Its getting kinda rare these days(such devotion to your spouse) so it's good to see it. That's great news. God bless you and denalie

tshuler

October 13, 2015

I'm so happy to hear this, but I know this blessing comes with its own specific issues and anxieties. I'll be thinking about both of you and hope to see you both out and about in a river or a pool or at a meeting soon.

-MeganL

Lonnie Bedwell's latest October 13, 2015

Spoke with Lonnie Bedwell yesterday (Oct. 12, 2015) and he gave some details about the Upper Gauley run. Said he ran all the rapids clean with the exception of Pillow and there he flipped and rolled back up! He got surfed at 5- Boat Hole (excuse if I didn't get rapid's name right) and lost all verbal communication and he couldn't get out, so he finally decide to flip on purpose in hope to get "washed out" and that worked! Eric Jackson let Lonnie use one of E.J.'s boats to paddle the U.G. with and told Lonnie that if he completed it that the Jackson's would consider spon-soring Lonnie!!!! (So, if all of us BWAer's would send E.J./Jackson Kayaks a little note recommending Lonnie to be sponsored I am sure he would appreciate it - would be nice for BWA P.R. to have an "Honorary member" sponsored by Jackson!!!) Next "maybe" project for Lonnie: Possible Zam-bizee (excuse spelling) run with the Jackson's and Steve Fisher!!!! Will update further in the future.

B. J. - Kayak Bum: The only ambition I ever had in life, and it was well worth the wait!

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Eddy Lines of InterestBWA General Club MeetingAugust 11, 2015, 7:30pRoosters Restaurant, Lexington, Kentucky

Club President, Bob Larkin, Called the meeting to order at 7:45p and welcomed attendees. Bob briefly reviewed this past week ends summer party at the Ocoee and recognized the great work Clay did with securing location and Adelessa did with the food and related organization. Kudo’s were given to all the new boaters who were out and for the excel-lent race.

Officer reports

Don (Newsletter) – Newsletter coming out soon (next week) and a bit delayed for some stories pending from most recent trips. Republishing a couple of articles from historic archives which Walt hopes will be interesting to readers. Please submit articles or pictures even if you are a new member! Bob encourages members to look back at some of the older bowlines issues as they are very interesting.

Howard (Membership Coordinator) – 325 total members. Past 30 days 14 new or resigned. Largest membership we have had.

Sue (Secretary) – July general club meeting minutes and August steering committee meeting minutes posted today to the forum

Walt (Safety Officer) – season for open pool sessions has ended and new closed pool sessions will begin after new year.

Megan (Member at Large) – No report

Jeff (Treasurer) – $8,300 in bank account. Money for an-other party and also for Ocoee defense fund called out and a discussion regarding the impact of the TVA attempting to increase costs on the local economy discussed. Noted that there are form letters on endless adventures website if anyone interested to submit letters to congress. Bob will research and come back to group with proposal for assisting with TVA issue.

Clay discussed party. We were invited back next year to camp ground and it was a fantastic party!

New Business

Gauley fest is coming up, Sept 18-20. Bob and Megan will be running the booth and it was noted that AW can always use volunteers. Recommendation that everyone become members of AW and you get a $10 discount if you are a BWA member. Gauley fest is a great place to get used equipment. If it is your first festival, recommended you camp on festival grounds. BWA members try to get there early and stake out spots to left behind 4H dining hall to left of entrance.

NPFF road show third weekend in September (second re-lease weekend). New river is great newer class 2, 2+. They have lots of food available to buy that is delicious, and you can bring food to cook but really not necessary.

Robert noted he was paddling Elkhorn a few weeks ago and Sauffley’s is getting a little crazy and some folks getting in the way of the farm across the street so suggested to con-sider using AW for take outs whenever you can so we limit the traffic and vehicles at Sauffley’s.

Stone chimney location at put in has been a problem also and it is recommended to park at put in spot.

Old Business

Discussion regarding AW acres and portable toilets. Com-pany is supposed to be maintaining every month.

Need AW, NPFF and Gauley fest volunteers.

Trip reports

Ocoee race report - 20 racers, Clay pulled win this year. BWA had very high final score. Some very close battles for placement. Susie Jakes won female division. 10 racers from BWA with some late entrance but overall an excellent race.

Bob discussed Ocoee run trip on Sunday and how well new boaters performed. Bob swam Grumpy’s for first time! All new boaters rolled and Megan completed trip without a swim.

Rafting with Jim G and BJ on Saturday which was awesome and discussion of how the trip went.

Dot relayed Saturday experience with boating trip and though challenging, had great experience following female friend down that really helped her with trip.

John and Jesse discussed Sunday Hiawasee trip which went great and they jumped off bridge at the end.

Bryce road his PFD down per Adelessa.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40pm

BWA Steering Committee Meeting Minutes Location: Durachta/Markowitz Residence, Lexington Kentucky Date: September 1, 2015

Attendees: Mike, KC Frankenstein, John, Megan, Jeff, Don, Howard, Bob, Walt, Brandy, Susan, Bob, Joe

Bob called the meeting to order at 7:40pm. Howard made a motion to accept the August minutes as written which John seconded and unanimously carried.

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A Shuttle and gear driver thank you was circulated by Jeff to group.

Officer Reports

Vice-President: Brandy Jones – Nothing new right now related to clinic but will be forthcoming.

Membership: Howard Markowitz – 326 members which is 1 more than last month. New renewals have slowed.

Treasurer: Jeff Kirkner - $8, 365.62 in the bank.

Secretary: Susan Durachta – no report.

Safety Officer: Walt Hummel – no report.

President: Bob Larkin - Appalacian voices coming in Sep-tember. White water park in Boonesboro. Discussion of whether or not we should do this again. Travel agency rep has contacted him about travel, kayaking, flights – question as to whether of interest. Several indicated yes.

Gearmeister: KC Frankenstein – no report.

Newsletter: Don Spangler – Newsletter was published last week. Would like to receive submissions from upcoming Gauley Fest in October.

Webmaster: Joe Wheatley – There is not much on calendar. Wild Apricot prices have increased. Conversation that the site is pretty good.

Member-at-large: Megan Larkin – no report.

NPFF: John Mello – NPFF kick off meeting was held in last week. Bob will be helping to head up Gauley fest activi-ties. Howard will be transitioning into solicitation of silent auction items. John has touched base with Buffalo Trace and everything is in order. Anyone who knows contacts, Directors, film makers – please solicit hard for film submis-sions for the festival as have only received a few still image submissions thus far. Films can be submitted at NPFF.org. Dates are February 19-20 for Gauley Fest, September 18 for Russel-fork. Discussion of what will be needed out of storage for event(s). Discussion was held regarding the po-tential purchase of indoor-outdoor carpet if none are avail-able in storage. A motion was made by Bob to approve up to $250.00 for Brandy to shop for a carpet if needed. John M seconded and motion was unanimously. Discussion held regarding how to obtain an inflatable sofa and one will be looked for to borrow.

Swift water rescue – Bob is looking at setting up a session probably as part of or around the Spring clinic, but most likely a few weeks after. There is a lot of interest in particular with new members. If in good financial position we will want to discuss budget related to this when the time is closer. Ocoee issues raised. Discussion regarding TVA and the im-portance of the TVA to our sport was held. TVA charges for releases which generates big dollars and much to the local economy. The current contract is up March 2019 so Sum-mer season in 2018 scheduled release would be last per the

current contract terms. Deal is in works for rafting compa-nies on Ocoee to fund and that additional cost must then be passed on to clients. Current tickets $37-45, proposed 780% raise on middle, Upper 180% raise with TVA proposal to renegotiate every 5 years. Bob suggests as an organiza-tion we need to come up with and submit our position on this issue. At the online sites for American white water and Savethe ocoee.org you can sign up and send a submis-sion to your legislator and also make a personal donation if desired. Pushing out a statement paper and recommenda-tion to member e-mail or through the Apricot website was discussed. AW has been involved in this issue also. Bob made a proposal that we make a donation to the Ocoee River Council of at least $500. Discussion among steering council members was to increase this amount up to $1,000. Bob will present this issue at the general members meeting next week.

Bob has had it suggested that we do a fund raising for BWA thru t-shirts at the upcoming festivals and he shared a con-cept drawing. Discussion on colors and keeping a neutral color and cut that is both boy and girl. Don suggests considering a club pre-order concept which was well liked by steering com-mittee members. John made a motion for $300 for the fund-raiser T-shirts with pre-order and Sue second the mo-tion which was unanimously carried. Discussion was held regarding whether we should take to membership meeting to consider supporting a higher amount. Bob will also have this as an agenda item for next weeks membership meeting to discuss

Next general club meeting is at Durachta/Markowitz home.

There being no new business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:39 pm

BWA General Club Meeting Minutes Location: Durachta/Markowitz Residence, Lexington Kentucky Date: September 8, 2015

Steering Committee Members Present: Susan Durachta, Howard Markowitz, Megan Larkin, Bob Larkin, John Mello, Brandy Jones, Jeff Kirkner

President, Bob Larkin called the meeting to order at 7:52pm. August 11, 2015 General Club Minutes were distributed for review.

It was asked that Sue correct name of Dottie to Dot in last month minutes. Howard Markowitz made the motion to approve minutes, seconded by Robert and unanimously ap-proved with correction noted.

Evenings speakers, Tom Sexton and Tarence Ray were introduced.

Officers Reports

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Vice-President: Brandy Jones – has identified a rug for pur-chase and will be procuring prior to Gauley.

Membership Coordinator: Howard Markowitz – 328 mem-bers – up 3 from last month

Treasurer: Jeff Kirkner – noted that at one time we ear-marked money for renovations of AW Acres but renovations were never initiated. Annually we provide about $1,000 for AW maintenance (mowing, etc).

Secretary: Susan Durachta – inquired to group about prefer-ence to post minutes more quickly after meeting and have any corrections from input if no one minds draft minutes being posted. Preference is to have minutes posted sooner after meeting and corrections made later as needed.

Safety Officer: Walt Hummel – not present

Conservation Officer: Eli Purdy – not present

Program Director: Mike Wilson – not present

Newsletter: Don Spangler – not present

Webmaster: Joe Wheatley - not present

Gearmeister: KC Frankenstein – not present

Member-at-large: Megan Larkin – no report

NPFF: John Mello – call to support Gauley NPFF booth. Film festival Feb 19-20 and things moving along well

President: Bob Larkin – have set up volunteers needed to run booth for Gauley and still need some assistance for hauling, booth set up and tear down.

Bob then opened discussion on the Ocoee. He has been in contact with Ocoee River Council and he discussed the structure of the TVA and structure of the contract which ex-pires in the Spring of 2019, and if not renewed, releases will end with expiration of the contract. Ocoee is an extremely popular white water site and accounts for more than 622 full time jobs and generates greater than $42M. Fee increases would be significant. Impact for our group is that it promotes the sport significantly, and we use the water within our club. Bob asked the club to consider opposing the increases and indicated that several clubs have done so and the benefits of doing so. Bob then passed around a resolution of opposi-tion for members to consider and asked members to con-sider signing. He then asked the membership to consider financial support and indicated the steering committee had discussed and is supportive. Zena made a motion to support giving Ocoee River Council $1,000 which was seconded by John. Further discussion was held regarding AW support of this. Bob indicated AW is supportive and that AW supports through the Ocoee River Council. Discussion regarding cur-rent fund balance of approximately $8,300 and whether that is common annually. Usually we do not have this much of a

cushion but winter roll session was strong this past winter and also spring clinic attendance was higher than normal. Normal margin is around $3-5k. There being no further discussion, motion was put to vote and unanimously carried. Howard made a motion to approve the club’s support of the resolution of opposition which was seconded by Meghan. Suggestion was made that it be posted for members on our site. There being no further discussion, motion was put to vote and unanimously carried.

Bob then discussed T-shirt design for Rendezvous and presented some potential samples for members. Discussion was held regarding BWA providing some seed money to fund the shirts initially and they would be sold with any profit being rolled back into the club fund. Bob indicated the steer-ing committee had initially discussed $300 but that he would like the members to consider supporting $500. Discussion of desire to have quality t-shirts and some expressed desire for a performance fabric as opposed to cotton. Bob will review the options available and report back.

Evenings speaker Tarence Ray, Appalachian Voices Field Coordinator then provided a presentation focused on envi-ronmental and water quality efforts for Kentucky.

Trip reports – brief trip reports provided

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm

BWA Steering Committee Meeting October 6, 2015, 7:30p Etheros Brewery

Attendees: Meghan, Bob, Howard, Sue, Don, KC, Jeff, John, Brandy, Michael, Eli, Paul, Joe

Bob called the meeting to order at 7:43p. Our new member Michael was welcomed.

Bob discussed fun of Gauley Fest and how well everything went including the excellent decorations/living room area set up by Brandy for the film viewing.

Russell Fork Rendezvous was discussed and it was initially cancelled by other supporters – BUT, we plan to hold our own Rendezvous event anyway! Unfortunately, Ratliff Hole is not available for this…however, Carson Island is avail-able and we have confirmed this location for it. It will be a great event with some of the typical drum circles and fun on Friday night, two bands on Saturday and we will hold a raffle – this will be a 20th anniversary celebration. Nate has been instrumental in raising money in the past for this event, and will again leverage efforts to raise money. Bob indicated he would like the committee to consider funding $300 to AW Acres for the Rendezvous event. Howard made a motion to fund the $300 to AW Acres which Meghan seconded. Dis-cussion was held regarding liability insurance coverage and

29

any risk associated with BWA resulting from the race, Lord of the Forks, that is held at Russel Forks at this same time. Bob clarified that the Lord of the Forks race is absolutely not part of our Rendezvous event and that it just happens to occur that same weekend. Further discussion was held. Bob indicated that he would ensure a posting stating the race is in no way associated with BWA or the Rendezvous weekend event is placed on the Forum and would consider if there are any other appropriate actions he should take to ensure this is well documented and communicated. There being no fur-ther discussion, the motion was put to vote and unanimously carried.

KC – no report.

Eli – Discussed that he is working on the Elkhorn clean up this coming spring. Discussion was held regarding the Port-a-potty and changing rooms at AW Acres property and whether or not we should consider getting rid of them as they are unused and an eye sore, in particular the chang-ing area. Noted the Port-a-Potty was implemented when a neighbor to the property complained of being offended by individuals relieving themselves publicly on the property. Eli will follow up on Port-A-Potty’s being serviced regularly. General agreement that the changing area is in poor condi-tion. Eli was asked to get some quotes to knock it down and replace it and bring the quotes to the committee for review and consideration.

Sue – no report.

Don – September/October issue of Bowlines in the works. Don would love to have pictures from Gauley for the news-letter. Bob suggested a post on the forum asking for pictures and Bob will talk with Kyle about being our official photogra-pher for Rendezvous.

Paul – Winter roll sessions will start sometime the second week in January and run until the weekend before spring clinic (approximately). Currently working on lifeguard details and $75 per session will be our cost/charge again this year.

Howard - 328 members and Mike is newest

Meghan – no report

Brandy – Carson Island has electricity – Hurray! Moonshine District and Hot Chicks are bands arranged and would like to pay them $350 and create a communal beverage cooler for them. Great bands for space and Brandy will run the dance party.

John – NPFF both at Gauley went great and much apprecia-tion to all volunteers. Next NPFF meeting sometime in early November. Kudo’s to Brandy for decorating the NPFF booth at Gauley!

Jeff - $1,000 was paid to the legal representation for Ocoee. $7,587.99 is current balance. Asked if current balance is any concern for tax purposes and Jeff confirmed we are still

below the IRS guideline amount so no concerns.

Joe – Not much to relay on site – discussed meeting loca-tion for general meeting which will be Roosters and Joe will ensure it is posted on the site. Not much activity until January roll sessions and newsletters. Question regarding Christmas party date and Bob indicated we would start plan-ning after Rendezvous.

New Business

Bob called for any other new business, and there being none raised, the business portion of the meeting was con-cluded and trip reports were given.

Brandy had first trip on Gorge and it was Sweet!! Then next day upper Russell Fork which was tough and included a bump to her head, but all is well. Class 5 Carry into the Rockcastle by Joe. Meghan did run on lower Gauley and swam twice and rolled 7 times – it was rough but great! Don has been up North to Adirondacks at Moose and Hudson Gorge but there was no water release so had great time but no paddling other than some lake paddle. Paul worked with TRR clinic with visually impaired on Nantahala. Sue and Howard did the Elkhorn this past weekend with John and saw an eagle a bit before AW takeout which was very cool.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:45p.

October 08, 2015

There are only 236 active members in the database. 83-85 are in the renewal overdue/lapsed state. Should probably think about archiving those. There are about 10 in the new or renewal pending state that should be investigated to see if they have or are ever going to pay or not.

Jr.

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Russell Fork Rendezvous is just around the corner. Since Gauley Fest, when Nate, the President of the Vikings and I realized that no one was actually putting together anything for the event, and thus there wasn’t going to be a Rendezvous, we’ve been working together to get this event up and going. Here’s the details of what's going so far;

This year will be the 20th Anniversary of the Russell Fork Rendezvous and we’ve come up with an event that we hope will do the occasion justice. On the weekend of October 23rd and 24th the Rendezvous will be held at Carson Island, just outside of Elkhorn City, KY. On Friday night, the event will kick off with bonfires, drum circles, (All players are invited to attend) and kayak movies, provided by the NPFF Road Show.

On Saturday, the event will kick into high gear. Starting at 6, we have 2 bands playing; an awesome band called Moonshine District, and a festival favorite from events across the Southeast, River Funk. Later, probably around 10:00, we’ll kick off the Dance Party, which will go as long as you’re willing to dance. There will also be bonfires, drums until who knows when and a costume contest. Come as you are or dress up, there will be plenty to do and see. Tickets for the event are $10.00 per person, with all the proceeds going to American Whitewater.

Don’t forget, t-shirts for the event (I just got them in and they look great.) They are available for advance pur-chase at:

http://russellforkshirt.weebly.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

We need volunteers for this event. GO TO :http://www.bluegrasswildwater.org/bwaforum/read.php?5,27406,27449#msg-27449

Bob Larkin, President BWA

20th Anniversary of the Russell Fork Rendezvous

October 23rd and 24th Carson Island Elkhorn City, KY$10.00 per person, proceeds go to American Whitewater

2 bands Dance Party Bonfires & Drums Costume Contest Paddling Movies