July/August 2001 - Bluegrass Wildwater Association

Newsletter of The Bluegrass Wildwater Association July/August 2001
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: French Doors and Shriveled Carrots
Dear Whitey Waters
The “Gracious” Take-Out
Free the Ocoee
Safety Lines
Kayak Roller Derby
FRENCH DOORS AND SHRIVELED CARROTS
The Kentucky Contingent: Kyle Meserve, Elizabeth Pugh, Jeannette Quinn, Dave Merrifield,
Amy Quinn, Lee White, Kathy Cole, Paul Bracken
Madawaska.
From the start, hearing the name brought to mind visions of grandeur – great rapids, fast water, quick learning,
awesome paddling…I first heard it mentioned at dinner on the return trip from the Emory-Obed after the Y2K
beginner’s trip that I knew was only the beginning of my kayaking adventures. As I reveled in the memories of the
weekend past, I remember sitting, eating pizza, listening to those at the table talk about what an incredible
experience Madawaska had been for BWA paddlers in the past, and would surely be that year again. Right there
and then I decided that one day I would go. Little did I know that before it was over, my strongest memories of
continued on pg. 4
1
Dear Whitey Waters
Whitey has been an icon
in the paddling community
for several years, and now
has agreed to share the
vast knowledge accumulated through trials and
tribulations in the boating
world. From equipment
questions, to technique suggestions, to relationship
problems, Whitey will help you through it all. Just ask
Whitey.
Bowlines is the Newsletter of the Bluegrass Wildwater
Association, PO Box 4231, Lexington Ky, 40544
Club Officers 2001-2002
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
Safety
Program
Newsletter
Cyber Communications
Conservation
National Paddling
Film Festival Coordinator
Equipment Coordinator
At-Large Members:
E-mail your questions to the newsletter editor:
[email protected]
Be sure to put “Dear Whitey” in the subject line
Dear Whitey,
My knees hurt after a day in C-1. What can I do?
Neal Soffly
Wildwater Cats Rep.
Past President
Dear Neal,
You might consider getting RK, or Radical Kneeectomy. The surgeon severs your Anterior Excruciating
Ligament and sutures it to your Medieval Collateral
Ligament. You can kneel without pain for hours after
that. Or you might look into LASIK, or Large Arse Sit In
Kayak. Many boaters find their butts support more load
than their knees.
Whitey
David Reed
Duke Urch
Burgess Carey
Dave Merrifield
Larry Cable
John Foy
Kathy Cole
Don Spangler
Terese Pierskalla
859-527-5898
859-266-3777
859-351-9444
859-223-5943
859-255-8961
859-278-2536
859-272-4744
859-277-7314
859-277-9737
Dave Margavage 502-876-0468
Tom Hillman
859-624-4373
Karah Nazor
Liz Kaufmann
Bruce Rishel
859-879-6538
Join in on the Fun!
BWA website: http://www.surfbwa.org
Join the BWA! BWA Membership $20/individual; $25/Family year
entitles you to receive the newsletter, 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 listserve for members’ messages.
Meetings are held at 7:30, the second Tuesday of each
month at Mark’s Feed Store, Lexington, Ky.
Dear Whitey,
Any ideas to make Olympic paddling more interesting to TV audiences?
Straight Mann
Submission of Newsletter articles preferred on zip or floppy disk
(Mac or PC) or typed. Pictures can be digital or ready to be scanned.
Please include stamped envelope for return. Files can also be emailed to: [email protected]
Dear Straight,
Glad you asked. One word: Biathlon. Imagine paddlers running class V rivers & pausing at selected
eddies to take rifle shots at targets (rafters, open
boaters). It works in skiing for the winter olympics. To
make it more interesting, we could have the paddlers
take shots at each other. We could make boating more
popular than WWF and roller derby combined.
Whitey
Dear Whitey,
I've been dating a really great guy who's charming,
witty, handsome, and treats me like a princess. But
there's one big problem. He paddles a Crossfire
(yuck) and constantly flips and swims in eddies.
This is very embarrassing for me since I'm a class
V boater. I'm thinking of dumping him. What should
I do?
EZ Girl
Dear Whitey,
I think you're funnier than Scott Adams, better
looking than any Backstreet Boy and a better
paddler than EJ.
Secret Admirer
Dear EZ,
Ah love. Do you love paddling more than you love this
dude? If so, dump him. If not, compromise. Maybe you
can fish him out of the Nantahala on one weekend and
he can be your shuttle bunny on the Russell Fork the
next. Perhaps most importantly, does he make your
girlfriends jealous of you? If so, keep him.
Whitey
Dear SA,
Thanks, Mom.
Whitey
2
middle of summer! That meant that “Rocky Top” should
not be very rocky and there should be some great
surfing waves at the “Confluence”! Sure enough,
everything was as you hoped and by the time you got
to the Canyon you were not sure you could handle
much more fun (but you did!). At the takeout you were
feeling so good you did not even complain about
carrying your boat up the hill to the car. It did not take
long to tie the boats up and head back home.
“What a perfect day!”
Wrong! You just missed some of the best moments of a
river trip all in the name of being quick and efficient!
Slowing down and taking twenty or thirty minutes to
enjoy a “gracious” take out is the sign of the sophisticated experienced paddler.
What is a “gracious takeout”? It can be any takeout. It
depends only on attitude and a little preparation. It
takes advantage of that feeling of satisfaction and contentment you have after a day of fun on the river. A
“gracious takeout” gives everyone time to relive some
great moments and start weaving the stories that can
be told and retold around the campfires in years to
come. Not the least, it gives everyone time to build
bonds of friendship before heading back to the everyday world. So when you get that boat to the top of the
hill, slow down and have a “gracious take-out!
Don Spangler
The “Gracious”
River Take Out
This is where planning ahead is important. Open your
cooler and pull out a beer or pop and a snack. (Shame
on you if you did not bring some extra to share with the
newer or less experienced boaters.) You spent a lot of
effort on the river and now is the time to help your body
to recoup. Your gear needs a few minutes to dry out
anyway!
Don Spangler
It has been quite an unexpected day! Last evening
you got a call from your paddling buddy that an unexpected thundershower had brought up the Big South
Fork to 5400 cfs, making a run on the BSF a sure thing
for Sunday. Your buddy said he would pick you up at
6:30 in the morning and you would meet the rest of the
gang at Burnt Mill Bridge about 10:30. This would
guarantee a noon put-in at the O & W Bridge, the
traditional favored put-in time for a BWA river trip. All
you had to do was get clearance from “the powers that
be”. You breathed a sigh of relief, you fortunately had
not put off doing the weekend “chores” till the last
moment, so that should assure a no hassle clearance
for going boating! You were right! No begging this
time...it was also remembered that the last time you did
not get your “Hydrotherapy” you were miserable to be
around the next day. So it was “Hip, Hip Hooray! A
boating I will go!”
Take time to hear about Dave’s first ender, or Bill’s
swim at First Drop and to relate your “drop in the hole
from hell” tale. Savor the day and your friends. These
moments do not happen often enough. There will be
plenty of opportunities to “rush” and be efficient at work
on Monday. You can extend the glow further by organizing a visit by all at a great restaurant on the way home.
By great I do not mean one of those fast food or chain
restaurants. This should be a unique day from begining
to end! You eat enough at them back in Lexington. Go
for the “hole in the wall” with the great local catfish and
hush puppies or some other southern specialty.
In short, the “gracious takeout” is developing the habit
of enjoying to the max the total experience of paddling:
the day, the river trip, your friends. You will never regret
those moments you spend savoring a gracious takeout.
So slow down and have a gracious takeout on your
river trips!
That Sunday morning, things went like clockwork! Your
padding buddy was on time for a change and off to the
river you went. Things could not have worked out
better, and everyone was on the BSF at noon. The river
had dropped down to 2600 cfs, a real treat for the
3
cont. from pg. 1
Madawaska would revolve around French doors and
shriveled carrots.
start the competition.
Ironically, then, as it turned out, Kyle and I ended up in
the same group. It was truly the Kentucky contingent,
with only four total in the group with 3 being from
Kentucky (Elizabeth was the third). The trash talk
between Kyle and I started immediately when I paddled
over upon my demotion and said “great, now I can
show you up every day and it will be easy for everyone
to see”, and continued when he stated as his goal for
the course “ I just want to kick your butt”. At that point, I
began to feel sorry for our paddling companions who it
appeared were in the middle of the battle zone!
Fast-forward a year to the 2001 BWA beginner’s clinic.
Things were different! Surrounded by friends instead of
strangers, we enjoyed camaraderie (and lots of beer)
around the campfire. Woodford Reserve was THE
menu for some, (read Cole, Merrifield and Meserve),
and as a result entertainment was at a peak for those
of us sober enough to enjoy it. Late that evening, the
topic of a Madawaska wager was introduced. By
whom? Who knows? As I recall it, it went something
like this:
Kyle: “I’m going to kick your butt in Madawaska.”
Jeannette: “ Yeah, right. Let’s make a bet. You name it.”
Somehow, the competition took on a life of its own. Kyle
soon began using his now famous weasel words of
“well, we never worked out the details”. Before I knew it,
people I had never talked to before were coming up to
me and saying “so, did you kick any butt today?” At one
point someone Kyle had never seen paddled past him
on the river and asked “how about those French
doors?” But the kicker was when Claudia sat down at
dinner with us one night during (surprise) a discussion
of “The Bet”. As a result, she overheard the supposed
terms of our wager, and felt a bit put on the spot. After
all, her rating could be the thing that gave one or the
other of us the victory. As she said “I didn’t need to
hear that!”
Now, I had in mind something small like, say, $100. But
No! My husband, armed with his immense faith in my
abilities, blurted out “how about French doors?”. So,
before the night was over, we had agreed to a little bet.
If I performed better at the school, Kyle would install the
French Doors Paul and I wanted in our bathroom at
cost (free labor). If Kyle performed better, I would pay
him double his normal labor rate. With the memories of
last year’s clinic still fresh in my mind (with the bottom
of Kyle’s boat more visible than the top, and that paddle
that has “HELP” inscribed), I wasn’t too worried J.
The next morning I fully expected that Kyle, sober and
in the light of a new day, would think better of his bet
and worm his way out of it. But, again, no! He surprised
me by not only remembering the bet, but saying that
we needed to “work out the details”. At the time, I did
not recognize that statement as code words for “we’ll
never get together to work out the details, therefore
there will be no bet”. So at the start of the Madawaska
trip, from my perspective, THE BET was on! “May the
best paddler win!”
The first day of the competition, oh, I mean the school,
dawned bright and clear. Although, as Kyle kept
pointing out, no official rules
had been established, a
pattern seemed to develop.
Over the course of the day,
we pretty much decided
who was “ahead” for the day.
At first, I had no idea how
everyone seemed to know
“the score” before any of us
had shared it. Before long
though, the truth emerged.
My enterprising and clever
sister had planted a spy in
our group! She recruited the
Barb the “Spy”
one non-biased person in
our crew (Barb) to give her regular updates on
progress – A SPY!!!!!!! So the report was given daily
and general consensus seemed to build regardless of
how Kyle and I might have felt about the whole thing.
The first day though was pretty clear, since Kyle spent
quite a bit of time visiting with the fish, checking out the
local underwater vegetation, as he peacefully meandered through various wave trains at Chalet rapid. Kind
of reminded me (happily!) of last year’s beginner’s
clinic. YES! So day one was a clear victory for me.
Yippee! French doors on the way!
The first strike was made during the class groupings.
As many of you know, the first day students are placed
in groups based on their performance in running gates
in flatwater, and then a follow-up conversation with
Claudia, the director and owner of the school. As we
did our runs through the flatwater gates, Kyle was
placed in one group, while I was initially placed in a
“more advanced” group. You know, the one with the
paddler whose mother won a silver medal in a kayaking
event in the 1972 Olympics. Wooohoooo!! . Lucky
break for me when I was displaced by a better paddler
and demoted to Kyle’s group. Later, I was accused of
biasing my placement by name dropping (Ocoee!)
while neglecting to mention swimming the Olympic
section. My response? Hey, whatever works. I couldn’t
hold back on being Bullish! I was out for French doors
and there was no use waiting for paddling to begin to
4
Elizabeth exhibited a brilliant maneuver
where as she made the turn downstream
she flipped, and then rolled beautifully
right into the eddy. What a move! It became more graceful each of the three
times she performed it. During this same
timeframe, Kyle was working on immortalizing himself. To get from the eddy between gates 11 and 12 to the one behind
what was formerly known as SWIMMER’S
rock, one needed to ferry up and onto a
wave heading towards river right, and then
turn and punch through a hole to hit the
eddy. The trick on this run was to make
sure you hit the hole straight on – tricky!
As Kyle swam this rapid over and over,
Gates at Chalet Rapid (Kyle’s Rock on left). Picture taken without dam released water.
people gradually stopped calling it
In the meantime, there was much discussion among
swimmer’s rock, and instead just starting referring to it
the Kentucky contingent, The Spy, and other interested
as KYLE’S rock. I spent some time upside down in this
parties as to how points would be scored. If one hit the same wave that day…the first time rolled and missed
eddy-did that give additional points? What about
the eddy, the second time rolling and still catching the
nailing the “sweet” combat rolls? Were there points for
eddy (inspired by Elizabeth, no doubt!). This gave me
the best swimming technique? The idea of breaking
major bonus points in The Spy’s eyes and put me on
down the whole process was almost overwhelming to
top in the competition again for the day.
the trained observers. But from the reports I have
heard, there was definitely a concerted effort to keep
Now, I don’t like to mention this, seeing as it is my
the tallies fair and square!
article and all, but the truth is, although Kyle was
coming out behind each day because of his affinity for
On the second day of the school we paddled down
the fishes, he was doing a much better job than I was
from the dam and in theory were practicing the sweep
at navigating gates and making eddies. I was spotted
low brace or Duffek. However, our instructor kept telling by members of the KY contingent bumbling gates and
us not to eddy out as we traveled down river. “We’ll do
almost missing eddies, while Kyle was sailing through
that when we get further down” or “ there are better
places to do that” are the quotes I remember. The
Spy and I were a bit frustrated, but managed to
relieve some of it by sneaking in some eddy-work
when our instructor wasn’t looking. Then, Kyle slyly
capitalized on my frustration by scoring his first
major points as we went through Staircase rapid.
He executed a beautiful sweep/duffek into Football
eddy at the base of the rapid. I on the other hand
paddled right by it and frantically scrambled just to
get into Fumble eddy right below. YIKES! I was
behind! And to make it worse, he hadn’t even swum
yet that day! Things got better (from my perspective
J) though as we finally made it to Chalet, where we
were “allowed” to work on catching eddies. Our
instructor said “OK, let’s try these intermediate
eddies, and if you get them all the first time then
Kyle and Elizabeth at Garvin’s Chute on the Ottawa
we’ll know you guys have it and we can move on.
This was the first time that I seriously considered that
looking remarkably coordinated for someone who
our instructor might be on drugs or had perhaps
couldn’t roll a boat. And he had caught football eddy
suffered one too many concussions. Needless to say,
earlier that day…. Was the tide turning? As mentioned
we did NOT make all the eddies on the first run,
earlier, there was much talk about how those kinds of
although I believe this was when Elizabeth began
things would play into the final tallies. Feeling threatperfecting the patent-pending “rolling eddy” stroke. In
ened by all this high-falutin’ maneuvering, I decided I
moving from an eddy on river left to one on river right,
had better play some mind games with the man just to
cont. on pg. 6
5
cont. from pg. 5
throw him off stride for the next day. The “school” day
had officially ended, and we were just paddling around
in an eddy at the bottom of Chalet. My plan to unnerve
Kyle was 2-fold. My first move was to just keep rolling
my boat over and over again as many times in a row as
I could. In truth, I just like to do that. But I thought the
added bonus of reminding Kyle that some people DO
roll couldn’t hurt! Then, I asked Kyle if I could try out his
new boat – an awesome Outlaw. He generously turned
it over to me, and I paddled it around. Sweet! Then I
rolled in it a few times just to prove that it could be
done…as I mentioned to him, some of us were starting
to wonder. Happy with the icing I had just put on the
cake, I headed up to the cabins for grub, beer and fun,
happily again thinking of those French doors.
Thursday dawned beautiful and crisp. The nervous
energy at the breakfast table was palpable. After all,
The Wager had been a hot topic and this was the day
of reckoning! I noticed a few huddles occurring with
the Kentucky contingent and The Spy. Speculative
glances were sent our way. The pressure was building!
On this day, the plan was to practice the intermediate
eddies again (so much for one time through and move
on!), and then to finally go to the intermediate level
gates. Our instructor was somewhat fond of the “start
with the hard stuff and work towards the easier stuff”
philosophy, so the only gates we had had the opportunity to do up to that point were the advanced. Although
The Spy did very well on those, the rest of us spent our
time just working on eddy skills. So the morning ended
up being great fun, because the intermediate gates
were truly a hoot. From my standpoint, it was really
quite difficult to execute them cleanly.
Not surprisingly, The Spy did very well,
and Kyle also did several very nice
runs through the gates (uh oh!!!!!) I on
the other hand flipped and rolled on my
first attempt. Was there a pattern here?
Elizabeth was giving it a try, but in all
truth, her heart really didn’t seem in it.
By this time we were all tired – it had
been a long week. But wait! What was
this? Suddenly, it appeared that
Elizabeth had her own cheering
section! I looked up, and what did I see
but Dwayne, the OC-1 instructor, up on
a rock. What an incredible bundle of
energy that man is! He was chanting
“Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth”. Well. I
thought I had seen the gates done
nicely by Kyle and The Spy, but I had
seen nothing like what transpired next!
As she looked up at Dwayne, Elizabeth’s eyes began to
glow with determination (or was it something else???).
She then effortlessly moved up to gate 20 and executed a flawless run as if she had been doing it all
day. The cheers were deafening! As Kyle complimented
her on her performance, she stated “I can do anything
if you just put a carrot in front of me”. Hmmm....Thus, in
our minds, the saga of Dwayne and Elizabeth was
born. Needless to say, that night, the bet was a secondary topic of conversation!
The next day though my negative karma came back to
haunt me. Kyle spent the morning catching eddies and
Butterfly Rapid on the Ottawa
then rolling at a surf hole as well! I on the other hand
was just barely catching the intermediate eddies. The
only thing that even kept me in the running that day
was the rolls I kept hitting and the swimming that Kyle
kept doing. In my mind it was shaping up pretty
clearly…I was performing better in the rolling area,
while Kyle was performing better in maneuvering. This
battle was tighter then I had anticipated. And sure
enough - by the end of the morning Kyle had captured
his first win – he was ahead for the day! The Spy
seemed broken-hearted as she informed me that she
had had to make that sad report to my sister.
In the end, no one in our group did the “test” to get an
official rating. More time to paddle and play! However,
we did run the intermediate gates one last time before
we paddled down to play in some surf holes. And in a
suitable “end” to the bet saga, neither Kyle nor I realized that Claudia was there when I did my last run
through the gates. Even so, I was determined! I had
only managed to catch all 5 gates once, and I was hellcont. on pg. 7
It was starting to look like the bet would come down to
the wire. Both The Spy and Elizabeth had gracefully
bowed out of testing; expressing that they were there
purely for fun and that testing wasn’t in their best
interest. That left the fierce competition between Kyle
and myself!
6
reimburse TVA for lost power revenues. When water is
released on the upper Ocoee, it bypasses the Ocoee
No. 3 powerhouse. Since the 1996 Olympic course
was built, TVA has provided about 13 days of free
water on the Upper Ocoee for races and special
events. An additional 20 days of water have been paid
for each year by outfitters that run rafting trips down the
river.
Whitewater releases on the middle Ocoee are financed
through a $7.4 million appropriation paid to TVA in the
early 1980’s. Under that plan, outfitters are gradually
reimbursing the US Treasury through rafting fees. The
$20 million made each year by commercial outfitters on
the middle Ocoee recirculates at least five times in the
community, generating a total direct and indirect benefit
of $100 million. By contrast, the TVA would make only
$268,000 from selling the power made with that water,
and that money leaves the community, going straight to
TVA’s coffers. Nor would the TVA suffer undue harm by
releasing the water. The Ocoee No. 3 powerhouse
generates only 28MW - not even 1/100th of TVA’s total
generating capacity of 29,469 MW. And this will become increasingly marginalized as TVA further expands capacity by opening new plants over the next
two years.
Free the Ocoee
Terese Pierskalla
On July 26, 2000 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
wrote to American Whitewater (AW), thanking their
Ocoee Festival for “contributing to the economic wellbeing of the Ocoee region”, and also to alert AW that
“after 2001 TVA will no longer provide free water for
whitewater events on the Ocoee.”
Founded in the 1930’s, the TVA’s mission was to
provide flood control, navigation, reforestation, and
agricultural and economic development for this Appalachian region. Now the largest electrical utility in the
US, the TVA’s focus is on producing power. Even
though it is definitely far more beneficial to the community to have whitewater releases than to use that same
water for power generation, the TVA recently announced they were increasing the fees that outfitters
pay for whitewater releases. Outfitters pay the fees to
According to the TVA, The Ocoee dams were constructed solely for power generation and were never
intended to have any recreational function. The TVA
also says they have no stewardship responsibilities on
the upper and middle Ocoee other than power generation.
cont. on pg. 8
cont. from pg. 6
fully expecting that it was a good omen for her chances
of success with
the whirling
dervish
Dwayne…and
THAT is a topic
for another
story!
bent on doing it one last time. So I set out, and had an
ugly but successful run through those tricky gates.
Exhausted, I got out of my boat to watch Kathy’s group
perform. They were awesome! As they finished,
Claudia yelled down to Kyle “Hey, what about those
French doors? Jeannette got a 40 on her run through
the gates!” Ha!!! Talk about being put on the spot! Kyle
was truly braver than I as he gamely set out to run the
gates one last time. As is the way of things, he was
unable to make a clean run although I had seen him do
it beautifully as least 5 times that morning already. Ah!
The luck of the Irish! Happy to have it, I floated off
downriver thinking of how nice those French doors
would look in my bathroom…
So in the end, it
was
Madawaska,
Lamentations from Elizabeth
French doors,
and a shriveled carrot. Who could have known that
finally, those same things would become code words
for great paddling, great friends, great fun, and great
memories.
That night, Amy and I took a walk down to the river to
take one last look at the scene of all the fun (and
carnage) and to snap some photos. As luck would have
it, we found something that absolutely HAD to be given
to Elizabeth. There, sitting on a rock, shriveled by the
hot sun was (you guessed it) a carrot. We reverently
picked it up and hand-delivered it to her, hoping and
Story by Jeannette Quinn (with some excellent additions from big sis Amy!)
Photos by Amy, Jeannette and Paul
7
our rivers, particularly such an extraordinary resource
as the Ocoee. By building the Olympic whitewater
course, the taxpayers have already invested millions of
dollars in downstream recreation…. The river and the
value it creates is part of our common heritage, and
should be shared by all…”
Although AW will continue to work for free releases on
the Ocoee, the TVA needs to hear from us, the boaters
who use the Ocoee. Write, call or email your elected
representatives and the TVA and let them know that
whitewater releases on the Ocoee are important to you.
Below is contact information for the TVA and a sample
letter from AW. You can also find out more about
freeing the Ocoee on AW’s website:
www.americanwhitewater.org.
AW has recently organized a coalition of paddlers,
outfitters, local businesses and others and their goal is
the development of a long-term water management
plan that balances the needs of competing interests in
the basin including power generation, whitewater
recreation and reservoir interests. American
Whitewater is optimistic that a plan can be developed
to meet these diverse interests. Already they have had
positive feedback from Congressman Zach Wamp of
Tennessee who said “I believe in the shared usage of
email Craven Crowell, Chairman Tennessee Valley
Authority at: [email protected]
Write To:
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 W. Summit Hill Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37902-1499
Phone: 865-632-2101
SAMPLE LETTER
Craven Crowell, Chairman Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 W. Summit Hill Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37902-1499
Phone: 865-632-2101
1996 Olympic Games by taxpayer dollars.
In this, not only does the TVA not live up to the 70-yearold requirements of its original charter, it shows a
distinct lack of respect for the ancient doctrine of the
public trust which forms part of the basis for English
common law and America’s legal system. This doctrine
establishes that by “natural law, these things are the
common property of all - air, running water, the sea,
and with it the shores of the sea.” Privately-owned
hydropower utilities are able to comply with environmental and recreational requirements based on this
doctrine. Why not the TVA?
Dear Mr. Crowell:
I protest the Tennessee Valley Authority’s extraordinary
decision to demand payment for water in the upper
Ocoee River below one of the TVA’s dams.
The TVA as originally conceived was for the uplift of the
Appalachian region, stimulating economic activity so as
to elevate the region from its plight. As such, TVA was
to control the integrated regional development of the
valley’s resources, and whitewater recreation is certainly an important part of this region’s economic
development.
We request this decision be set aside until such time
as the public, including whitewater boaters and American Whitewater, have had adequate opportunity for
comment and discussion. American Whitewater has
successfully represented our members’ conservation
interests with utilities such as Pacific Gas and Electric
and Southern California Edison, and looks forward to
doing so with the TVA.
This decision to cut off water in the upper Ocoee
riverbed shows an undeniable lack of concern for the
burgeoning recreational boating industry on both the
middle and upper Ocoee River which last year drew
over 301,000 boaters, generating over $40 million for
the local economy. Many came to use the $22 million
whitewater course on the upper Ocoee, built for the
Sincerely,
(your name)
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Safety Lines
Larry Cable
Wilderness First Aid Course
TEXT
The cost of the course includes handouts and lecture
notes. Our textbook, The Outward Bound Wilderness
First Aid Handbook, is optional and is available for an
additional $14.95.
What do you do when you can’t call 911? Have you
had the Red Cross courses and aren’t satisfied with
what you have been taught? Maybe a Wilderness First
Aid course is the answer. Designed for the serious
outdoors person, it deals with improvising equipment,
prolonged care and severe environments.
I have contacted Wilderness Medical Associates
about teaching this class for us in the Lexington area.
The course requires a minimum of 14 students; we can
teach as many as 25. This is a two day course, 8 hours
each day. Cost of the course for BWA members should
be around $125.00, according to how many actual
students. We plan to offer this course Feb. 3 & 4, 2002.
WHAT TO BRING
Appropriate clothing for the location and time of year.
Remember that, rain or shine, much of our time is
spent outside. You will also need a sleeping bag, pens,
and a notebook.
GRADES are based on attendance (100% required),
and performance on both written and practical final
exams. Not everyone passes this course.
WILDERNESS MEDICINE REBATE
Graduates of WFA courses sponsored by Wilderness
Medical Associates’ are eligible for a $30.00 rebate
when they attend a full length Wilderness First Responder or Wilderness EMT course within one year of
their of their WFA course.
I have enclosed a course description:
Wilderness First Aid Course Fact Sheet
PREREQUISITE
Students must be at least 16 years of age to participate
in this course. 16 and 17 year olds must have proof of
parental consent.
E-mail if you are interested in this course:
[email protected]
CERTIFICATIONS AVAILABLE
From Wilderness Medical Associates. Continuing
education credit for EMT’s, RN’s, and MD’s may also
be available. Check with your state office prior to the
course. Certification remains valid for three years.
Swiftwater Rescue Instructors Wanted!
If you are interested in becoming a Swiftwater Rescue
Instructor, please contact me. The club is willing to pay
for the training course in exchange for teaching SWR
for BWA. If you have the time, e-mail me:
[email protected]
CREDENTIALS
Wilderness Medical Associates’ courses are widely
considered the most complete medical training for
outdoor professionals. Our courses are preferred by
such organizations as Outward Bound, The National
Park Service, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, many
colleges and universities, and the FBI. As Canoe
Magazine stated, “Wilderness Medical Associates has
become the de facto standard in wilderness medical
training.”
The course consists of an Instructor Development
Workshop on one weekend, a couple of weekends
”mentoring” while other instructors teach the course
and a final weekend Instructor Certification Workshop.
Time frame is probably going to be late spring/early
summer 2002.
CLASS FORMAT
Varies from 8 to 24 hours over 1 to 3 days. Mornings
are devoted to lectures and exams. Afternoons are
devoted to practical hands-on sessions and videotaped
simulations*. Evenings are reserved for study and
assignments.
* Expect one or two emergency rescue simulations with
made-up victims and stage blood.
Second Swift Water Rescue Class Cancelled!
I have had only a handful of responses on the available
dates for a second SWR class,not enough to put
together another class for either date. I will put together
another class for the spring, date and location TBA.
If you have already paid for this class, please
contact me so I can arrange to get you a refund.
I will also keep this list so that you will get first shot at
next year.
CONTENT
Topics include patient assessment, body systems,
equipment improvisation, trauma, environmental
medicine, toxins, backcountry medicine, and wilderness rescue.
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advance from the time trial.
After the solo time trial on the course, the interesting
part is trying to make your way down a stretch of 8 - 12
feet wide Class 3 whitewater racing head to head
against 3 other boaters. It makes for great carnage!!
The rules were 1)plastic boats 8' 6" and shorter, 2)
right of the first gate and the left of the second, 3) no
malicious contact, and 4)finish the race inside your
boat.
One person was in a 3D, I was in my Inazone 220 and
the rest of the women were in creek boats (h20, micro,
cfs).
Despite a dramatic flip at the bottom of Maytag and a
few seconds when I thought I needed to paddle up and
around the wrong side of the first gate, I actually
qualified for the final.
The start was like a yacht race. The competitors
paddle around before the line but can't cross it before
the air horn. I was the first across the line, but in my
short play boat was over taken by one woman (Amy P)
at the second drop. I remember spinning on just about
every eddy line but reacting quickly enough to block the
channel from the other two women behind me.
As we approached the second gate there was a lot of
boat bumping. We were all digging in hard for those
strokes that would put us left of the gate and then
right down the last drop.
Kayak Roller Derby
Amy Shipman
As we neared the pour-over that formed the last drop I
was sandwiched between the other two women. The
So I am standing at the table ready to collect my
check and I am surrounded by Tao Berman, EJ,
and Eric Southwick. (For those of you who don't
boat, these guys are like Michael Jordan, Shaq,
Irwin, etc. of white water kayaking.)
If it hadn't been for the guy who T-boned my
Honda the day before I was supposed to leave
for a 2 week trip to Europe, I never would have
entered the Women's Open Division (non-pro)
Head to Head Kayak Race down the Maytag
section of the White Salmon about 20 minutes
outside of Hood River, Oregon.
When I heard that I could get a deal on a new
Subaru as an athlete in the games, I decided to
enter. I didn't take the thing too seriously. I had
only run the section of the course twice before
the day of the race.
woman on my right (Rachel) pushed me left of the line
and my little 7' 3" playboat did a dramatic stern squirt bow flying up in the air and over my head. I was 6 feet
from the finish line upside down and backwards!
The idea is that the boaters run time trials to be placed
into brackets of 4 people. Some participants don't
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Apparently, I wasn't the only one upside
down or backwards. Rachel had also
flipped with her bow downstream and the
other woman (Lisa) was facing
upstream but at least was upright.
As Rachel and I battled it out to get
upright, Lisa was working her way
backward over the finish line. I won the
battle of the hip snaps, glanced down at
the bottom of the yellow creek boat and
realized a few quick back strokes would
put me over the line and out of Rachel's
way.
What I didn't know as I crossed the line
was that Lisa had failed to make the
second gate so was disqualified. Also
unknown to me was that in the battle to
get upright, I had clocked Rachel in the head. She
swam out of her boat. It was several hours before I
knew that my paddle had hit her and I still feel badly
that I didn't get a chance to apologize.
Looking back at the minute that it took to complete the
course, it seemed a surreal blur of adrenaline, paddles,
plastic and whitewater.
After watching EJ grin as he easily won heat after heat
of the men's race and watching the pro women battle it
out with equal heart, I took off to paddle the two-mile
Class III/IV section above the race course for the first
time. It was beautiful run with a hairy waterfall called
BZ falls. I portaged the falls but that will be the location
of the Extreme Race (top 8 pro paddlers from the Head
to Head).
Unfortunately I missed the awards ceremony to collect
my silver medal, but I did manage to get my check, free
beer and food, arrange for a letter that is my ticket to a
good deal on a new car, and walk away with some
great memories!
Check out http://www.gorgegames.com for some cool
photos and the results of the race.
Russell Fork Rendezvous
October 5-7, 2001, Kiwanas Park, Haysi, Va.
A week long gathering supporting the
Russell Fork River!
Enjoy the cascading rhythms flowing from our
stream of consciousness as we gather in
tribal fashion to honor the River!
This festival is a gathering to celebrate the
value and beauty of the Russell Fork River,
the mountains, and the people that live there.
It is a gathering of friends, kind energy, and
understanding, much like the best of the
gatherings of the sixties. Whether wearing
your tie-dye or your poly-pro, come to have
fun, hear good music, boat, hike, bike, or
climb in a beautiful place.
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Bluegrass Wildwater Association
PO Box 4231
Lexington, Ky. 40504
BWA dues are now past due! Be
sure to send in your moola ASAP.
Individual
$20
Family
$25
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