Nolichucky Weekend
by Steve Heiselman
Contributed 09/13/2004 Responses: 2
Wow, what a beautiful and exciting weekend of paddling! After deciding not to go to the Gauley because of concerns over potentially high water releases, David Lee's crew decided to brave the Nolichucky. On Saturday, David, Gary Britton and Kaye Cox-Andrews paddled the club's cataraft, and I paddled my kayak down the gorge at about 4,000 cfs. It was great fun, with some incredible surfing waves that I had all to myself! The cataraft crew ran everything cleanly, with Kaye setting the perfect line through every rapid.
On Sunday, Gary took his solo cataraft, and David took the club raft with the oar rig so he could get some training for his eventual Canyon trip. This time we met a couple of kayakers from Gatlinburg, Rick and Davey, who had never paddled the Noli, and they joined us for the trip. The guage was reading about 2900 cfs that morning, so we figured we could relax just a bit for this run. The river had other ideas! Just above Quarter Mile, David and Gary both flipped their rigs. David was able to fairly quickly swim to shore, and Gary was self-rescuing his cat, so Rick and Davey and I chased down the raft and the oars. We managed to get the raft into an eddy just above the entrance to Quarter Mile, and reunited David with his rig. After this, David took a "unique" line down the far LEFT side of Quarter Mile, including a couple of interesting portages.
Our next adventure was at Rooster Tail, where I had a quick thrashing in the hole at the top, but managed to roll up just in time to see the bottom of Gary's cat go by. Gary got to shore while Rick and I righted his rig. After this, it was pretty much smooth sailing to the take-out, with more great surfing waves along the way.
Even though it wasn't the Gauley, the beauty, fun, and excitement we experienced this weekend was outstanding, and I was back in Asheville early enough to do some grocery shopping!
Followup submissions
Re: Nolichucky Weekend by Valerie Blanchette (email)
Contributed 09/14/2004 Responses: 1
Hi Guys:
It was nice to see you on the Noli! Dave asked me to post my information about the Jack's Plastic Culebra. Here is the boat description:FRAMELESS CATARAFT
The culebra is paddled R2 style. The cross tubes on top of the cat keep the main tubes ridgid in all water conditions. This boat can be unlaced for even easier transport. This is a photo of the 10 ft long Culebra. The new production model is now 11 ft long, 65 inches wide, and weighs 46 lbs. It rolls up into a package that can be smaller than 33 X 12 X 24, depending on how well you roll it. Remember to take the cam straps off between the cross tubes and the main tubes durring transport. www.jpwinc.com for pictures.
This boat is currently on-sale through me. To order or for pricing information call me at 828-230-3905 or e-mail me at mtnsnrvrs@yahoo.com ( I only check e-mail during the week, so calling is usually best).
Cheers and Happy Paddling -Valerie Blanchette
Re: Nolichucky Weekend by Steve Heiselman
Contributed 09/14/2004 Responses: 0
:
: Hi Guys:
:
: It was nice to see you on the Noli! Dave asked me to post my information about the Jack's Plastic Culebra. Here is the boat description:FRAMELESS CATARAFT
: The culebra is paddled R2 style. The cross tubes on top of the cat keep the main tubes ridgid in all water conditions. This boat can be unlaced for even easier transport. This is a photo of the 10 ft long Culebra. The new production model is now 11 ft long, 65 inches wide, and weighs 46 lbs. It rolls up into a package that can be smaller than 33 X 12 X 24, depending on how well you roll it. Remember to take the cam straps off between the cross tubes and the main tubes durring transport. www.jpwinc.com for pictures.
:
: This boat is currently on-sale through me. To order or for pricing information call me at 828-230-3905 or e-mail me at mtnsnrvrs@yahoo.com ( I only check e-mail during the week, so calling is usually best).
:
: Cheers and Happy Paddling -Valerie Blanchette
I saw this latest version of a "shredder" and it looked like a really nice improvement over the version we have borrowed from James Jackson. steve
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