Ella

Miss Ella is here!  Allison and I picked up a little pointer/ shorthair pup on Oct31st.  She has been a handful thus far, but she had certainly worked her way into our hearts.  She has shown point and a willingness to search out and explore.

I had a wing on a string out yesterday, and she pointer it 6 or 7 times before I put it up.  I brought her back outside a few minutes later and she actively searched the area we worked in searching for the wing with her nose.  I was very happy to see that.

Sellout

I have sold 3 boats in the last few weeks.  I just got to the point where I was tired of storing them and never paddling them.  I am keeping one canoe for me and one kayak for Alli.  The rest is for sale.

The new pup is going to arrive at the end of October.  I hope to use this blog to track her training.  I have been getting really excited about training again.

been a while

Well, I have not updated for a while.  I dislocated my shoulder running the mill hole a few weeks ago.  It still hurts, but I am paddling again.  I took the outrage out once, a friend's impulse, and my newest acquisition a pyrahna s6 playboat.  I bought Alli a i3 221 as well.  That little s6 is freaking tiny; like 7 feet long.  I surfed it, but every time I pushed the envelope a bit, my shoulder hurt so I gave up.  I got a few good side surfs in on the shop wave.

I will probably leave it as a kayak and play with it this year and convert it to a canoe next, but who knows...

A buddy of mine is looking for a new car, so I will be driving him around tomorrow to find a car.

Snow Creek

Today after work I met up with a bunch of folks, including some from the Smith River valley canoe club,  to run Snow creek on a release from the Shepard's Mill pond.  We all had fun and spent about an hour or so all running the flint mill hole rapid.  It is a solid class 3 right in the middle of the run.  I watched about everybody run it before I did so I could pick my line.  I hit my line and bounced through without swimming.  It was the first real rapid I had run in the canoe, so I was very happy.  Now I want to go back...

With any luck pics and video will be up soon.

Season's End

Track season has ended.  Friday the 20th I spent the day at Greensboro A&T for the 1a State Track Meet.  Everything went well, one of our athletes won a State Championship, 3 were runners up and all the kids we brought score points for the team (top 8).  Now I have a month off till summer basketball.

Spring is also over.  We went from mid 70's to high 80's- 90's overnight.  Soon the water will be warm enough to get in the WW canoe and play a bit.

The garden is in and growing, but the peppers are looking pathetic.  I need to fertilize them.  The skinks and lizards are all over out at the house, eating the bugs and skittering under the flowerpots whenever we go onto the porch.

Oddly enough, with summer coming on, I am thinking about fall and hunting season.  I am going to try to get up to Michigan for 3 days of grouse hunting for my birthday.  Soccer season will be over, so it looks like it might happen.  It will be the first time I have hunted there and I am looking forward to it.

New Shoes

Went to Winston today and got stopped in at Great Outdoor Provisional company.  There I found a pair of Chaco sandals on the clearance rack for half off.  Bought them right up as my Tevas from last year are totally dead.

I also stopped at Sports Authority and got a pair of New balance running shoes 1/3 off.

Pretty happy with the afternoon purchases, but the chacos are really chunky.  I feel like a spice girl wearing them.

Come on...

Guys, please-when you buy a new shirt, wash it and iron it before you wear it.  I just sat through a good presentation, but the guy had a new shirt on with the lines in it from being folded at the store.

Work Week

Well, it was back to work big time this week.  Tuesday school started back up, and all the classes are quickly coming to an end so it it time for the mad rush to get everything in. On the home front I have a few projects going.  I have built the frame of the shed and have cut the rubber for the walls and roof.  Now I need to put it all together.

I am also in the process of gluing some of the outfitting in the Outrage.  Also trying to set up a put in on Big creek so we can get some good class 3 paddling in.

Ohio

After  my post Friday, Allison and I decided to go to Ohio for Easter.  We left home at 730 and got to my folk's house after dropping Allison off at her parent's house a bit before 3 am.  The Drive totally sucked- rain and wind the whole 400 miles.  We had a great time seeing family, but I now realize just how much I did not get done over break that I had planned on doing.  It is going to be a busy week.

Conference Track meet is next week.  We have a lot of work to do before the kids are ready...

Rainy Day

Alli and I went down the Dan yesterday.  I found myself getting frustrated and struggling with my new boat.  I thought the learning curve would be shorter being that I have paddled most of my life. I was wrong.  I tried to surf the playwave and was rejected twice.  I did manage an accidental crosspry to right myself after nearly losing it working on hitting eddies.

Today I had planned to do some work to the outfitting on the boat and finishing the shed.  It is raining.

2days in the boat

I have paddled the Mohawk  twice now.  The river is up running 400cfs or so.  Day one found me out at The Dan River Company on a nice Sunday afternoon planning on an up stream paddle.  The volume of water changed my mind, so I decided to piddle around by the shop.  I eddie hopped  up to the first rapid and practiced my ferries.  Back and forth I went across the current between the eddies on either side.  I practiced a few peel outs but was underwhelmed with my ability to do so.

Monday Allison and I paddled the six mile trip from 89 back to DRC.   The water was still over 350cfs so the normal lines we run in summer were gone.  It was nice not to have to worry about getting stuck in the shallows, but The Flipper and Wandle's Wave were blown out.  The Play Wave was fast, deep and powerful.  In a new boat I questioned my ability to get through it without a swim.  I did manage to bomb right through though.

It was a nice paddle and I have learned a good deal more about my boat.  I managed a low brace at Wandle's   that nearly had my onside gunnel in the water.  I really need to work on my forward stroke so I can build speed without having to make corrective strokes. White Water boats really make you paddle with correct form.  I can get away with a lot more slop in my forward stroke on flat water boats.  My cross draw felt pretty good, so I was pleased with that.

I have been reading up on Bob Foote's technique section on his website and in the next few days will have Alli video me paddling so I can further analyse my stroke.

Prom

Allison and I are getting ready for prom.  Dinner will be at Oso's with a couple other teachers.  We are going to have to leave a bit early as Alli is singing at church in the morning.  After church, the river...

new boat!

Yes sir, I got that bad boy.  Sad part is it will be the better part of a week before it sees the water.

Video?

So I am trying to imbed this video

Getting a Canoe

Spring Fever is in full swing.   I am going Saturday to look at a Mad River Outrage.  It is a serious White Water solo canoe.  This boat belongs to a class 5 paddler who has taken it down the New and other class 5 rivers.  I can not wait to get in this boat.  Snow Creek, here I come...

I also found an old wood Old Town on craigslist today.  I way pick that up and get way over my head in woodworking this summer.

Spring Fever

I go through phases every year.  The spring phase is the paddling phase.  I go from hunting at every opportunity and reading hunting articles, dog articles, gun articles... to obsessing on paddling.  I have reread every copy of canoe and kayak I have, every Boundary Waters Journal, every paddling book, and read every website I can find.

Last year, I bought whitewater kayaks for Allison and myself and we spent the summer messing  with them.  This year I have been bitten by the canoe bug.  I need a whitewater canoe.  There, I said it.  I need one.  I will sell the yak and a rifle, and I am going to have one.  I need this canoe so I can play on 3 rapids.  That's it and my life will not be complete till I have done this.

And another thing, I want a car with rain gutters on it!  I am talking old school.  I want a little piece of crap 5 speed 4 cyl that has rain gutters.  I want to cover it in stupid stickers, and I want it to smell like wet dog and river.  I promise I will never take all the wet things out so that it will take on the lovely aroma.  I want it to have manual everything.  It would be best if it had a cracked rear window as well.

Pointless Blog

There is really no point to this blog.  I am not that interesting, and anyone who cares to know about me is on facebook.  However, I decided to make this bad boy to experiment with the concept.  I am thinking about having students in future classes keep blogs, so I had better know how to do it myself.  I have 2 websites through weebly that deal with my classes; this is a more personal blog.