Walking away from Countyline Creek

Anticipations were off the scale as rain had been coming down in the drainage for a few days. As chance would have it I was able to squeeze in some time for an assault on Countyline Creek.  However, time was tight, 10AM to 2PM. This is more than enough time for a casual paddle but gets tight when you have travel constraints. Last minute plans included my friends Burn and Nomad to meet mid morning. On my way home I got a call from another friend M243. The four of us were to converge at the get in/ take out at 10.

When I arrived I immediately walked over and peered through the dense foliage and across the East Branch of the Sacandaga River and spied the last falls. It looked ideal, with a sheet of water splashing over the mid-stream portion of the falls.

Eventually the late arrivals made their way and started suiting up. M243 and Pure hiked down and paddled over to the bottom of CLC to wait. A short walk up to the bottom falls and I was surprised to see much more water coming down than what I had thought. M243 and Nomad are not familiar with this creek so I pointed out some of the nuances of the last drop. Even at high water there is a piton rock on the right that continues to be in play and the river left chute drops into a sticky hole.

We regrouped and started hiking up stream and as soon as I saw the next drop I knew that this was not going to be good. This is the widest drop on the river and it was completely covered. Everything from here on up is narrower and steeper. The higher flow would push one gorge into another. I knew this from experience. This drop we were looking at had cost me a boat and a friendship. I really miss that boat.

So, I called it. “This isn’t the day”, I said. M243 was gracious, Nomad and Burn looked relieved. The crux was the time and group size. Burn and I had paddled this at about this level and I had even paddled it solo and survived. However, there was the potential for the group to get too spread out with the less familiar getting left behind as the more experienced got flushed downstream. There would be no way to boat scout and give verbal descriptions before dropping into the many gorges. Then people would be forced to get out and scout from shore and this takes time that I didn’t have to spare.

We hiked back down the short ways and paddled out and back across. Regrouping, we hopped on the East Branch of the Sacandaga and had a great, and relaxed, paddle/surf session.

Cheers.

Pick Two

Pick Two

Expense, Weight, Durability

How much money do you want to spend? This will greatly influence weight and durability. Rotomolded plastic is the cheapest yet most durable option. Sure you could find a chopper’d sprayed in vinylester/fiberglass boat cheaper BUT, it would not be more durable and would be much heavier. 

There is a relatively ‘new’ process called by different proprietary names, but they’re generally referred to as ‘Thermo-formed’.  These boats take plastic to the next level: they’re slightly lighter, maybe a tad less durable than roto-molded and more expensive.

On the other end of the continuums we have composite boats. They’re much lighter using vacuum bagging techniques, exotic materials such as Kevlar, carbon fiber, and/or honeycomb foam cores with epoxy resins. Options such as keel strips add significant durability and still more expense. Materials aside, hand made boats are time intensive and much more expensive.

Therefore, you can have a high performance boat that is light and durable but you will pay thousands of dollars or euros.  You can have a boat that is cheap and durable, but it will weigh significantly more.

This brings me to two boats that I would like to own. 

Rockpool Taran and the Wilderness Systems Zephyr

Rockpool Taran

I’ve never paddled one but this boat just screams at me. Long, composite, and wicked cool graphics. I have no idea what it would cost because I can’t find one in the U.S. It’s just not a long and fast boat that tracks straight. Supposedly it also surfs and turns without the aid of a rudder (although it comes with a rudder/skeg system).  Love at first sight… I can smell the resin…

Wilderness Systems Zephyr

OK, so here is a boat I could afford and really like to paddle. On the shorter side at 16 feet (the boat also comes in a 15.5 foot model but it’s a little tight on my legs) this boat has a ton of rocker which means it will turn and surf. (And it comes in Orange)

Technically, rocker is the shape of the hull when looking from the side. A flat-rocker’d boat will track straight and be slightly faster because of the long waterline. A rocker’d boat will be upturned at the end (think of a banana with the ends turned up) and will turn easier, but be a tad slower due to the shorter wetted waterline. 

If you have a cool picture of the Zephyr, send it.

Great Sacandaga is a Resevoir but it's called a Lake

Great Sacandaga Lake, collection point for water in the drainage, is really a reservoir. A reservoir built, ehhhh, around 1930 to hold back the water and prevent flooding on the Hudson River. I think also to augment commercial shipping and keep the salt water below Poughkeepsie during the summer when the flow of the Hudson is at its lowest. The name change to the Great Sacandaga Lake is most likely for aesthetics and to attract tourist. 

Where outcast pirates go.

June 8^th, near record high temp forecasted to 93F (ok, for some not that hot but humid) a group of us launched from the Northville DEC Boat ramp and paddled south towards the flooded Northampton Campground. The lake is relatively narrow in this stretch but within a few miles it opens up to an area that is six miles across. Here the winds from the west have more to work with and the fetch can create some large waves and whitecaps.

We paddled around a few islands, into and out of the wind, and then headed back north. There were a couple Bald Eagles riding the thermals and the mountains to the west were hazy with pollen. 

Change in weather, pace picks up.

Half way back the western clouds started to build and darken with a distant rumble of thunder. The forecast, while hot, did not predict any thunderstorms. However, we were not surprised by the change. The ‘nowcast’ was obviously more accurate. The paced picked up noticeably as we nonchalantly developed alternative plans should the front close us off. Even though I planned the trip the group was comfortable with sharing decisions, see Common Adventure Model in Outdoor Leadership.

Ominous Sky

We stuck to plan B and bypassed the lakeside Pub continuing back to our vehicles. The storm pretty much passed to our south with just a brief down pour to hasten securing boats.