Another roadtrip for taking pictures of paddler at the Level 6 Cup.
I left work on friday after around 1pm and managed to get to the Champlain Rapids just after 5pm. I ran into some of the regular crowd with the likes of Billy, Carly, Paul, Matt, Tyler, Mariann, and Paul. The weather was kind of crappy for taking pictures but I still took a few to stake out my spot for the next day.
I was kind of concerned with where I was staying for the night. I had arranged with my friend Geoff to stay at his parents place. Only problem was he was still in Kingston writing an exam the next day and I did not know if it was a done deal or not. To my delight he finally returned my call just as I was turning onto the road to his parents place. He said it was still a go. I met his mom, dad, and sis and we talked for a bit.
I asked if I could offload the boat into their garage for the night and explained that I was leaving for a bit to get some night time shots of downtown Ottawa.
See pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmnypny/sets/72157604731349142/
It was getting late and I had not eaten since 11am. I gave Jen a called and we met for drinks and late night snack at an Irish pub named Darcy Magee's. The food was great. We spent time catching up and then it was real late. I finally got back to Geoff's place just before midnight.
I was up around 7am and packed up my gear. I showed Geoff's dad some pics
Geoff paddling thru out the 2007 season. He mentioned that Geoff was going to Skook soon and I showed him some pics of it as well.
I left around 8am as I want to stake out my picture taking spot for the day. I even marked it with my blue foam pad by attaching it to the fence. All I can say it was a very very long day in the sun taking over 1600 pictures between 9am and 4pm.
I talked to lots of people thru out the day as I was taking the pics and grabbing snacks, drinks, etc. My friends Jim and Ray showed up just after 1pm or so and spend a couple of hours taking pics as well.
Links to the pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmnypny/sets/72157604780125661/
I was hoping to be able to stay until the last finals were done but I had to head off. I was going to meet my regular paddling crew at Palmer Rapids and paddle with them on sunday. I wanted to get there before dark in order to setup my tent and gear. I stopped along the way to pick up desert and ice. I made it in time for dinner. Neil knew I was coming and he saved me some.
Out came the drinks and desert for around the camp fire. I finally had to crash around 10pm as I was beat.
I managed to sleep in until 7am which is huge for me considering I am normally up at 04:30. I went into town for a 5F (number 5 and a flushy) at the local restaurant. Our plan was to leave the Coop at 9am and head over to the Middle Mad. We finally left just before 10.
I could not believe how high the frickin water was. It was zooming and I was starting to regret my choice of boat for the day as I did not have the battleship with me. I was trying out my friends Nitro and it does not exactly have very good initial stability for me.
I managed to get the boat down to just above Staircase. We all got out to take a look. Some of the others made their runs. I decided to do the left sneek route but ended up swimming for maybe 10 feet and self rescuing. I put back in just below a hole after seeing a tandem boat getting sucked into it and losing its center airbag.
I made it down the left side of Staircase fine but barely. Man this boat is way to tippy. I would love to spend more time in it with warmer water but today was just not my day. I finally caught up to where the tandem boat was pinned. It took about an hour to pull the boat off once we setup the rescue gear. The boat came out better then expected with only a broken seat and gunwale plus a few minor other things.
Noel, Paul, and Brenda were finished. The rest of us all headed down to Chalet. This is where I had my second very long swim of the day and that is when I said I was finished. Derek said he would paddle my boat to the takeout. Greg ended up losing his boat. I walked back up to where Neil's truck was and drove down to the takeout.
The others headed down river in search of Greg's boat. I know the other tandem had 3 people paddling. I am not sure of what all the details were but they didn't find the boat when they arrived at the takeout. Derek had paddled a little further down river to search and walked back. I met him on the road and we picked up my boat.
We finally found the boat about an hour or so later on someone's lawn. We wer basically doing a search along peoples property along the river as it was the only place it could end up with the strong winds. Greg was very relieved to get get his boat back.
I finally left for home and stopped off at my friend Marks for dinner and got home around 10pm and went to bed.
