Codger_64
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- Joined
- Oct 8, 2004
- Messages
- 62,324
Thanks Bill. I do tend to ramble at times. And I am more and more becoming an example of "The older I get, the better I used to be"!!
Speaking of the "old days" of canoeing... and safety... and equipment... the improvements that have been made are astounding. Better canoes (and yaks), better techniques and the availability of on and off site outfitters, and actual certified training classes has expanded the number of paddlers and their safety. In the early seventies, the American Canoe Association (ACA), Boy Scouts (BSA) were about it for sources of training and advice. Of course there was no internet, so paddling groups tended to be rather small circles of friends who shared something else in common... school (college in my case), or work.
I had earlier mentioned a certain "iconic movie", Deliverance. It premeired in theatres in the winter of 1972. That was the same year we managed to get the Buffalo River in Arkansas declared the nation's first National River under the control of the NPS. This ended years of effort to keep the Corps Of Engineers from building a dam and preserved the 150 mile long free flowing river and it's watershed.
It was also the year that Ozark Outdoor Supply opened in Little Rock in an old two story house on Kavanaugh Blvd., the source of my rental canoes.
And Payson Kennedy's NOC opened in the old Tote-n-Tarry motel/store in North Carolina. NOC is Nantahala Outdoor Center, one of the premier outfitters in the South for river runners of every skill level. The founder was an advisor and stunt double on the making of the aforementioned movie and that is where he invested his earnings.
We saw that 1972 was the year that Blue Hole Canoe Company began producing Dupont ABS canoes suitable for whitewater. Aluminum canoes had been the old standby since the end of WWII when Grumman and others used aircraft facilities, tooling and technology to mass produce recreational canoes. Michicraft was started in 1970 in Big Rapids, MI by L.B. Harkins.
In reviewing the aforementioned movie, I note that they just celebrated the 40th anniversary with a blueray release. The four main actors came together for a reunion and gave interviews which were very interesting. It seems that none of them had any prior canoeing experience. Some interesting trivia was mentioned. They used five Old Town wood and canvas canoes in the movie, most of which were destroyed. Burt Reynolds has the sole surviving canoe in his Jupiter Florida museum.
I also reviewed the statistics of drownings and near drownings on the Chattooga since the movie was made. A surprising number were people who were not wearing PFDs. Most had little or no whitewater experience and were not on a outfitter guided trip.
So then I began to review my own canoeing history and the risks I have taken, some due to ignorance of the rivers and the dangers present, some due to lack of now familiar safety equipment, much due to youthful bravado and adventure-seeking. My first wife was often my partner in crime but in retrospect, there were a few times when she got out and walked.
I guess I have learned quite a bit over the years, but nothing compared to the people who are modern professional instructors, guides and professional whitewater atheletes. I don't go on heavy whitewater these days, but every year even on the class I-II-III streams I canoe, I see potentially dangerous situations and occasionally rescue a canoeist or canoe.
Is anyone here familiar with proper techniques for unpinning a pinned a canoe? Ever heard of a "Z-Drag" or seen one used? Can you do CPR? Know how to use a throw rope, carry or even own one?
Speaking of the "old days" of canoeing... and safety... and equipment... the improvements that have been made are astounding. Better canoes (and yaks), better techniques and the availability of on and off site outfitters, and actual certified training classes has expanded the number of paddlers and their safety. In the early seventies, the American Canoe Association (ACA), Boy Scouts (BSA) were about it for sources of training and advice. Of course there was no internet, so paddling groups tended to be rather small circles of friends who shared something else in common... school (college in my case), or work.
I had earlier mentioned a certain "iconic movie", Deliverance. It premeired in theatres in the winter of 1972. That was the same year we managed to get the Buffalo River in Arkansas declared the nation's first National River under the control of the NPS. This ended years of effort to keep the Corps Of Engineers from building a dam and preserved the 150 mile long free flowing river and it's watershed.
It was also the year that Ozark Outdoor Supply opened in Little Rock in an old two story house on Kavanaugh Blvd., the source of my rental canoes.
And Payson Kennedy's NOC opened in the old Tote-n-Tarry motel/store in North Carolina. NOC is Nantahala Outdoor Center, one of the premier outfitters in the South for river runners of every skill level. The founder was an advisor and stunt double on the making of the aforementioned movie and that is where he invested his earnings.
We saw that 1972 was the year that Blue Hole Canoe Company began producing Dupont ABS canoes suitable for whitewater. Aluminum canoes had been the old standby since the end of WWII when Grumman and others used aircraft facilities, tooling and technology to mass produce recreational canoes. Michicraft was started in 1970 in Big Rapids, MI by L.B. Harkins.
In reviewing the aforementioned movie, I note that they just celebrated the 40th anniversary with a blueray release. The four main actors came together for a reunion and gave interviews which were very interesting. It seems that none of them had any prior canoeing experience. Some interesting trivia was mentioned. They used five Old Town wood and canvas canoes in the movie, most of which were destroyed. Burt Reynolds has the sole surviving canoe in his Jupiter Florida museum.
I also reviewed the statistics of drownings and near drownings on the Chattooga since the movie was made. A surprising number were people who were not wearing PFDs. Most had little or no whitewater experience and were not on a outfitter guided trip.
So then I began to review my own canoeing history and the risks I have taken, some due to ignorance of the rivers and the dangers present, some due to lack of now familiar safety equipment, much due to youthful bravado and adventure-seeking. My first wife was often my partner in crime but in retrospect, there were a few times when she got out and walked.
I guess I have learned quite a bit over the years, but nothing compared to the people who are modern professional instructors, guides and professional whitewater atheletes. I don't go on heavy whitewater these days, but every year even on the class I-II-III streams I canoe, I see potentially dangerous situations and occasionally rescue a canoeist or canoe.
Is anyone here familiar with proper techniques for unpinning a pinned a canoe? Ever heard of a "Z-Drag" or seen one used? Can you do CPR? Know how to use a throw rope, carry or even own one?
