January, 2000 Volume VII , Number 1

Club Meetings: First Tuesday of each month

Fall, Winter, Spring: 7:00 P.M. at Episcopal Church Of the Resurection

3925 Hilyard Street, Eugene

Summer: 6:30 P.M. potluck at various nearby paddle locations

Officers:

President:off paddling somewhere

Vice Pres.:looking for Prez

Secretary: Janet Towar

Treasurer: Phil Backman

Membership: Jim Peterson

Programs: ask Prez

Trips: ask Vice Prez

Webmaster: Horst Lueck

Newsletter: Chris Luneski

Because the first Tuesday is so close to the New Year’s Eve and revelers may still be recovering, January’s meeting is postponed to February. Though it may seem a bit odd, February’s meeting will also be held in February at the same time and place as January’s meeting which is being held in February.

Program for february

Rod Gillilan has outfitted his canoe with a sculling frame. He uses this setup for daily exercise by rowing upriver on the Willamette. The fun part of the outing comes on the downriver run, where he uses a double paddle and treats the canoe as a kayak.

He will have his canoe rigged and ready for your inspection and may try to recruit some exercise companions. If you treat him nicely, he might even let you try the rig on the river.

Since it is somewhat along the same lines, if anyone has canoe or kayak outriggers, with or without provision for sail, you might bring them to the meeting and let us know how well they work.

Sat., Jan. 1, Kirk Pond 

Sat. & Sun., January 15 & 16 deflation plain, coastal lakes

(details inside)

In 1956, Dr. Hans Lindeman sailed and paddled across the Atlantic in a standard Klepper Aerius II. "Alone at Sea" is his account of that voyage. The book has been out of print for some time, but has just been reprinted with some added material in this edition. The book is available only from Klepper West (530-626-8647) for $22.50 plus $2 shipping.

This was an amazing voyage, taking 72 days. A full day of paddling does me in, but 72 days?

To date, no skinny hardshell sea kayak has even come close to this feat. Does this say something about the turtle and the hare?

Check Out Our Website: www.efn.org/~canoe

what you will find: updated information on club trips,

paddling reports and notes, newsletter archive, paddling events planned by other groups, a gallery of images and links, links , links. want to be published or have news of interest to paddlers ? check the site for submission guidelines.

Actually, Guy hasn’t consented to the annual part yet, though everyone at the meeting seemed to think it would be a good idea. As the newsletter goes to press, Guy and six companions are are happily paddling on a 14 day expedition to Baja. With his commentary and the slides he showed, it is hard to not want to try a similar trip. With La Nina settling in, the sunshine and crystal clear water sounds awfully inviting. At least we now have a basis for vicariously enjoying his trip.

In addition to the visual treats, we were introduced to Baja style fish tacos. Needless to say, these were definitely not your typical fast food type taco. The tacos we were served are the type sold at Baja taco stands - another reason for wanting to paddle down there.

Many thanks to Guy and friends for a super program.

Since the Prez and Vice-Prez are both on a walkabout trying to find themselves, guest commentaries are welcome until they find out who they are.

For starters, there were two boating related deaths on popular Lane County waters this past Fall. In neither case were the drownees wearing PFDs.

One of the drownings involved a safe and stable river boat on the "mild" Willamette. Two other people in the boat were wearing PFDs and survived the dumping. Is there a message here?

The other incident involved a canoe, with a dog aboard, a quarter mile or so from shore on a windy day at Waldo Lake - a recipe for disaster. News reports on this event have been very sketchy, but a kayaker apparently attempted a rescue but was dumped by the canoeist. The kayaker, wearing a PFD, managed to swim to shore - an amazing feat given the distance and water temperature.

I wish we had more of the details on the Waldo incident. Telling this group to always wear a PFD is like preaching to the choir, but publicising the details might save the lives of some who need the message.

Classified & Unclassified

Cascade Paddles & Portage Staffs

Made to order - you choose the length, style and type of wood. Over a dozen blade styles to choose from - bent or straight. Or pick out a padle in stock. Laminated for strength and beauty. Also available for hikers or long portages: strong and light walking staffs. Robert 342-2246

"Paddling Lane County - 24 easy routes for canoe or kayak"

A great guide written by club member Jim Hutchison. Available from the club for $5.00. Also available at local paddling shops for a bit more.

Workshop (garage) space needed. Just purchased plans for a new kayak, but wife won’t let me use living room. Want to rent space for six to eight weeks. Ferry Street Bridge area.

Chris 687-0207

JANUARY TRIPS:.

Unless otherwise noted, all trips leave from River Runners Supply at 8:30 A.M. PFD required. Contact trip leader for more details. If you have signed up for a trip, let trip leader know if you have to cancel out.

Saturday, Jan. 1

Omar contends his canoe is Y2K compliant and plans to test it on KirkPond at 2:00 P.M.. (I think most of us would agree with his contention, but have serious doubts as to Omar’s compliance.) Kirk Pond is located on the North side of Clear Lake Road at Fern Ridge Dam. If the weather is good he will put in on the reservoir and paddle to Gibson Island to check out bird life.

Saturday &/or Sunday, Jan. 15 & 16:

One of Omar’s favorite paddling trips is to the deflation plain ponds behind the foredunes at the coast. Wind permitting, at least part of one day will be spent exploring here. In addition, other coastal lakes, e.g., Elbow, Cleawox, Carter, will be paddled based on participants preferences. Camping in yurts, tents or whatever is available at Honeyman State Park. Other accomodations in Florence. Come for both days or just for one day. As you might suspect, Omar Nelson (345-5115) is the trip leader for this one.

Give him a call if you plan to go but haven’t signed up.

 December Minutes

The Dec meeting of the Cascade Canoe Club was opened by former president Omar Nelson. As no new president has been selected, present and former board members will preside over the meetings on a rotating basis. Unless one of you brave souls steps up to fill the vacant presidential slot.

Omar announced a New Year's Day paddle to check out the Y2K compliance of his canoe. Anyone interested in joining him and testing the compliance of their boat, meet at Kirk pond at noon.

Guy Santiago from Oregon River sports gave a wonderful slide show of several sea-kayaking trips to the Gulf of Mexico. Of the approx. 45 attending the meeting at least 8 were from Marist High School. They were "auditing" our meeting for an Enviromental Science class. They rapidly took notes as Guy spoke of trip planning and the native people he encountered in Mexico. We hope they all got a good grade on the report they turned in. Maybe they even enjoyed it and learned

(cont. on p. 4)(cont. from p. 2)

something. The meeting was adjourned and we all enjoyed the fish tacos that were served up by Guy and his group. Remember NO meeting in Janurary. See you February 1, 2000. The speaker will be Rod Gillian. He'll bring his canoe which is outfitted with a sculling frame. Should be interesting.

Janet Towar. secretary

November 6 & 7, Schofield Creek, South Slough

Trip Leader: Phil Backman. Great weather and a fine time was had by all who went (a bit of irony here).

Weather forecast, November 6 & 7: Scattered showers, southerly winds 25-35 mph. Actual weather, November 6 & 7: Partial cloud cover, almost dead calm, mild temperatures. Both days dawned with beautiful sunrises, mirror-flat water, and one car short of a shuttle.

Saturday: I almost paddled alone on Saturday since the put-in and take-out are the same ramp, but I had some things to do in Coos Bay. So I took advantage of the unscheduled free time to get them done.

Sunday: South Slough can't be done without a shuttle at this time of year without either starting or finishing in the dark, so I spent the day in the truck checking out boat ramps around the bay and up the Coos River. I'm going to try a couple of the runs -- I'll let you know if they are worthwhile.

Well, that is all I can say about a non-trip. Chris said it was my leaderly duty to produce a trip report -- so there you have it!

Phil Backman