Gary Adams of the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association will be presenting the current state of the Grand Canyon River Management Plan processes and legal challenges, along with a slide show of the hotly debated place itself. The Grand Canyon is one of the most incredible river trips in the world, a World Heritage site, and is also one of the most difficult to get a permit to run. Come see this beautiful place, learn about the political debate surrounding its access, and find out what you can do to help influence the policy makers charged with determining future access for self-guided boaters everywhere.

The show comes to about 45 minutes. There will be ample time for questions afterwards. Handouts, membership applications and brochures will be available. Some cool t-shirts, posters and books will also be available for purchase.
 
 

Paddle to the Headwaters

No, no, not paddling upstream but in the California redwoods near the recently partially saved Headwaters Grove. This event on the Eel River features a 34 mile marathon race or a 9 mile "fun paddle". Also on the agenda is the Eel River Water Sports Show, two days of trade show, demos, music and fun.

The course from Dyerville to Fortuna is Class 1 water with few riffles and a very mild gradient of 3 ft. per mile. The river flows through ancient redwood forest and great scenery. The fun paddle starts at Scotia and ends at Fortuna. This event is sanctioned by the American Canoe Association (ACA) and safety is a prime concern. Racers can complete the marathon in about 3 hours, the rest of us in 5 to 6 hours. The fun paddle should take about 1.5 hours. To make this kind of time the river must be flowing quite rapidly. Ken Gates who spoke at our last meeting said it is a very wonderful paddle with one possible problem. The afternoon upstream winds can be quite fierce.

Dates for the Eel River Water Show are May 27 and 28. The marathon and fun paddle are on May 28. Entry fees which include membership in the ACA are:

Canoe Marathon $25 per person
Fun Paddle $25 per person
above fees include ACA membership and a T shirt, or
Fun Paddle $40 per boat
includes ACA membership for up to 4 people and 1 T shirt per boat
If you're interested in racing, the race classes are:
Single and Tandem Canoe
Junior (under 18)
Open
Masters (over 40)
Women, Men, and Mixed

There are many places to stay and camp in the area and Dave Reed , the publicist, sent me a list of area eateries which sound great. If you want to register call toll free 877-837-0902. For information call 707-725-9261 or go to their website www.paddletotheheadwaters.com or call Omar at 541-345-5115.
 
 

Chris opened the April 4 meeting. Mention was made of the upcoming wooden boat show/crabfeet taking place in Depot Bay April 29-30. Also brought up was Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge as a potential club outing.

Ken Gates, presented a fineley crafted skin over frame kayak. He was invited to share his work with the club at the behest of Chris Luneski. Ken is a contractor whose skills are evident throughout his boat. The design is based on a 2 person, 16-1/2' Folbot. Ken applied what he learned from his many various earlier boat building projects to improve on Folbots design. The boat has nice lines with a bit of rocker to the bottom to make it surf better. The frame has improved rigidity as the fir stringers are not screwed to the ribs, but tied with nylon cord. There are also Marine Mahogany ply deck and side panels around the cockpit. The baltic birch rib/frames were to some extent designed to fit after the keel, bow and stern ends were positioned on a strongback.

Ken makes great use of materials used in the building trade and this is most evident in the boat's hull covering. He used Elastiseal roof sealant over polyester roofing repair cloth. The 3-4 layers were laid on with Elastiseal diagonally to the previous layer to provide rip resistance. The final outside coating was felt to be necessary as he noticed he could  still see through the hull covering. He settled on a flexible truck bed lining available from G.I.Joe's. You would think all these layes of material would make for a weighty craft and yet Ken says it only weighs about 70 pounds. The nice thing is, if the hull gets scuffed up or damaged, he can repair it with some readily available materials from the local lumber yard!

The boat is fitted for a mast , but Ken is still working on rigging the rudder and other sail hardware prior to a scheduled trip with his daughter in British Columbia in May. Hopefully he will give another program after his return and let us know how it all worked out.

Jim Peterson

Saturday, May 20 is the date of our annual Willamette River Cleanup. This year in addition to the usual supporters we are a part of the Down By the Riverside program administered by SOLV, the people who bring us the biannual beach cleanups. Down by the Riverside has supplied us with super heavy duty trash bags, sharps containers, latex gloves, signs and posters. They are a real class act and are working for nothing less than a clean and shiny Oregon.

We will meet at 9AM at Island Park in Springfield. Please be on time or early so we can run shuttle and start to get organized by nine. As usual we will clean along the banks down to Alton Baker Park. There are two changes this year.

1.Willamalane Parks is also doing a Down by the Riverside project on that day. They will be cleaning up the Eastgate area which includes the D Street (or Aspen St. if you will) Landing. They will have a truck there to fill and we are invited to help fill it with our collection.

2.We will do a light lunch stop at D St. The club will buy pizza and soda. If you have any favorite flavors let us know before we order. After our light repast we will continue scouring our way to Alton Baker Park and hopefully be finished by 3PM or so.

With the help and cooperation of Marilyn at River House, Sanipac, City of Eugene Parks, Lane Co. Solid Waste, Les Schwab Tires and Down by the RIverside we are able to accomplish a lot. Many thanks in advance for
continuing to support our efforts.

Remember, prizes will be awarded for the largest, most outrageous, smallest and smelliest items collected. Flatwater boaters are welcome to ride on the barge boats and help gather and load. Who knows, this initiation to moving water might just be fun.

Please turn out for this most rewarding trip of the year. It's not as hard as paddling against the wind and the feeling of satisfaction lasts a long time.

Omar
 

Upcoming Trips

April 29 - Triangle Lake

leader - Omar Nelson

Power boats, water skiers, jet skis - plenty of them in midsummer, but not in April. The weather and water are too cold for those folks at this time of year. A good chance we will have this popular midsummer lake all to ourselves.

May 13 - Fish Lake
leader - Robert Horner

Did this one last year and it was so pleasant it has been scheduled again. Leave from Alton Baker Parking lot at 10 AM or meet at the lake at 11:30. Fish Lake is just past Clear Lake on Hwy. 126.

May 20 - Willamette River Cleanup
leader - Omar Nelson

Details on page 2.

June 11 - Larison Cove - Joint trip with Salem Club.
leader - Steve Butler

June 17 - Coastal Lakes - if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
leader - Omar Nelson

8 good reasons
8 Good Reasons to take a Canoeing Class

1. Good technique equals less work.
2. Less work makes paddling fun.
3. Fun raises endorphin levels.
4. Higher endorphin levels reduce stress on body systems.
5. Less stress is more fun.
6. More fun raises endorphin levels more.
7. Very high endorphin levels lead to a longer, happier and more satisfying life.
8. Therefore, good paddling technique will directly give you a longer, happier and more satisfying life.

Learning more efficient paddling strokes, learning to pull the boat to the paddle, learning the j stroke and steering strokes will save much work and make for a safer time on the water. If you haven't taken a paddling class in the past ten years or so I encourage you to do so. Paddling techniques have greatly improved over the past decade and moving your boat on the water can be much more enjoyable than it is now. Classes are available at Eugene Parks River House, Oregon River Sports, and LCC.

Remember, good paddling technique leads to a longer, happier and more satisfying life.

Omar

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(ed. note)

I got so enthused by Omar’s eloquence I checked out the River House offerings. They have a Basic/River Canoe class and a River Canoe class.
Both have one classroom session and two days on the water for $75.
Of more interest to me, because I have a kayak and hate canoes (I fall out of them - I also fall out of kayaks, but, being closer to the water, it doesn’t hurt as much) are their individualized instructional classes. These are $80 for one to three or four people for three hours on the water. The specifics are determined by the people taking the class. If there are a couple of others who are also interested, let’s get together and work something out.