For the love of Kayaking

[Dominique]

Any one from St. louis on here? I'm asking because I hear St. Louis is a great place to kayak in the early fall, like September.

Pittsburgh has three rivers. But what happens here is, two rivers come together and form the Ohio river. If I understood correctly, St. Louis is like an island with 4 rivers flowing around it.

The Regatta is the big event this weekend. Well, that and the Kenny Chesney Concert yesterday. Apparently, Chesney is into Boating......I'm not sure of the whole story here, but the rivers were full of boats and they were calling themselves the Chesney Navy.

Tomorrow,(early) the dragon boats will be racing. One of the local rowing clubs has a team of rowers comprised of physically challenged individuals and two blind rowers. I can't wait to see them! Thats the beauty of rowing, there is a form (of rowing) for pretty much anybody. The more I learn, the more I love.

Has anyone done the Yukon 1000? Across the big empty......
certainly out of my league. I can not imagine sitting and rowing 18 hours a day, and pure desolation. mmm, maybe I can, sub space.

I see where Little Rock is quite a kayak destination.Something to think about maybe? Arkansas has more than 9,700 miles of rivers, stream and bayous as well as 600,000 acres of lakes. Little rock is smack dab in the middle of it all. Is anybody salavating? Listen to this!
The Arkansas River bisects the Ozark and the Quachita mountain ranges and the new Arkansas Water trails program links urban and backwoods paddling routes.

When I was learning to kayak, I recall my instructor saying to me "Breath into the nervous feelings".....what ever the hell that meant. Kayak speak for* Women thrive in a supportive environment* I'm not backwoods paddling literate, but am open to learning. My whole mission is to be
a voice for the female experience, you know...it's ok to be different.

Ok, enough from me!

[Greco]

YB,

You have given me a serious desire to get to a kayak as soon as I get home, before I leave for much drier climes...I'll keep you posted on that...and I had no idea Arkansas has 600,000 acres of lakes! Jesus, I'd be on that water 24/7 if I lived there, 9,700 miles of river! hmmm...yes, I'd be on and in the water there.

I remember a number of years ago, a friend and I went canoeing in Fla around I believe it was the Orlando, or West of there anyway, she suggested going to this clear water river? no, it was more a type of clear stream but deep. Deep enough for the then almost endangered manatees. We docked the canoe on a bank and went snorkeling in the clearest, most beautiful waterway...I'll never forget that...I also adopted a manatee, her name was Luna.

YB, I appreciate your sharing about the activities you love...keep em coming.
Have a great time at the Regatta.

Greco

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Any one from St. louis on here? I'm asking because I hear St. Louis is a great place to kayak in the early fall, like September.

Pittsburgh has three rivers. But what happens here is, two rivers come together and form the Ohio river. If I understood correctly, St. Louis is like an island with 4 rivers flowing around it.

The Regatta is the big event this weekend. Well, that and the Kenny Chesney Concert yesterday. Apparently, Chesney is into Boating......I'm not sure of the whole story here, but the rivers were full of boats and they were calling themselves the Chesney Navy.

Tomorrow,(early) the dragon boats will be racing. One of the local rowing clubs has a team of rowers comprised of physically challenged individuals and two blind rowers. I can't wait to see them! Thats the beauty of rowing, there is a form (of rowing) for pretty much anybody. The more I learn, the more I love.

Has anyone done the Yukon 1000? Across the big empty......
certainly out of my league. I can not imagine sitting and rowing 18 hours a day, and pure desolation. mmm, maybe I can, sub space.

I see where Little Rock is quite a kayak destination.Something to think about maybe? Arkansas has more than 9,700 miles of rivers, stream and bayous as well as 600,000 acres of lakes. Little rock is smack dab in the middle of it all. Is anybody salavating? Listen to this!
The Arkansas River bisects the Ozark and the Quachita mountain ranges and the new Arkansas Water trails program links urban and backwoods paddling routes.

When I was learning to kayak, I recall my instructor saying to me "Breath into the nervous feelings".....what ever the hell that meant. Kayak speak for* Women thrive in a supportive environment* I'm not backwoods paddling literate, but am open to learning. My whole mission is to be
a voice for the female experience, you know...it's ok to be different.

Ok, enough from me!

[little man]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Any one from St. louis on here? I'm asking because I hear St. Louis is a great place to kayak in the early fall, like September.

Pittsburgh has three rivers. But what happens here is, two rivers come together and form the Ohio river. If I understood correctly, St. Louis is like an island with 4 rivers flowing around it.

The Regatta is the big event this weekend. Well, that and the Kenny Chesney Concert yesterday. Apparently, Chesney is into Boating......I'm not sure of the whole story here, but the rivers were full of boats and they were calling themselves the Chesney Navy.

Tomorrow,(early) the dragon boats will be racing. One of the local rowing clubs has a team of rowers comprised of physically challenged individuals and two blind rowers. I can't wait to see them! Thats the beauty of rowing, there is a form (of rowing) for pretty much anybody. The more I learn, the more I love.

Has anyone done the Yukon 1000? Across the big empty......
certainly out of my league. I can not imagine sitting and rowing 18 hours a day, and pure desolation. mmm, maybe I can, sub space.

I see where Little Rock is quite a kayak destination.Something to think about maybe? Arkansas has more than 9,700 miles of rivers, stream and bayous as well as 600,000 acres of lakes. Little rock is smack dab in the middle of it all. Is anybody salavating? Listen to this!
The Arkansas River bisects the Ozark and the Quachita mountain ranges and the new Arkansas Water trails program links urban and backwoods paddling routes.

When I was learning to kayak, I recall my instructor saying to me "Breath into the nervous feelings".....what ever the hell that meant. Kayak speak for* Women thrive in a supportive environment* I'm not backwoods paddling literate, but am open to learning. My whole mission is to be
a voice for the female experience, you know...it's ok to be different.

Ok, enough from me!

i'm originally from the st. louis area. i've recently moved to TX and have just started kayaking since i got here.

the illinois and missouri rivers converge with the mississippi river at st. louis. quite a bit of barge traffic and recreational boaters on the mississippi. it looks fairly calm, but has a good undertow to it. the meramec river is also near st. louis, to the south. you also have the cuivre river and the big river. not sure how either of those would be for paddling, though. from what i understand, the rainfall has been pretty heavy in the area (according to dad, anyway). obviously, there will be swifter currents, but lots of of debris as well. the areas around the rivers tend to be fairly wooded and plenty of branches and such to get swept downriver. i have done some canoeing on the meramec as well as tubing. i'd be happy to answer anything for you that i can...just ask away.

[little man]

i've been paddling on town lake here in austin. it's one in a series of lakes on the colorado river. there is almost no motorized boat traffic allowed, so you don't have to fight the wakes from the drunk guys in power boats. last week, i went out with a couple of friends for an evening paddle. it was sweet. even fewer folks on the lake than in the morning and it got cooler as we paddled. a welcome break from the 100+ temps we've been having. we paddled to the congress street bridge to see the bats come out. not only was the sunset behind the bridge beautiful, it was a better view of the bats than what i'd seen from the shore. i don't have any waterproof camera gear yet, so it's a bit of a pain to take the stuff out of the dry bag and put it back in after a couple of shots...but the pics i did get were worth the effort. i've been lazy about editing my pics, but will do a couple and post them in the gallery, if anyone is interested.

i'm interested in trying out the single sculls as well. it's a total body workout (which i could use) and i figure it'll improve my range of motion in the bad knee i've got. i can certainly use some work on the abs and legs as well. getting older is hell, i tell ya. but, i'm thinking it'll be good exercise and a good way to improve my mobility for the kayak.

i want to get into some mild whitewater this fall. i got a good deal on a 10' pelican fishing yak. the cockpit is a little larger than i'd like, so am wondering if kneeling to paddle might be an option for me. i think this yak was built for someone a bit taller than i am. i've had to make some modifications to be able to even reach the footpegs. i'd like to get myself into a 9' fusion at some point. right now, they're going for about $700, so out of my range for the time being.

anyway...all this rambling. i spent june paddling on town lake. now, i'm looking to spend july paddling on smaller water with some current. trying to work my way up to quicker moving water so i can get some smaller rapids this fall.

YB, i'd be interested to know more about the knee paddling. anything you're willing to share would be helpful, i'm sure.

blaze, are you maybe thinking about a trip down this way sometime? it'd be cool to hook up and go for a paddle. i know a couple other folks from the site down here who would likely be interested in a kayak outing.

[Sachita]

I have both my kayaks in the van and we've been stealing as much time as we have to go out on the lakes. I wish they weren't 40 min away because it limits the amount time we could be spending on the water. But it's peaceful and we can float and just listen to nature. During the week there are few boats on the water. Last time we scouted some shore beaches to swim - more private over the public beach with a million screaming kids.

I love fishing off my kayak and next week I'll get my license.

[Dominique]

Sachita, Littleman, Greco, nice to see you all posting in this wonderful thread.

Littleman privately reached out to me for a source of info. Water people are like that. Good people, and also fun.

This morning as I was reading about Kayak tours I started reading about Arkansas and I thought, wow, why can't the kayakers all meet up at the reunion place and plan a kayak expedition. Then, as you saw, I just got carried away (no pun intended)

Here, where I live, there is a non profit organization that rents kayaks. Thats who I do the tours and instructional courses for. I do not get paid.
It's all for the love of the sport, and the idea is to introduce people to the outdoors and get them outside (and of course get them moving). They use flat bottomed perception kayaks with roomy cockpits and upgraded seats. Ideal for rentals. Then we have the rowing clubs, not non profit, but they keep it so the sport (and all it encompasses) can be affordable.

A tremendous amount of commerce comes through Pittsburgh on the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. I've seen the Mississippi (before I was a kayaker) in Both Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. Comparing that Mississippi to our three rivers, well, the Mississippi was scarey.

My personal kayak is an advanced element (advancedframe) (www.advancedelements.com) inflateable hybrid kayak. 10.5 long, 32 inches wide. **Littleman, the biggest reason I am able to paddle on my knees is my seat collapses into the space behind the seat giving me room for my legs. If you have room for your legs, you'll love this. I was surprised how comfortable this actually was.

Check it out!

YB

[little man]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Sachita, Littleman, Greco, nice to see you all posting in this wonderful thread.

Littleman privately reached out to me for a source of info. Water people are like that. Good people, and also fun.

This morning as I was reading about Kayak tours I started reading about Arkansas and I thought, wow, why can't the kayakers all meet up at the reunion place and plan a kayak expedition. Then, as you saw, I just got carried away (no pun intended)

Here, where I live, there is a non profit organization that rents kayaks. Thats who I do the tours and instructional courses for. I do not get paid.
It's all for the love of the sport, and the idea is to introduce people to the outdoors and get them outside (and of course get them moving). They use flat bottomed perception kayaks with roomy cockpits and upgraded seats. Ideal for rentals. Then we have the rowing clubs, not non profit, but they keep it so the sport (and all it encompasses) can be affordable.

A tremendous amount of commerce comes through Pittsburgh on the Ohio and Allegheny rivers. I've seen the Mississippi (before I was a kayaker) in Both Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. Comparing that Mississippi to our three rivers, well, the Mississippi was scarey.

My personal kayak is an advanced element (advancedframe) (www.advancedelements.com) inflateable hybrid kayak. 10.5 long, 32 inches wide. **Littleman, the biggest reason I am able to paddle on my knees is my seat collapses into the space behind the seat giving me room for my legs. If you have room for your legs, you'll love this. I was surprised how comfortable this actually was.

Check it out!

YB

i'm on the short side and the cockpit is on the long side...thinking maybe i can manage kneeling. i'm planning on hitting town lake early tomorrow morning, so i'll take my knee pads and see how it works out. my only real concern is whether or not the stability will be affected by shifting my weight forward a bit. we'll see how it works out.

btw...posted a couple pics in the gallery from last weekend's evening excursion.

[Dominique]

I'm dragon boat racing this morning at the regatta.

It's so frigging humid, I had gatorade for breakfast. I'm fine inside my IGLOO house.....

Hey littleman, regualr knee pads, when they get wet, slide around. These peel and stick that they sell, are two small rubber mats, and extremely soft rubber knee pads, and they work sort of like suction cups on the mat

If the lake is calm, try it, you've got nothing to loose, but lots to gain. My legs are only 29 inches, so this is very easy for me to do. Be prepared to go fast! (and have a blast!!!)

OK, gotta pack my bicycle bag. After dragon boat racing, the Pirates are back in town!

Happy July 4th to all Americans, Belated happy Cananda day neighbors.....and to all, a great day.