Monday, April 18, 2016

It's All Happening

We "unlocked" the trailer this weekend.  The RRCC security policy requires us to throw away the key between every canoe trip.



Now she's loaded and ready to go....



Man, I never get tired of looking at that.  Every member will have their own canoe and will be paddling solo on this trip.  Final roster and canoe assignments are as follows:

1.  Josh  [new Mad River, on the trailer]
2.  Mullowney   [own canoe, will bring]
3.  Myers  [Delta Dawn, Mullowney will bring]
4.  Pete F.  [1933 Old Town, on the trailer]
5.  Phil  [Cronin's Old Town, on the trailer]
6.  Rob H.  [Blue Dagger, on the trailer]
7.  Skip  [Folbot, on the trailer]
8.  Tim   [Wenonah, on the trailer]
9.  Vernon  [Grumman, on the trailer]
10.  Jack  [Bell Northwind, will bring Saturday morning]


Jack is meeting us at Bridge #2 and will be waiting for use there at 10:30 Saturday morning.   We expect to camp 3 - 4 miles upstream of that on Friday.    He took the canoe with him and is putting the Bell in  Belle Meade this week:


Jack:    Bridge #2 is actually called "Warner Bridge."   It looks like you could put the address for Cedar Rock Hunting Preserve, 1326 Warner Bridge Rd,., in your GPS since it's right there.    Otherwise just take Lane St. west out of Shelbyville which turns into Warner Bridge Rd.  It's 10 minutes from downtown Shelbyville and 1 hour from Nashville.  Map below...



Also, a quick reminder on the Trucker's Hitch which you're going to need.



The main group will leave at 7:30 am Friday from my house.  

For those of you meeting us at the put-in, try to be there by 9:00 am.  It's easy to find.  There's only one bridge crossing the Duck River in Shelbyville and we'll be under it.   It's the Hwy 231 bridge a.k.a. South Cannon Blvd.  Which reminds me:  Rob Cannon are you out there?  I hope and expect to see him come skidding up in a cloud of dust just as we launch.



Pete is flying in and will arrive BNA at 9:25 am Friday.  Somebody whose vehicle will not be involved in the shuttle needs to pick him up.   Josh, could that be you?

The rest of us will head to the river, load the boats and run the shuttle with the goal of being ready to shove off when Pete arrives around 11:00.   

Don't forget cups, utensils and plates for yourself.  No disposable water bottles.   And one more tip:   canoe seat backs really should be mandatory equipment for a group of middle-aged men spending three days on a river.   You still have time to get one with Amazon Prime, or pick one up at Cumberland Transit or REI.   It will change the entire paddling experience for you.

You need to get one with some structure in it, not the crappy canvas Crazy Creek ones.

The Original Sit-Backer is good:  





This one is intriguing.  I wish someone would volunteer to order one and try it out...





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