oooohhhhh OKAY...........NOW I KNOW WHAT YA MEAN.........




I do wish ya luck girlie.......your livin THE life....ya know it..........

OH NO!! RW'S thwarts are split!!!!

You da woman, RW!!!


*mailing duct tape to RW*

I am so impressed! Please, please, please give details when you know. I might have to take a trip up to Maine this weekend! I'll be the one starting the "wave" as you go by!

OK guys!

I got up today and it was too late to go hunting thwarts, I will have to wait for Thursday after infusion to do that while I am in town. I think the most excellent Hamilton Marine may be able to help me out with what I need.

So today I tore open my closet and went through all my gear! I have it stuffed in an old duffle bag, and figured the best thing to do was go through each piece one by one and do a survey. I had put it all away three years ago, and haven't had anything out since.

The drysuit: I have a Kokatat dry suit, front entry. It has a waterproof zipper that goes diagonally across the chest. You step in and zip from left waist to right shoulder to close it...

Anyone know how to lose 30 lbs in three days? I looked like a big blue sausage . I stuffed the chest in far enough to close the zipper, but I think one is still supposed to be able to breathe when it's zipped! I tore the neck seal and I guess I forgot about that too, so before this woman can wear THAT drysuit, it's gotta be fixed and I gotta be fixed! I have an extra seal, just need to put in a few hours of time and work on it, but my end will take more than a few days...

Fortunately, the standby wetsuit still fits, but it's NOT pretty...

Found Gore Tex paddling pants that WILL work (thank you LL Bean!) so with some polarfleece (and if it's nice out) I will wear these instead of the wetsuit. I am not planning to be IN the water, rather just ON the water.

Lifejacket is in excellent shape, no nicks, rips or tears. All necessary equipment is still attached. Knife, whistle and 'biners are all there!

Throw line is in good shape, no breakdown on the rope! Always a good thing!

Found the polarfleece socks and the wetsuit booties. Still fit, don't smell. Bonus! Found polypro union suit, decided that old polypro IS supposed to die at some point. For those of you who know about old polypropylene, it used to pick up body odors after the first wearing, and keep it forever.

It's true It's nasty. I threw them away.

The only thing I haven't found yet is my airbag for my canoe. It's a giant airbag that fills the middle section of the canoe to displace water if said boat gets filled with water. I have to go deeper into the closet for that, I think, and if it's not there, maybe the other closet or the garage...eek.


I am praying for good weather. We are having some snow tonight. The weather this a.m. also said something about snow/rain Saturday. This first of the races has been cancelled because of weather many times. No runoff, no race. WE need some actual above freezing weather for a few days to get the water running! I drove by the race start line over the weekend and it was slow, with ice on the banks and edges of the river.

We shall see! BTW, the drybag always ALWAYS has a roll of duct tape in it DM! (that and a ziplock with first aid supplies and a dry lighter and my cigarettes!)

Glad you threw away the old poly - how much ice on the river - understand there is a LOT of snow at Moosehead - ice not great - anyway start digging through the garage and maybe you'll lose at least 10 !!

LOL, RW, I can help you drop 30# in about 2 minutes, but I think it's a felony and we'd need a lot of drop cloths!

Cutting her hair wouldn't help her get into her drysuit AMN!

Yer soooo funny!!!
Shaving my legs DID help me get the drysuit on, just not enough! No one is cutting the hair on my head either! I braid it to get it outta the way when I paddle. I hate drowning because I choked on my own hair!

Just heard that the race is on, despite the snow we had last night and today. The weather report says it's gonna be warm out (40s) for the next two days, so maybe there will actually BE some runoff!

Tomorrow and Friday are repair days, and if all goes well, maybe a pre- race paddle on the river to check it out. I am always up for the advantage paddle, especially if it's nice out! I have to take the man to show him where the take out is anyway.

I feel the excitement building, just to GET out there! When I talked to Char last night, we figured out that the last time I worked on the river was 2003. The last time I paddled whitewater was 2004, so it's been a LONG time. I used to get soooo excited at this time of year, knowing it would all be starting up soon. Now I am just excited to even be planning!
It's someplace I thought I wouldn't BE again in my life.

RW good for you! I am so happy for you that you CAN be there again! I want to witness it!!!! Char told me where it was but I forget???? I would love to see if I could take the trip up there.