Back on the grid

Well, here I am back among the living.  Actually, I've done plenty of living all along, but haven't been able to broadcast until now.

Last Saturday (June 22) I joined my friends Curtis and Ruthie from Atlanta for a run of both the upper and middle sections of the Ocoee River near Ducktown, Tennessee.  I was already sore and achy from all the paint stripping I had done that week, and I felt anything but sharp in my whitewater boat, which I was paddling for the first time since last November.  I sort of shied away from the more challenging moves and just tried to get used to using muscle groups that had fallen into disuse.  I was hurting from head to toe by the end of this long day, but there's no such thing as a regrettable day on the river.

That evening I drove over to Long Creek, South Carolina, where I camped.  The next morning I met my buddy Travis at the U.S. 76 bridge over the Chattooga River.  Travis had been out of his boat for a long time too, so we decided to run the section of river between Fall Creek and Woodall Shoals--not the most difficult whitewater the Chattooga has to offer, but at a gauge reading of 1.7 feet, some good action nevertheless, especially the intimidating Bull Sluice rapid.

The first thing I noticed as we put in was how much more peaceful the Chattooga is than the Ocoee.  While the Ocoee has been dammed into submission by the TVA, has a road following most of its length, and is clogged with tourists who pay to see the river from rafts, the Chattooga is free-flowing, has no development along its banks, and, save for a few auto-accessible points where locals congregate to swim and fish, offers plenty of solitude.

Once I had a chance to loosen up on the easy whitewater in the early part of the run, I felt quite a bit better in my boat, and a nice clean run of Bull Sluice did much to lift my spirits.  It was also fun to spend a few hours with Travis, talking about nothing in particular like we always do.

When the paddling was done it was time to move on to the main agenda item for this trip: a six-day class in cooperage at Country Workshops in the mountains north of Asheville.  It was the same course I had taken last summer, and you can read this post for an explanation of why I think it's relevant material for a canoe and kayak racing blog.

Fortunately I did manage to come away with a passable bucket, but at this stage of my woodworking (and paddling) career I pick classes based not on what sort of object I'll take home but on the potential to advance my skills.  This one was taught again by Carl Swensson, sort of a mountaintop guru of woodworking technique, and he pointed out that the top performers in any field are lifelong learners who even late in life seek the advice of teachers or coaches.  I'm not sure I'm a top performer in any field, but I'll continue to emulate them.

I'm spending today visiting my sister's family in Lincolnton, North Carolina.  Tomorrow I'll head home at last, eager to see what's gotten done at my building and to rescue my poor kittycat from his long days alone in my little apartment.