Hope to see you all on the river soon after a short leave of absense.

Jeremy Adkins

http://www.astralbuoyancy.com/news/inside-astral/a-glimpse-inside-the-astral-factory-and-a-preview-of-the-greenjacket-le2/

Hope to see you on the river soon,

Team Astral Buoyancy

Jeremy Adkins

Well I have owned this car for about 11 or 12 years. I used it as a local shuttle vehicle and place to sleep on kayaking trips. It is a 1967 Ford Country Sedan, 289. When i first saw it I had to have it! Its as good as a truck but better because the back seats fold down to make a king size bed or haul 4 x 8 sheets of ply wood flat around.
The best part of the wagon is the front licence tag….i will have to have that restored as well-for now it is a mystery.
It has been neglected for the past few years, it is all orginal and not really safe to drive. So I sold the wagon to Shred Ready and we are gonna restore it as the “Team Vehicle”.
Here it is in all its glory right now…please over look the leaves and moss growing…
We will keep you updated on our progress….look for near you this coming summer of 2010.

During lunch which was provided by Dusty’s family (sandwiches, drinks, fruits, cookies and drinks) we did the Shred Ready belly flop competition which was awesome. It is amazing how big someone will go for a free piece of hear. The winner was Scott, a Father of 6 children that recently had his son’s helmets chewed up by their dog. Way to go big. Some of the notable belly flops were EJ, the corkscrew guy and the ankle grabber.

That night we stayed at an apartment that Dusty’s dad owns.  Dusty only had one rule and that was nooone open the back door.  EJ and Clay walked in and I proceeded to share the piece of information with them.  No sooner that I told EJ he went over to the door to find the bathroom and set off the alarm.  Very funny.  That night we walked two blocks to the local pizza joint (Maynards- AWESOME!). This place is suppose to be one of the top 100 restaurants in the country.  The pizza was too good for words.  Thanks Dane for not eating all of yours because I got wings.

On Sunday we split into two groups.  The beginner’s group went with Dave Blanding (JK Rep) and Dusty to Terrapin Creek.  Terrapin is a mild class 1 river with minimal consequences.  Their trip would include all types of whitewater and sit on top kayaks.  At the same time Team Jackson Kayak went down the Locust Fork of the Warrior, home of the NAWFest.  Locust Fork is a class 2-3 river that is great for beginners and intermediate paddlers wanting to step their game up.  You can always check the levels of Alabama rivers at AlabamaWhitewater.com.  We had around 60 people in this group which was an amazing thing to see.  With only one broken paddle and one lost paddle the highlight of the trip for was my first hand paddle or hand float of the entire Locust Fork River.  The Locust offers up a lot of eddy line moves, rock spins, slots,surfing and Ender Hole, one of the best playspots around.

It was great weekend paddling with the Burress family and I truly enjoyed every second of this past week.  I hope to see you on the river soon.

Special thanks to Kathleen Burress and Samantha Meadows who took wonderful photos.  Another special thanks to Mark Armistead for making this short video of the entire day on Sunday.

Jeremy Adkins

Team Jackson Kayaks

Here is a video of the Mulberry from the same day.  Taken by a friend.  You can see the Corner Pocket Wave on the right as yu go through Hawaii Five-O.  Notice the big Macho Move at 3:22.

Mulberry Fork of the Warrior

Here is a video from the day from my boy from high school Craig Wilson.

See you on the river soon,

Jeremy Adkins

Team Jackson Kayaks

Jeremy Adkins

NAWFest Co-Organizer

www.NAWFest.com

www.MySpace.com/NAWFest

FlyinSkeleton@cs.com

This day was great for him as I saw him improve his skills as the day progressed.  

To my surprise there was a fire barell from NAWF 5 miles downstream at Ender Hole.

Some of the skills we worked on with great imrpovements were rudders, spins, cartwheels, edge control, rock-a-babies, double pump, reverse double pump, offside roll, forward sweeps, backward sweeps, blunts and setting up by surfing out to the corners.  Great day and way to go Steve. Keep practicing and everything will come with perseverance.

Here is a photo of a perfect cartwheel Steve did after he started leading with his eyes and committing to pushing and pulling his sweep strokes.

SYOTR,

Jeremy Adkins.

Team Jackson Kayaks

Friday morning came way too early for two exhausted night owls.  Anne and I drove over to NARR to meet a group with whom she planned to paddle. Anne did the Ladies of the Lower Gauley trip to help raise money for American Whitewater.  

I ran into some friends who talked me into taking on the Lower G for the first time in 15 years.  Most of my life I have heard that the Lower Gauley has better playboating than the Upper, however after spending all day on that portion of the river, I would have to disagree. While it does hold some good playspots, most of them are really shallow hindering the ability to go big or get vertical. But at least I got in one good move…a huge air blunt at Lower Mash highlighted my first day.  The 2010 All Star did help the situation as its size and shape allows you to paddle so well downstream.  The stern is small but as long as you lean forward in the attack position, it is so easy to handle.  I don’t think any big moves could have been possible in a larger boat, so I was very happy to have the All Star on this trip.  Though my trip didn’t produce many more great moves, as the day came to a close, the sun setting into the beautiful Gauley landscape reminded me of how much I appreciated the opportunity to run its river.   And as darkness filled the sky, the festival began with the ever famous, Piano Man center stage.  Wow!!   Every year I have to write about this guy! Not only is he talented, he is so much fun to watch and really gets the weekend of entertainment started off right…well, him and the abundance of margaritas floating around. 

Saturday was about as kind to me as the previous, thanks to the long visit in Margaritaville.  I dragged myself out and met some other friends who had never been down the Upper Gauley.  I agreed to take 5 newbies down and only had one to swim.  It was truly a great day with great lines.  The Upper Gauley is one of a kind and gives boaters that feeling of satisfaction when its all said and done.  That night it was back to the festival where some great activities were going on.  Jackson Kayaks held The Sponge Givaway with a new boat offered as the winning prize and, as usual, there were many rounds of the never ending,           Ro-Sham-Bo and numerous spirits available.  What a great time we all had again this year.  The highlight of the weekend, for me, however, happened on Saturday night.  I was introduced to an amazing dance appropriately named, The Caucasian.  I would like to thank this dance for bringing back the annoying early 90’s chant, “Go white boy, go white boy, GO”.  Here is a link to the Caucasian.

Sunday morning started my last Gauley run of 2009.  To change it up a bit, I hopped in the Hero and I have to say, I love it more every time I paddle it. This boat is quick and short, turns on a dime and boofs like a dream.  What more could you ask for in a creekboat?  Definately the best in my book!!  Just try it!

 While on the river, I ran into 5 more new paddlers and ended up showing them down as well.  By the way, great lines, guys!!  In the process of helping one young lady get her boat back I ended up saving a Dynamic Duo.  If you’ve ever had to pick up this ginormous boat, full of water, then you know how ridiculously heavy it is.  If you don’t want to know…don’t swim unless you want to deal with over 1,000 lbs. of water.  Needless to say, after that, my weekend trip had come full circle…I left the Gauley as exhausted as I had arrived 3 days before.  But despite how worn out I am every time, it is honestly one of my favorite trips each year.  

I hope to see you on the river soon,

Jeremy Adkins

Team Jackson Kayaks

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With a quick rain on the Upper Tellico Tyler, Jessica, Shannon and I drove over to see if it was still running. This would turn into the lowest run I have ever done on the Upper Tellico.  This creek was so fun in the Jackson Kayak’s Hero.  This boat boofs so good and turns on a dime.  I think this is most stable and comfortable creekboat on the market.  Just go to your local dealer and try it.  Here are a couple of pics I took of Tyler and Jessica at Baby Falls downstream.  Make sure to go to the Upper Tellico and do some laps.

SYOTR,

Jeremy Adkins

Team Jackson Kayaks