Dec 08 2009
More photos from free clinic.
Thanks to Matthew Koch with www.adriftimages.com for sending me some new pictures of the free clinic for this write-up.
Hope to see you all on the river soon after a short leave of absense.
Jeremy Adkins
Tag Archive 'jeremy adkins'
Nov 19 2009
Free Clinic with Jackson Kayaks and Coosa Outfitters
A few months ago I called Dusty Stinson about helping him out as the new Jackson Kayaks dealer in North Alabama, which has been long overdue to our area. Coosa Outfitters is the first company with a selection of gear to get you into whitewater kayaking while having a positive motivated attitude towards our great sport. He is making it fun for everyone. This would be the first annual free pool and river clinics. With Clay Wright, Dane Jackson, Samantha Brunner, Boyd Ruppelt, Burress family, Gavin Rains, Chris Wing, Anne Connolly and Andrew Koch. With warm temperatures and great water due to the recent rains it was a great weekend to be in a pool or on a river. The pool was outside, which was great with 75 degree temperatures but the water could have been warmer. The instructors taught rolling, eskimo rescues, playboating, stokes, bow stall, stern stalls, wet exits and much more. With the help of Matthew I was able to complete the Shred Ready throw rope man. He will be used at NAWFest as well to help you with your rope throw. I am the champ Gavin. Check the video lol…
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.
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
Jeremy Adkins
Team Jackson Kayaks
Nov 02 2009
2010 All Star is a surfing machine.
Here is a couple of pics from Corner Pocket Wave on the Mulberry Fork of the Warrior River. These waves come in at high water level and have been consitently in with all the rain. You can go to AlabamaWhitewater.com and read more info. Here are some pictures of clean spins, cutbacks, just surfing, donkey flips and more. These waves are amazing so come on down.
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.
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
Oct 27 2009
NAWF dates are set.
NAWFest 2010 dates are set. Hope to see you there because things are going to better than ever.
Jeremy Adkins
NAWFest Co-Organizer
www.NAWFest.com
www.MySpace.com/NAWFest
FlyinSkeleton@cs.com
Oct 24 2009
Coming home to RAIN!!!
After getting back from West Virgina there was rain at home. I had some stuff to catch up on but here are some shots from a quick stop to the Mulberry and Locust Fork branches of the Warrior River. When these two places are both in at the same time you can hit every trick in the book in one day. Great fun and one of the best holes in the Southeast with no publicity.
Oct 13 2009
Improvements in Freestyle!
With great water and weather, the time came to take friend and fellow paddler, Steve Doyle on his 1st day private instruction freestyle class. Steve has has been wanting to take the class and what better time than a sunny day off in the middle of the week. The day started out at Ender Hole on the Locust Fork of the Warrior before we went over to the Mulberry Fork of the Warrior. With two different rivers it allowed us to work on different moves in different locations. Learning at different locations helps you tweak all different aspects of your freestyle. While on the Locust Fork we hiked up to Big Scarum and check out the waterfalls.
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
Oct 05 2009
Gauley Festival Always Rocks!
Upon meeting Anne Connelly Thursday afternoon, the two of us set off on the 9 hour trek to the 2009 Gauley Festival. Anne is a one of a kind individual as she earned the 2008 American Whitewater volunteer of the year award. Not only is she a fantastic boater, with her humor and entertaining personality, there is no one I’d rather accompany on a road trip. We arrived at the Gauley River dam late Thursday night forcing us to set up the tent in complete darkness. Since the tubes were on and it was so quiet, I decided to walk down and grab some photos. With the night lights shining, the area looked beautiful, giving me some great shots of the water. Underneath the lights, I spotted a huge, neatly spun web along with a spider who didn’t seem to mind posing for a few minutes. Gotta love a little nature at night.
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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Sep 28 2009
Quick stop for low water, Tellico River.
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
Sep 28 2009
Review on Ophion Paddles- Rapture
Here is a review of my paddle sponsor, Ophion Paddles. Ophion paddles are the best paddles I have ever used. I am super excited to be a part of this great team. They are lightweight, strong, powerful blades and super stylish.
Here are the links of the reviews.
http://www.canoekayak.co.uk/categories/articleitem.asp?item=298
http://broadbandsports.com/node/29540
Jeremy Adkins
Team Ophion Paddles
Sep 13 2009
Free Kayaking Clinic in Alabama on November 14-15th.
Free Kayaking clinic on November 14 and 15th. If you want to learn this is your chance. Special thanks to Jackson Kayaks for all their help and providing kayaks for all those interested in learning. Email me at FlyinSkeleton@cs.com and I will give you all the details and add you to the newsletter.
Hope to see you all there.
Jeremy Adkins
FlyinSkeleton@cs.com
