Welcome to my blog where I am offering six reviews for inflatable, blow up canoes and kayaks. The reason for this is because I am an experienced canoeist and I love being on the river. I have shared a great story below so that you will understand my passion, and I hope it will encourage you to get a boat and take to the river! People often ask me whether they should get a canoe or a kayak. If you want to be comfortable, spend a lot of time on the water doing things other than running rapids, I say get a canoe. If you are more about running rapids, get a kayak. I like the best of both worlds, being comfortable and running rapids, so I prefer a canoe.
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I spent much of my life as a young girl running rivers….and I still love it. I went to a girls canoeing camp in Sapphire, North Carolina for five summers, where I was fortunate to have a great white water canoeist, Dr.Hugh Caldwell, as my teacher. He was a professor of Philosophy at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee during the year, and spent his summers devoted to teaching young girls the mastery of running the wild, beautiful rivers in the south. Hugh took great pride in getting us girls down some of the toughest rivers without swamping, and boasting to the nearby boys camp of our accomplishments. The canoeing program was tough, and your reward was obtaining your Captains Hat. There were five levels to achieve before receiving the coveted Captains Hat, and the normal time frame to master all five levels was 4-5 years. Not to boast, but I was the first girl to qualify at the end of 3 years. In my fourth summer, Hugh allowed me to participate in the program with the 3 girls going for their Captains Hat, but made me wait one more year to complete the program. I think this was because I was quite a small, thin girl (but strong!), and he was hoping I would grow and fill out to better handle the upcoming challenges.
There are so many great, adventurous stories I could share with you, but for now I would like to share just one. In my fourth summer of 1968, Hugh discovered that Governor Maddox of Georgia was considering damming the Chattooga river. In an effort to prevent this, Hugh invited the Governor for a canoe trip down the Chattooga, hoping he would change his mind after experiencing this wild and beautiful river firsthand. He accepted. Hugh picked his four best canoeists, myself included, for this great expedition. We would take the Governor, his bodyguard and three others for the ride of their lives down some of the most thrilling class IV and class V rapids on the Chattooga. Hugh took the Governor in his canoe, and I got the bodyguard. Now you have to picture this…this large 200 pound bodyguard equipped with his guns looking down at a 15 year old small, skinny girl of maybe 90 pounds who is going to take him for a ride down the mighty Chattooga. He was shaking his head, but Hugh made it clear they were to listen to us and do what they were told. We spent a good 30 minutes demonstrating to our designated passengers the proper bow strokes they would need to manage the bow position effectively. The bodyguard was a bit disgruntled when I told him he would not be able to ride in the bow due to our body weight difference, and he would have to ride farther back. Once we were underway, the bodyguard turned to look at me and said, ” I don’t want to get my guns wet.” Whereupon, I assured him he would not.
We were a bit fearful our mission had failed when two of the girls swamped with their elderly government passengers in the run of the last rapids, but we did not fail, nor did the bodyguard get his guns wet. A few days after this trip, Hugh received a letter from the Governor stating he and his crew had an amazing adventure with us. Not only was he not going to dam the river, but he was going to propose to Congress that the Chattooga river be protected. In 1974, six years later, Congress designated the Chattooga as one of America’s wild and scenic rivers.
I posted the above video so you can get a small taste of the wild and beautiful Chattooga. When I can dig out the photos from my mom’s basement back in Virginia of this historical expedition, I will post them here for you. I am proud to have been a part of a group of people that saved this river so that so many river and nature lovers can enjoy it today, and forever.
We didn’t have a blow up canoe nor inflatable kayaks back then. We ran the rivers in aluminum canoes that were heavy to portage, and didn’t move through the water with the ease and maneuverability of inflatables. Inflatable canoes and kayaks are an incredible addition to life on the water. I hope you will enjoy the reviews, get a boat and enjoy the many wonders of being on the river or whatever water calls you.