This was the season's first of the three Ocoee weekday GCA trips I try to coordinate each year. The weather was great, the water level was in the "normal" range, and the water temp was good for early June.

I had considered discontinuing these trips after last year because the turn-out was low enough to make it almost not worthwhile. But I decided to give it another season and see how it went. Well.... I got 15 sign-ups, all fifteen showed up at the put-in, but one had to leave before we embarked due to an unexpected business call on his cell phone. I think it pays to turn off your cell phone at certain times.

So the trip began with 14 boaters. I mention this because somehow my Ocoee trips never end with the same number of boaters they start with. I don't really LOSE people, stuff just happens. Most of us put in at the ramp, but two people decided to join us at the old raft put-in below Grumpy and another would be meeting us at Double Suck. So in the beginning we were 11, but quickly became 13, then soon 14. I'll get into the attrition part later.

I had heard through the rumor mill that the big land slide above the put-in last fall had washed a lot of debris into Grumpy, altering the ledge in such a manner that you now could run it virtually anywhere without fear of getting stuck for an interminable surf or recirculation. I didn't mention this to any of the participants because it was strictly rumor until I could see it for myself, and I didn't want to give anyone a false sense of security. I figured I would check it out on my way down following the left side route I usually take.

Long story short, Grumpy didn't look much different to me from inspecting it on the fly from the left side, or from the eddy just below it. I'll leave it to someone braver or more foolish than me to take the middle line and test out the theory. I'll even set a rope for anyone who wants to try it. Some of the water above Grumpy did seem a little different — some of the waves seemed a bit smaller, as did a couple of the eddies, but nothing really striking.

Two of our crew were Ocoee first timers, but very solid paddlers, and one was returning after a long hiatus caused by illness. The rest of us were relatively seasoned Ocoee boaters, so I didn't expect a lot of carnage on the trip.

From above Broken Nose I asked one of the more experienced boaters to run ahead and set up rope safety on the island where he could cover both the right and left side runs, as there were people who were favoring each of the routes. I also assigned someone to lead the way down the right, and I led down the left. Events unfolded, as events sometimes do, in a rather unexpected manner. There were suddenly three boaters in the water on the right side route, and only one safety rope person.

Fortune smiled that day and Broken Nose was kind enough to surf one swimmer with boat into the eddy on river right just below the second ledge-hole. Another boater took the rope throw and was pulled onto the island without boat — the boat was recovered below and a helpful open boater from our group gave the swimmer a ride down to the wayward boat. The third swimmer made it to the island on his own and his boat cooperated by following him very closely to a point where the rope thrower was able to grab the boat as it went by.

The rest of the trip was not uneventful. There were some other out-of-boat experiences, and some really good combat rolls by kayaks and open boats, but no more simultaneous choreographed swims. We had scheduled lunch at Double Trouble, but once again the fates interfered with our plans. Everyone made the run through Double Trouble OK, but one boater had a swim ferrying across to river right where everyone was unpacking lunches and getting ready to eat. A couple of others who were still in their boats went after the swimmer and boat, but by the time they got them over, they were too far down to comfortably work their way back up to where the rest of the group was eating. And since I had lunches for the three of them in my dry bag, I opted to paddle on down and join the swimmer and rescuers for lunch. Every-one else stayed at Double Trouble for lunch.

After lunch, one of the group who was having a less than stellar day decided to take off at Go Forth, and two others decided to leave the group and paddle the rest of the way to the take-out on their own, because things were going pretty slowly and they had other things going on early in the evening.

So then we were back to 11 boaters, the same number who put on at the ramp, but down from the maximum of 14 at lunch. The math was beginning to be almost as much of a challenge as the river. The rest of the run was relatively uneventful. At the take-out everyone was reunited with their vehicles, loaded up and we were on our way. I was thankful to have survived the challenges of keeping track of how many trip participants we had on the trip at any given time.

Thanks to all those who participated — Mike McDonough, Jackie Pickett, Tom Keller, Donna Tawzer and Andrew Little in K-1; Gabriella Schlidt, Barry Smith, Mike McGinnis, Edward Stockman, Dave Vezzetti, Dorethy Vezzetti, Warren Little, Wade Lucas and myself in OC-1. Thanks to all those who ran lead, who ran sweep, and especially those who helped with safety and rescue, and to those who helped with the shuttle. I'm looking forward to the July weekday run!!

From The Eddy Line, July 2006
by Allen Hedden

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