Cuda broke a lot of plastic boats hearts | SouthernPaddler.com

Cuda broke a lot of plastic boats hearts

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tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
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I ran the Castile kayak race yesterday, I had a blast,and the Cuda was perfect,this race is twelve miles of some of the wildest paddling this ole redneck has ever done.
Chuck and bear this place is twenty times worse than our trip on the river,2/3 of it was fast water 2 to 3 ft drops rocks
like you would believe .

I had a ball
This was my first kayak race and the first time on the LLano,it was quite an experience.
We all lined up , at last count 154 folks entered and started the race, I was enjoying watching all the boats and a guy in a K1 that had to keep paddling back and forth ,that dang boat was so narrow if he stopped paddling it would flip.
The gun went of and here we go, I knew I would burn out trying to keep up with the front runners,so I just set my pace and started working up thru the second bunch,boy this is fun,then here comes the rapids and here we go,a lot of 1 to three foot drops,then we hit the walls,two walls out in the river 6 or 8 ft apart ,once you started in it was hang on and play pin ball till you got thru,then rocks in front of you hard left ,this was a story that occur ed over and over,my boat is 15 ft 5 inches and that is as long as I would want to paddle.
A few miles down the river I picked the wrong line and wound up sideways and the hung up luckily ,where I stopped I could look down the right side of the boat at a straight 3 ft drop.well I managed to get unstuck back in the boat and off again. The we paddle up on a old dam across the river it is from 6 to 8 ft high and you cant see whats below you,I paddled up looked picked what I hoped was the best line and over I went ,was a pretty good line until you got half way down ,yep a big rock right in the middle . I managed to get the nose of the boat by it skidded of of it hit another rock that straightened me back up,that was a OHHH s@@tmoment.
The last mile was a huge rock garden I hung up got out and led the boat thru,was really getting tired,started to get back in the boat turtles big time,caught all my stuff started to get back in turtles again, finally got in the boat on the third try headed for the finish line. then the worst part to me we had to drag across a Island about 50 yards then wade the last few yards to the bank,I was whooped ,I lost 5 places going across the island.
I am going to break this here
Ron
 
T

tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Summary of my first race
It was a blast and I will do it again,my boat handled perfect the new paddle I had was great ,thanks again HOT Kayak
Gerald and I had the only two wooden boats and they both drew a lot of comments.
This being my first attempt at this I didnt know if it was a tough race or not.
The only time the old boat got passed was when I was hung up in the rapids,I could run off and leave the tupper ware boats,made an old codger feel good.
Now fellows the ones that have built boats out of polyester,don't ever let them tell you they want stand up ,you cant get much rougher on a boat than I did this weekend,and she stood up fine.
From talking to folks that have run this for several years,the water level being up a little made for more rapids ,I think I just got out of the boat 3 times and then it was just get it unhung and get back in, never really had to drag the boat.
I was tickled with the race I came in 10 behind Gerald and 20 minutes behind him ,was number 33 out of 154 and I finished
Not bad for a old man and a rookie.
The last 1/4 mile I had 4 guys behind me in there 20s,heard one of them say hey we can catch that ole man,they tried for about 5o yards but the Cuda just walked off from them, earlier in the race there were 4 young men from Washington State, I caught and passed them ,they were in Daggers after the race they came up looked at the Cuda and told me you were killing us we would look back and you were just steady paddling and just paddled on by us and we couldnt do a thing about it.
Matt You did good,
Ron
The only boats I couldnt catch were the K1
 
B

bearridge

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2005
3,092
4
way down yonder
Dang good on ya Ron. Got pichurs....mebbe frum the tv news folk? Didnt they give prizes fer first in each age groups? Did ya see any other geezers? Sounds like a heap a fun. Did ya give out any tv interviews after the race? [grin]

congratulations
bearridge


Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority.  It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern.  They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.  Daniel Webster
 
B

beekeeper

Well-Known Member
Mar 4, 2009
1,917
59
Congradulations
Sounds like exciting water. To think I have been complaining about a breeze drifting my boat around. :wink:

beekeeper
 
T

tx river rat

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Feb 23, 2007
3,043
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this is a quote from my friend Gerald that had the other wooden boat.

If you're looking for a nice sedate river, with mild rapids, few portages, and great scenery--then this ain't it! I think someone mentioned that there were rocks, but did they mention that there were rocks upon rocks, rocks in the rapids, house size rocks, car size rocks, little rocks, big rocks--rocks that jump out and get you? No, I don't think they did. Couple that with an inappropriate boat for such a river and you are in turtle heaven. Turtle--meaning turn over.

The first couple of rapids I did went very well. I was thinking--hey! This is alright! It was the third or fourth rapid section that changed my mind a bit. It must have been 1/4 mile long and dropped a pretty good amount. Only trouble was that there was no path through for a 28" X 18' boat. You had to step your way down and criss cross to make the run with out portaging. This set up the first of my many turtles. I turtled at least five times--maybe more. Heck--I turtled twice in the last 1/4 mile of the race within site of the yellow cone and a group of people that pointed toward the finish line--which was over a fairly steep island, through some more water, and collapse on the shore. There was NO path in the last 1/2 mile that my boat could easily negotiate.

Did I mention that people pass you when you turtle, have to gather everything up, empty the water out of the boat, and jump back in? I didn't think so. I could catch and pass the little boats in the few flat areas but they would pass me again in the rapids. In one pretty nasty rapid I tried to put my boat through an 18" slot that cut back on itself. Another turtle! There WAS one rapid that was wide enough and pretty deep--except for the big rock at the top. My boat made that rapid rock solid--like it was on rails. Didn't get a drop of water in the boat. Of course--I wasn't IN the boat. I was under it. In one particularly interesting rapid my boat got pinned underwater by the water rushing over a huge boulder. Took awhile to get it out of that.

So...it was a very good and interesting trip. There were waaaaaaay more than 100 boats there. The ideal boat appears to be between 12 and 16', plastic, with plenty of rocker. I'd think that a 14' boat about 24" wide would be good. Kind of like an overgrown white water boat.

Darrell had a hurt knee and was sick so he was unable to attend. Ron (bowgarguide) was there and he did very well. You'll have to hear his story when he gets back tomorrow.

These comments are just off the top of my head. I just got home. With any luck at all I'll be able to block this episode from my mind with a little sleep. Maybe I'll bang my head against a brick wall next time I decide to do the Great Castell River Race.

I'll damn sure have a different boat.
Gerald is a heck of a paddler and I laughed at folks telling us our boats would be splinters by the time we got three miles.
Ron
 
T

tx river rat

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Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Kayak Jack said:
I'm thinking tht ronnie paddled that fast cause he thought there was a yellow jacket chasing him? Or, maybe a tax collector?

Good job, Ron. We geezers are proud of you. A tip o' my hat to you!
Click to expand...
Or an X wife
Ron
 
T

tx river rat

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Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Mick
From all I heard they fell out of the boat a lot,One guy was smoking 1 hour 57 minutes to cover twelve miles and 2/3 of that in rapids.
Ron
 
T

tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
Chuck
I just got to say this my laun poly boat that cost 200 bucks did good :D :D :D
Lord just think what I could have done with marine plywood and epoxy
Mick you would have like this race when you finished they ask if you wanted water a soda(thats for you Jack I didnt call it a coke) or a beer and a pretty girl in a bikini handing it to you.
Bear I am not sure on the classes I went to the little town for something to eat and didnt stay for the awards,they will probably post them on the web.Little town is sort of like Luckenback . They were sitting outside the store picking and grinning and drinking plenty LOne Star Beer.
Ron
 
H

hairymick

Well-Known Member
Dec 8, 2005
2,107
2
Queensland, Australia
Ron,

I would have had to take some beers with me.

Just to torment the young bucks a bit.

Picture it if you can, :D Two geezers paddling a kayak race, in their home made, wooden boats, smoke in one hand, and a beer in a cup holder and paddling past some of the younguns who were taking it all oh so seriously :D

At the end, a pretty girl gives us even more beer 8)

oh man, I live for stuff like that. :D 8)
 
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