I rode the bubble that first time.. ask me how it felt

NOTE: Dane Jackson... Please stop calling the stretch of water between Snow White and Powerhouse the "Lower" Ocoee. The Lower Ocoee begins at #1... Parksville... and it continues to the confluence of the Hiwassee. When you make statements like, "I had an exhilarating day on the Lowe Oceee." I''m thinking, "What... were you boofing off of river catfish?"

I know you are supposed to be an alleged professional.... And I respect you for that. But when it came time for someone to be the first to the Upper... it wasn't you. It was me.

I know what you're thinking.. You are probably thinking a lot of things, like... "Who is this lunatic?"

Listen buddy, I'm not here to take away from your sub 4 minute run of the Green. That was legit impressive. But I just want to go on record as being the person that corrected you on what the Middle and Lower Ocoee are.

Hello,

I am looking for a playboat, I have currently a rockstar but too small for me (I am 6'2 or 188cm and 165 lbs), and I am not so interested in aerial tricks of freestyle, my objective would be to master stern squirts, bow stalls, cartwheel, splitwheel etc. I would be also happy to slalom a little, but just trying to not touch the poles while doing a stern squirt.

I will paddle with this future boat on an artificial river with slalom poles.

So I could buy a Fun (2nd Gen), about 500 in my area. Small enough to fit in my car without using the racks, big enought for my legs (I suppose, considering the rockstar is ok with the seat fully moved back).

Or I could buy a used Homeslice, almost new, about 800 or 900 in my area.

I spent some time comparing both, it seems the homeslice has less rocker so it should have more speed ?

Due to the volume of the homeslice being less important in front of the knees, but the boat being longer, how both perform for cartwheels etc ?

The longer stern is better for a stern squirt ?

For the comfort, I suppose both are good ?

Does someone ever paddled both and could give me a comparison ?

I am not looking for first or third generation of Fun. and does someone knows why they stopped this boat ? Everybody is now buying a freestyle or a full slice ? or the Fun is ok but not so good after all ?

The price is not an issue, but I won't buy both :-)

Seems like a really nice float? I've only gone from palisade to Grand junction and it took like 4 hours. Could I do a few days camping along the way? Or would I die?

How do you people deal with scratches under your boat? I guess you could leave them there and won't recognize any difference. But lately I saw some kayakers „planing" the bottoms of their boats after the tour. I didn't ask them and I saw it from afar but it looked like they used some kind of blade. Is there a known technique to make the hull smooth and to flatten the scratches? Or is there even a tool that you can buy? Didn't find anything about that online.

The sun was shining. The water was wet. No drama, no trauma, and no carnage. I didn't have to open my med kit.

I saw some people rocking some stout ass drysuit designs and was wondering if anyone had any experience with this brand and the drysuit durability? Any input would be greatly appreciated

Here's the link if you were curious

https://karn-gear.com/collections/whitewater

I've got a 2004 Forester that I love. Just enough to car to do everything I want. Right now I fold my raft in the back, and it works, but the setup time with the full gear frame is really a pain, so I'd really like to trailer it.

I'm trying to determine what features to look for in the trailer. I keep seeing cheap boat trailers I could easily put a flat deck onto, but I basically want to make sure they're not too overbuilt for a raft. I'm a mechanical engineer, so I'm familiar with the technical tradeoffs and mostly looking for experiences and opinions. My questions are less about "is this feature better" and more about "how much will this compromise suck." These are the main things on my mind:

• Should I prioritize aluminum construction over steel for the weight savings?
• Do I need to think about high ground clearance for rougher launch sites? (I guess there's no point in going any higher than my car itself, right?)
• Is the suspension on a trailer designed for a heavier boat going to have a really rough ride when using it with a raft? I'm expecting to take it down dirt roads sometimes.
• Since the fully setup raft is still under my ~250lb tongue weight rating, should I aim to have it pretty far forward from the trailer axle for better handling?

Thanks folks!

As many may know by now I've been kayaking for about a year now and I've made the definite decision to start guiding rafts in the 2025 season. My dad & uncle were both guides on the Ocoee for years in the early 2000s, so I have an immediate in at a couple outfitters up there. I know the nantahala best of any river in the southeast that is commercially rafted. Between those 2 which is better for a newer guide who has been in rafts since they were a kid? Also are there any other rivers in the area that have particularly good attributes as well?

Yeah hi I have a lot of white water experience as a raft guide for many years was kayaking class v when I was 14 to 16 want to get back out there and was wondering if any hard boats can handle a 275-300 lb paddler. Or should I just except that it’s a ducky for this big guy should l look at pack rafts any advice from other larger river rats

Thanks to everyone now it time to find them seems like it’s gunna be like getting pants for big guys now I know the size just nobody got that in stock

Any suggestions on drysuit for 10 y/o?

Our local run (Truckee) gets mighty cold and I’m sure we’ll want to be boating again as soon as ski season ends in April, maybe get some late/early-season south fork American runs too.

Hoping I can snag an end-of-year deal and give it as a xmas or birthday gift. He’s about 4’10”, 85 lbs, anybody’s guess for 6 months from now.

Anyone have any good methods for keeping water out of a leaky boat? I have a correct sized skirt and a dry top on already.

It’s an older dagger full slice which are notorious for letting in water, but wondering if there’s anything else I can do to keep it dry while I paddle, other than taping the drain plug. Thanks

I’ve been paddling a rockstar (large and then moved to a medium) for a few months now and I love it. I would like something super slicey and there’s a centrifuge on Facebook marketplace I’m interested in. I’m 6’ 185lbs. I can’t find many specs online, so wondering if anyone of a similar size has paddled on before and how you felt about it!

*edit* not sure why everyone is hating... Yeah I'm gonna go soon once sh*t hits like normal flood stage... already got a solid crew, just looking for more peeps to join up with. Solid class V+ boater here, I can handle it. Don't worry about me. I'll be bringing supplies to drop off and donated to like 5 different GoFundMe's already too

This is what the Catawba looks like with 5 gates open at the Nitrolee dam.

thank you

I am an American from the Pacific Northwest of the US, now living in London. I've done a lot of whitewater rafting and kayaking in the US. I am looking for rafting opportunities (Class III, IV with nice floats through canyons) in mainland Europe but not seeing a lot of information that isn't associated with guide led tours. Does anyone know good resources for running rivers without guides? I've got a big car and don't mind a multi-day drive to get to good rafting, I've done plenty of multi-day road trips in my life.

Google's new AI bot said rafting in Switzerland and Montenegro isn't possible without a guiding license. Is this true? Or simply guiding other's isn't legal unless you have a license.

Peter Knowles book is the way to my flat but see it hasn't been reprinted in years so I know a lot of the rivers will be out of date but curios why information is so hard to find. Any suggestions from the community would be helpful.

All my clubs play boats have no foot rests is this usual? how do you keep you feet in the right place without foot wrests? thank you

Looking to get into whitewater kayaking & am on the search for a good intro level course to take. I am seeing many different places that offer these in Utah online, and am curious - are there any reputable companies out there that most people go to for courses? On the flip side, are there any whitewater schools that are NOT great? Looking like 'gnarmy nation' and the U of U pool course are the most affordable for what you get out of them (I think). Thanks!

Hey everyone I'm completely new to the sport and am looking to buy my first boat. There is a liquidlogic hoss for sale near me for 500CAD(hoping to get it down to 400). Does anyone have experience with the boat? Is it even worth checking out? Thanks everyone!

From Sarah Arvidson; Hi, everyone! Sorry to keep blasting this, but we now have a LOT of people standing by in all sorts of places (Chattanooga, Charlotte, Durham, Knoxville, etc). Most of us won't be able to get to WNC right now if we are not already there, but we are also offering places to stay, to shelter animals, etc.

If you are in WNC/Northeastern Tennessee and you are helping or need help, PLEASE fill out the form! As people start to get cell service and power back, they may be able to see the form and get help.

This is something we can do to help each other that will hopefully not get in the way of official emergency services.

Thank you!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M-ClQX58Y6TVRecpcVlnIsOk02ytAaz2GkOo3v5M7v8/mobilebasic?

Class III-V commercial raft guide on Yough, New River, and Gauley river. Class II-III hard boater for fun. Just won a $250 NRS gift card from one of the outfitters I work for and i’m not quite sure how to use it. I have been paddling three seasons and have amassed a good amount of gear and crafts. Right now i’m stuck between putting the gift card toward my first full dry suit to do more cold weather boating and incase i go out west for work in the future. Or getting a spud because a couple of friends and coworkers have told me there super fun and i would be comfortable enough to go on class IV-V sections with them.

Went rafting on the Lower Gauley last week and saw someone with what looked like the nose of a kayak that you use like a kickboard (and shield, I imagine) along with swim fins. Our guide called it a river board but I don't see anything like it searching Amazon or Google... Any other names or links to find out more about this?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/local/weather/rivers-reach-dangerous-levels-in-tennessee/2024/09/27/bf921641-316b-4077-9b79-c093d57f7970_video.html

Insane! The town is underwater where all the rafting outposts are! I hope those of you still there were able to get out safe.

This river is about to totally change.