Canoe-O Thanks
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Topic created by rgbortz on Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 7:52 amThanks to Steve A. and Sharon S. for all their time and work setting up this really fun event. Many of you missed a really great twist on our chosen sport of entertainment, so to speak. The weather was a bit threatening right at the beginning as we sat on the water waiting for the start but only lightly rained then let up for the balance of the event as we all set about trying to figure out the best way to go about crisscrossing the lake from one box to another maximizing our point gathering.
Some of us more "weathered" folks with equally weathered brains need instructions in written form as the rush of "competition" seems to erase half of what was told to us in words. Our team of Ali, Anthony and myself forgot the requirement that the whole team had to be in the boat when moving from one box to the next. We did this twice, therefore offficially disqualifying our team from any unofficial win.
This was an event just for fun and that's exactly what it was, LOTS OF FUN !!!!!!
Thanks again, Steve and Sharon. Hope to see another canoe-o in the future......wouldn't mind more than on ea year. -
Reply by edscott on Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 2:46 pmYes, sorry I missed it.. just too many things to fit into one day.
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Reply by edscott on Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 8:32 pmOh and one more thing.. did anyone miss the control that was "found" out in the lake? A Park Ranger called me on my cell around 10:30AM to tell me they had found some stuff out in the lake with our name on it. I told them it was most likely one of our controls. They asked me how people were supposed to get to it. I explained it was a canoe O.. they promised to put it back right away... I guess they did....
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Reply by rgbortz on Tue Aug 23, 2011 at 7:16 amOMG..............LOL
When our team got there the SI box and flag were underwater, and working fine..
Proof that a Scuba-O is in the future ? -
Reply by Steve on Tue Aug 23, 2011 at 9:20 amOkay, time for my side of the story.
We arrived at the park at 9:00, just in time for the first thunderstorm of the day. After hanging a few road signs and flags that were around the pool area, we got to the grove just as Dave and Kathy pulled in. Fred showed up a few minutes later, and we unloaded my truck fairly quickly. Dave asked me how much of the things in my truck were needed, and I responded "all". The look on his face was priceless as he held up a cinder block. I told him it was the bouy's anchor. Well before we had time to set things up we had our first three contestants, and two of them were Mike and Lisa Carter doing Yellow. The white and yellow courses needed water on the 5th flags, and I had not put the flags out yet. Quickly I bagan to tape the lids on the 5 gallon water jugs for a makeshift bouy and tying the rope to the anchor and the flag that belonged in the middle of the lake. I pushed off and went to hang the drink controls first, trying to beat Mike and Lisa. When I got there I realized I had the water, flag and e-box, but no cups! Next I hung the flags out on the island, and then set my bouy out in the lake, being very careful to put the e-box on top. I did not trust the duct tape since everything was wet, so I tied the PVC to the rope also. Back at the shore I got the cups and went back out. On my way back I went to the bouy to see how it would react to a bow wake pushing it around, so I know it was still there around 10:15. Later in the day I was talking to Ron about making sure all of the controls came back at the end of the day, and I jokingly said that I could not gaurantee 31 would return if it were to sink to the bottom of the lake. Well unknown to me, poor number 31 has been stolen twice at French Creek this year, so Ron did not fully appreciate my humor. About an hour later a ranger came by, and explained that he thought someone had capsized a boat, so they went out to see what was up. He also said that when they realized it was a control they returned it. I did not find out about the phone call until Ed's post. The good news is that it was back well before the 1:00 start. The bad news is that I had loaned my boat to a team that did the white course by sea, and promised it to another team for the canoe o, so I could not go out and check things. Well they meant well. The bouy was returned too close to the far side of the lake, so it favoured certain route choices, and it was upside down. As Ron mentioned,it still worked under water. The rest of the day went good, even though a thunder storm went by near Warwick while I was giving instructions, but it never visited us and we got the event in during dry weather. The next storm hit just after all of the flags were picked up, and the big storm (2hours by my count) hit while I was driving home.
I heard lots of good comments, so I think everyone had a good time. If you want more canoe os Ron, you know how to direct and design. I wish we had a good waterey map but we don't live in Minnesota.
I know Sharon has already thanked some people, but I want to try and get everyone. So Thanks to Ed Scott for designing the W and Y. The courses were left overs from the 2006 Masoc, but it saved me some work. Next was Bob Gross, who printed the maps and then tried his hand at Photo journalism. Kathy and Dave Urban helped unload the truck, set up the start finsh registration area, did some instruction and signed in some competitors, all before going to a wake and missing the main event. Fred Reed helped unpack, and then did all of the computer work, although I had to bribe him with a loaner canoe for his kids. Fred and Bev Hartline for picking up the NW quadrant, Lisa and Mike Carter for getting the SW quadrant, and Dan and Zac for getting the SE qradrant. Sandy Fillebrown for posting the results,with an assist from Kent Shaw, and Doug Sevon for loading up the route gadget. As always, I could never pull these things off without Sharon, who does a little bit of everything and keeps me focused.
See you all at Hickory Run, I'll be in the kitchen again. -
Reply by edscott on Tue Aug 23, 2011 at 10:13 amFor another good Canoe O venue we could look at using Frances Slocum. The lake is larger than Hopewell and has two main forks with a ridge in between. Lots of shore line woodlands... could be set up like Steve did this year, or as a two person land water total score, (or a three person team with Bike O) It is about a 2 hour drive for most of us, but if we did it on a Saturday and added a Sunday event at Hickory Run we could have a Pocono weekend in mid summer. Throw in a night O, hang out together somewhere up there.... lots of possibilities.
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Reply by rgbortz on Tue Aug 23, 2011 at 8:40 pmSomehow or another I knew that was going to be your comeback, Steve.
I wasn't at the Frances Slocum event but Ali and I visited the park while up that way celebrating our anniversary. I recall a comment by Mike Carter about the possibilities for a special event there such as a canoe/bike-o. Totally agreed Ed, this park would be great for either a canoe-o or combination type event. Get me some maps and I will contemplate something for next year.
Ron -
Reply by WindWalker on Tue Aug 23, 2011 at 10:32 pmFrancis Slocolm would be an excellant venue for such an event. The MTB trails are pretty nice, decently mapped and in a fairly confined area.
The lake is a big horseshoe. This would require alot more paddling. There is enough shoreline there to place the controls all around the lake. This way you could keep the controls farther apart and closer to the water, say maybe within a 100 meters, so you would have to paddle between each control. This would require decent shoreline navigation to pinpoint exit/entry to attack a control. No boat could be underway on the water unless the entire team was in the boat. If the controls were close to the water it wouldn't take the runner very long at each control and this would allow the non-runner/paddler to have a more active roll in the event. Would put more emphisis on the paddling and water navigation than running.
That would be a fun event, but alot of work to set, and looking at the numbers from this past weekend I wonder how well it would be attended. The Francis Slocolm Score O wasn't that well attended. French Creek is in the heart of DVOA land and the Canoe O turn out was pretty light. Just something to consider...
Would make a nice weekend event though. Friday night a Night O, Saturday Canoe/Bike O and a regular event Sunday.
Mike -
Reply by edscott on Tue Aug 23, 2011 at 11:49 pmThere is camping there if we wanted to do all three events at Slocum... Not sure how many sites there are. I have most of the maps here
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Reply by j-man on Thu Aug 25, 2011 at 7:17 amA conoe and bike-O would be great!
