My 2008 American Tour

So i went on this trip last september, but factors such as work, laziness, getting some paddling done here at home, and more laziness meant i wrote no reports until now.
So the aim of the trip was a mini whirlwind tour of some transatlantic big name places and to see some old friends who had emigrated.
The trip began in Boston with some partying and surfing just north of boston, the handlebar mustache competition also started here.
First stop on our tour was a trip to surf the famous Habitat and Lachine Waves in Montreal. These are both incredibly fun waves, Habitat is a superfriendly, big wave, lots of fun, Lachines is big and fast and a nice spot to try and do the biggest tricks you can.
From Montreal we continued on for a few days at Forresters falls on the mighty Ottawa river. IT was seasons end here and the place was pretty quiet, but we got to see the Ottawa river, surf some of its waves, see what all the fuss was about.
And then the fun started, it was time to put away our playboats and grab the creekboats, a big thanks to my mate Petey for trusting me with his Wavesport Habitat, i travelled with my playboat so it was nice to have the same boat as i paddle at home provided for me.
We travelled south from Ottawa to New York state. After a long drive and a night in a dodgy motel we arrived on the banks of the Racquette River.
Intimidating was my first thought, as the first rapid is a raging torrent just meters from the outflow of a large dam and the next rapid in the distance is a 100ft long slide. Some intense scouting and some more intense scouting, and.... then i got bored of scouting so decided to run it. What a laugh :)!


The rest of this river provided big rapids and even bigger thrills. Its a must stop for anyone in the area. From here we went for another night in a motel, thankfully, a slightly nicer motel than before, and then early the next day we went for the Taylorsville and Eagle sections of the Beaver River. The Taylorsville is a friendly fun warmup for the Eagle, the eagle is one mile long of continuos big rapids, which can be walked to the top to run again, another classic, with one particularly fun, tight, big drop :)


Back to Boston for a few days of much needed rest and essential partying in Harvard was next on the cards before our Journey to GauleyFest began.
We rented the biggest most obscene SUV we could find, built the finest home depot roofrack, loaded the boats, all 8 of them, and went on our way.

More dodgy motels, fast food( Do not go to Arby's, yeuuuuugh! ) and a fine run down the upper Youghiogheny ( http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_753) with Jim Machaud, an open boater with some great skills.

And Finally, GAULEYFEST!
Its a festival, on the Gauley river, the river has fun rapids, big waves, and hundreds of boaters with very little danger to the experienced boater. The party has bluegrass music, hundreds of crazy paddlers, moonshine and alot of dodgy mustaches, with alot of danger for the unexperienced party goer. This is one of the best events i have been to and i'm certain to return.


Then i had to go home :(
Paddling across the pond is something i'll certainly do again, and i get the feeling that no matter how many times i go back, i'll find something new and exciting each time.