inside this issue

The Paddler Tattler
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE
(Click text to jump)
Calendar
December Events
Whitewater of
the Southern
Appalachians: A
Guidebook
The Green Race
Trip Reports
First Aid with
Larry: Shoulder
Dislocation
Sea Kayaking
Overnighters
Rob Taylor takes a big boof stroke as he flies down
the river during the 19th Green Race. Many TVCC
members, both pro and amateur, competed in the
race this year, despite the wintery weather. Ride the
Lightning!
Photo Credit: Renee Bombardier
DECEMBER 2014
Sun
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Nov 30
Dec 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Outdoor Chattanooga
Roll Practice @ SAU
Annual Christmas Party
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Christmas Day
28
29
30
31
Jan 1
Sea Kayak &
Overnighter Florida Trip
2
3
Sea Kayak &
Sea Kayak &
Sea Kayak &
Sea Kayak &
New Year’s Day
Overnighter Florida Trip Overnighter Florida Trip Overnighter Florida Trip Overnighter Florida Trip Sea Kayak &
Overnighter Florida Trip
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
2
parking lot and bring a flashlight as it will be dark.
The club will provide a Turkey, Ham, and a few
R
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B
M
E
S
C
T
DE VEN
E
nonalcoholic beverages. We ask that you bring a side
dish to pass and any adult beverages of choice. If you
party to hard, or just want to stay the night (it is a bit of
a drive on a curvy, narrow road), there are beds upstairs
and floor space downstairs.
Lies will be told, a bonfire will be had, and heck, maybe
we can roast a classic TVCC member if he’s up to it. You’ll
have to come to find out who. If you have a guitar/
musical talent of any sort, we ask you bring that along
and maybe we can sing a song.
Seriously, this is a great even to get members together
that don’t always see each other and say hello, catch up,
December 9th—Outdoor
Chattanooga Roll Practice
7-8 or 8-9pm, (WW). Southern Adventist University
Hulsey Wellness Center. $2 fee to use the pool, $10 for
non-members for roll practice. For full listing of dates
and details, see page 10.
December 13th—Annual Christmas
Party
It’s time for the Annual Christmas Party. If you’ve been a
and make plans for the upcoming year.
Questions? Contact Jen Maxwell or Rebecca Hendrix.
December 27th-January 1st—Florida
Trip
(S, ON). Join the Sea Kayak and Overnighter crews for a
multi-day trip to Florida. Paddle, swim, camp, and enjoy
the warm weather.
Lodging (campsites & cabins) at:
TVCC member for a while, you know about this classic
Carefree RV Resort
event. If you’re new to the club or just never been
10200 W. Fishbowl Drive
before, come out and join us on Saturday, December
Homosassa, FL 34448
13th, 6pm, at the Pot House Cabin.
352-628-2928
17805 River Canyon Road
Chattanooga, TN 37405
(35.090 N, 85.400 W)
Click here for driving directions; turn right for the
http://www.carefreervresorts.com/rv-parks/florida/
homosassa-river/
December 27—Drive down and get set up.
Emma Ford, Liz Brunton, Debbie Heilner, Ben Johnson,
and John Hubbard enjoy food and conversation at the
2013 Christmas Party.
***
All paddling trips are weather and water dependent. It is
mandatory that trip leaders be notified by phone by the
Wednesday prior to the trip if you plan to attend. This will
allow the trip leader to notify you of any changes made.
Most events are detailed on the calendar section of the tvcc
website.
Contact the trip leader for specific training trip meeting
times.
WW = Whitewater
S = Sea Kayaking
C = Club Event
ON = Overnight Canoe Camping
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
3
December 28—Paddle Homosassa River accessible
from the campground and explore. By not going far
away this day, It will allow stragglers to come in a day
late and still be able to paddle that day. We have never
paddled this river, so there will be lots of new inlets and
springs to see. Anyone want to do another shrimp boil
this evening? That was fun and yummy last year!
December 29—Three Sisters Springs/Hunter Springs.
Swim with the manatees.
December 30—Rainbow Springs. Bring your bathing
suit.
December 31—Wicki Wachee River. Everyone fell in
love with this river last year. Crystal clear aqua water,
Easy but moving right along fun. Don’t forget to bring
President’s
Corner
From the
Editor
The holidays are here. Good times with friends and
loved ones. We are all lucky in that we have paddlers in
one or both of those groups. Some of these paddlers are
special.
As you’ve definitely seen by now, this is the first
month of the new newsletter. As they say with most
rebrandings: “New look, same great taste!”
What makes a paddler special? The normal stuff:
Willingness and ability to pull your drowning self out of
the river and chase your stuff down, and then accepts
your sorry excuse for swimming.
Stephanie Whiting and I have spent a lot of time
working on your new layout, and while there will still
be some tweaking, I”m very proud of what we came up
with. Beyond the obvious facelift, the file size is smaller,
and the format should be more electronic-friendly.
Leads you down new rivers by showing lines and
offering encouragement while stopping you from
getting in over your head.
With the bulk of the design work conquered, I’m looking
forward to publishing all of the great trip reports and
photos that are bound to come out of this creeking
season. Keep the submissions coming!
Paddles the same as you – plays every hole and wave,
loves to boof and attain, just blast down the river, or
enjoys the beauty that the river offers.
Wishing everyone a joyous (and freely flowing) holiday
season!
you want to.
Drinks out of a nasty booty when he or she swims.
SYOTR!
Meryl Stark, Newsletter Editor
Contact Ben Johnson (423-593-5565), Carolyn Rand,
Tells tall tales around the campfire and in newsletter of
past paddling feats/beat downs.
your cameras on this one. Eat out together somewhere
on the way back and then usher in the New Year
relaxing by our camp fire..
January 1—Drive home or stay another day and
paddle way out on the Chassahowitzka River where it
meets the ocean. Get salty! And drive home whenever
or Eric Fleming if you are interested and have not yet
responded.
SAVE THE DATE: Movie Night
January 24th, 2015
(C). TVCC will be holding a club movie night on January
24th (Saturday Night) at Dumpy’s on Hwy 64 in Ocoee.
Check the Yahoo Group and next month’s newsletter for
more details.
Has refreshments at the takeout.
Spends his/her time and energy making paddling better
for others.
We are lucky as a club to have a number special
paddlers. I am lucky to have shared a river or two with
them.
Happy Holidays!
Don Fletcher, TVCC President
Former TVCC
President Brandon
Beaty fully embraces
the early start to
winter paddling
season -- those are
in fact icicles on
his beard from the
Tellico!
Thanks to Mandy
Beaty for the photo.
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
4
Whitewater of the
Southern Appalachians
In addition to being a local paddling
guru and TVCC member, Kirk Eddlemon
instructs with Ace Kayaking School. Kirk
can be often be found enjoying the
local flows in his kayak, or passing on
his love of whitewater to his son while
they ride tandem in their purple ducky.
by Kirk Eddlemon
Those of you who attended the member meeting in May will remember Kirk Eddlemon’s
presentation on his upcoming guidebook. It is now available for preorder. In case you
missed the first pitch, here’s some more information straight from the author himself!
The history of the Southern Appalachians is inscribed upon
the land by the waters of a boundless web of streams,
speaking only as rivers can to the profound rewards
awaiting those drawn by the sound of flowing water. This
comprehensive guide to more than 380 whitewater streams
in the Southern Appalachian Mountains is the key to a
lifetime of inspiration, exploration and aqueous fulfillment in
North America’s oldest range.
This ultimate guide to Southeastern Whitewater is divided
into two in-depth volumes covering both the plateaulands on the western portion of the region as well as the
mountainous remnants of the core of the range to the east.
Filled to the brim with accurate, highly detailed, entertaining
descriptions of most every stream worth paddling as well as
of many never-before documented sections, this exhaustive
work also contains hundreds of color photos of the highest
quality, dozens of beautiful maps, and rich stories told by
the most dedicated and prolific of paddlers. Coverage of
geologic backdrops, educational content on how to most
effectively chase rain, and many more appendix materials
push this guide into a league of its own, delivering a
compelling invitation to experience the captivating rivers
and creeks of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Pre-sales are live at www.wolverinepublishing.com. Reserve
your copy today!
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
5
TVCC at
The Green
Race
By Rob Taylor
“That guy runs the Green.” It was a line my
kayaker buddy told me around 1995. He
pointed to a guy surfing a wave directly
above Grumpy’s ledge on the Ocoee. Just
surfing that wave (with certain death
lurking below) was enough to garner my
admiration. I promptly asked, “What is the
Green?” He said it was a crazy river over in
North Carolina.
Brandon Beaty boofs while the crowd looks
on. Brandon finished second out of all the first
timers in his class!
About 3 years later I was at OAR (where I was a guide) and
the best kayaker I knew was leaving the parking lot and
asked me and David Stone if we wanted to go over and
run the Green with him. We promptly declined. As Jason
puttered down the driveway in a car only a raft guide/
kayaker would drive, David turned to me and explained that
he has a wife and kids and it would be irresponsible to ever
run the Green River. It just wasn’t worth it. It was exactly two
weeks later when Jason and his soon-to-be wife were above
the famed “Frankenstein” rapid on the Green, showing David
and me down. It was a day to remember.
Fast forward to 2013. Brandon Beaty and I are on the Green
River with a group of TVCC paddlers. For many of them, it was
their first time down the Green and we were showing them
the ropes. I hadn’t run Gorilla in years and years and Brandon
had never run it. We were feeling good, had plenty of safety
set, and decided it was a responsible time to give it a go.
After lots of nerves and scouting, we pulled the trigger. I ran
the Pencil Sharpener entrance and he ran the Flying Squirrel.
We hooted and hollered and celebrated profusely after a
clean run apiece. Later that week, still apparently on euphoria
induced high, Brandon asked me if I wanted to do the Green
Race that year. As the race was only a few weeks away, I
quickly declined. I offhandedly suggested that we do it “next
year.” And like many “next year” conversations, I thought it
may never come. Only incredibly skilled or equally incredibly
ignorant people actually compete in the Green Race.
Well, after the holidays that year we decided we should at
least put forth some training if we were going to consider
this feat. We decided that we should make the trek to Saluda,
NC once a month for training. We skipped the first two
months. But, after that we kept up with our plan and even
added a few extra weekends in here and there. As we started
the training our group began to grow. Brandon Koch became
a constant traveling companion from the beginning. I hadn’t
talked with him about the race, but I could tell it was on his
mind by the way he approached the river.
LaDawn Wolfe, volunteered her SWR skills to
the official Green Race Safety Team! Go girl -way to keep ‘em safe!
Brandon Koch, Brandon Beaty, and Rob Taylor
are suited up and ready to race.
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
6
As anyone who has kayaked or canoed for long knows, this
sport starts out as an adventure to learn a new skill and
quickly becomes an introduction into a new family. The
friends that we make on the river turn out to be some of
the best friends in our lives. The “Green Race Training Trips”
evolved into a group of boaters traveling to NC for 2 days of
paddling, eating ice cream, drinking a little, laughing a lot,
and promising to “burn this place down.” It was a great year!
We took numerous “first timers” down the Green and had an
opportunity to share a river that everyone who runs it refers
to it as “magical”. Weekends of cramming as many people
as possible into a hotel room became the weekend we all
looked forward to each month. One highlight was the TVCC
trip of the Upper Green. It was great giving a large group a
small introduction to one of my favorite places.
Then it happened: We had one more training trip before
the race. Even though we were training, we didn’t always
run Gorilla or Go Left and Die. We wouldn’t run it if we didn’t
“feel” it. But, really when do you “feel” like running a rapid that
professionals walk around? At this point we knew we had
to run them all because on race day it doesn’t matter how
you feel. Regardless, I, Brandon Beaty, and Brandon Koch
fired them up, and even though our lines were sometimes
questionable, we were getting more comfortable.
Finally, the week had arrived. Brandon Beaty and I went over
on Thursday morning to get a few more laps in before the
race on Saturday. We were joined by a lot of paddlers doing
the same thing. It was great practicing lines and talking
about different race day theories. The weather was warm
for the end of October, and throughout the rest of the week
friends from Tennessee, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona,
and WesserGinia began rolling in to town. We had the
PERFECT cabin rented just up the road from the take-out. We
joined in all the pre-race festivities, but couldn’t quite relax
with a small monkey in the back of our minds.
We awoke on race day to a nice blanket of snow. Yes, snow. It
was a beautiful sight that the 80 or so of us woke up to at the
cabin. Well, it wasn’t exactly 80, but close enough to round
up. And, it was COLD! Still, the spectators that were hiking in
to watch departed on time, the group that was kayaking in
got off and running, and us foolish competitors made it to
check-in on time.
We met for the pre-race speech by Jason Hale. It has been
said that this speech is a “near religious experience”. It did not
disappoint. Surrounded by kayaks covered in snow, boaters
bundled up, and people who had raced this for 19 years,
Jason spoke with tears streaming down his face about how
Green Race participants gather for a group
photo prior to the snowy start.
TVCC Members present included:
Sarbrina Barm, Brandon Beaty, Eliot Berz, Jacob
Clark, Nick Fiedler, Mary Katherine Fields,
Zack Fraysier, Grady Flynn, Joe Gudger, Wade
Harrison, Cole Henderson, Andrew Hiltbrand,
Hunt Jennings, Pat Keller, Brandon Koch,
Adriene Levknecht, Sam Manzer, Garrett Mays,
Emily Shanblatt, Keith Sprinkle, Rob Taylor, Jake
Trotter, and Alex Vargas
much this family means to him. I was ready to GO! I was fired
up and nothing was going to get in my way. Well, except the
5 hour wait until my start time.
TVCC Members show off their creativity and
Halloween Green Race spirit at the costume
pre-party at Highland Brewery.
Eventually, Brandon Koch’s time was up and he took off and
disappeared into the Frankenstein rapid. A few minutes
later, I was off. And, bringing up the rear was Brandon
Beaty. Brandon Beaty killed it and finished in second for all
first-timers in our class. I was 7 seconds behind him and
Koch wasn’t able to finish due to an injury at Gorilla. The
experience was amazing as you plow through rapids with
your heart racing, lungs burning, and ears on fire from the
screams of more spectators that you have ever seen on a
river. It was indescribable.
Continued to page 10
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
7
over boulder and its grab-ass hole. I became a Last Chance
Saloon Goon by dropping in, then inverting for a quick drink.
P
I
TR RTS
O
P
E
R
The Dogpaddle Chronicles: Death
Falls, There I Was (Nov. 1st)
by Spence Lycan
There I was, just above Death Falls swimming for my life.
Again.
This time Death Falls was situated at North Carolina’s Cheoah
River,releasing at a thousand cubic feet per second. We
(Chazrowski, John, Justin #1 and Lucas) tried twice to make
our launch. A foot of snow had dumped higher Appalachian
elevations, including the Cherohala Skyway. Apparently
Tennessee has snow plows and knows how to use them,
North Carolina does not. At the TN/NC border, top of the
Skyway, we got turned around, dropping back down into
Tellico town. Took the Valley Girl route through Murphy and
Andrews. Launched late of a cold and windy afternoon. But
we were good to go, went and got down. Until.
Chaos Rapid is a hundred yards of adrenaline above Bear
Creek Falls, leaving sixty feet of fast, quiet waters between.
The last chance to screw up at the bottom of Chaos is a pour-
One flappy-paw non-roll later, this panicked river weasel
was swimming hard toward the far shores of happiness.
Swimming Bear would have been hard on my moral and
skeleton, its bottom rocks just bad to the bone. I was flailed
across the water, wanting rescue dolphins beneath my
fingernails, terra firma beneath my toenails. Hit earth fifteen
feet above Bear, bless us everyone.
Lucas and Justin #2 prepped ropes from the road side. I
waddled upstream and swam hard across, needing to grab
offered throw rope rather than suck down into Bear. Is this
great recreation or what? Competent paddlers found my
boat downstream whilst I made yet another Walk of Shame.
When I grow up, I want to roll rather than keep rocking my
Life O’Schwim.
So thanks but no thanks to fine Tallulah offer by Rob and the
Brandons but I’ll be chasing better attitude, increased range
of motion, outrageous hip snap, and tincture of courage.
Maybe learn to earn a roll.
Chattooga Section IV PFD (Nov. 14th)
by LaDawn Wolfe
Once the crew was reunited, we started our hike into Bull
Sluice, a fun boof that starts our run. It is a good place for
pictures, and can be hiked back up and rerun if desired.
The crew boogied down a good stretch of river; boofing,
rock spinning and utilizing many other creative boating
techniques, depending on the need as we all enjoyed
the scenery, shared tales of recent runs, and plans for the
evening, “You’re staying where?!?” The question of the day
was, “If the river runs north to south, how come the sun is
always in our eyes?”
We were soon at Woodall Shoals, where at the 1”/ 1.27 water
level on the bridge gauge, the right line slide becomes
more of a wheelchair move onto a drainage ditch. With the
promise of less manky, flushier rapids, more scenery and lots
of camaraderie, our spirits remained at high flow.
After more “read it, run it, dang that sun glare is blinding,
oops that’s a rock”, we found ourselves at 7 Foot Ledge. Here
the river narrows as the gradient increases, setting the tone
for the rest of the run. As the name implies, 7 Foot Ledge
is just that: a 7 foot ledge that must be traversed to avoid a
pin spot. The run-off pushes into the undercut rock wall on
river left. I come off the ledge perfectly, but fail to react and
get pushed up against the wall. With a “spelunk,” I’m upsidedown, getting a closer look at the underwater features. I
My Dream Team: Tyson Capehart, Tony Hill, Ashley Teel, and
Terra McGill.
The weather was crisp with a chilly bite when the wind
blew, but the blue sky promised a good day for boating.
We caravanned to the put in, dropped boats, gear and two
members of our crew, then the drivers went to set shuttle.
The takeout, a 30+ minute drive down a curvy, roller coaster
of a dirt to paved road, is a fortress of concrete block and
guard rails that somehow can’t help but accentuate the
beauty of Lake Tugaloo by contrast.
“When I grow up, I
want to roll rather than
keep rocking my Life
O’Schwim.”
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
8
rescued boat, paddle and myself in the eddy, conveniently
located at the end of the rock wall. Everyone else decided to
leave the exploratory swim to me, and paddled by the wall,
unscathed.
trail is on the other side,” the other boaters took pity on us.
Instead, it was boat demo day at Jawbone for Ronny B. of
GA, sponsored by three of TVCC’s best hikers, climbers and
aspiring paddlers.
After 7 Foot Ledge, the river has several rapids (III- to III+)
that are fairly close together, making for a fun, read and
run boogie water, that’s not a slot that’s a rock, creeking
experience. As we approach the Five Falls, we see a large
wall canyon as the river turns to the right and drops over
the horizon, marking Entrance Rapid, the first of the five. The
rapid runs from river left to right, and resembles a slide with
2 alternating reactionary waves. Our crew, whom at this time
had been joined by 3 paddlers from Georgia, smoothed it
and everyone’s excitement increased as we paddled toward
Corkscrew. Everyone beached their boats river left to get
out and scout the rapid. Two of the GA paddlers went first,
followed by our own Tyson “ ‘Merica” Capehart, who had the
best line with an impressive boof off rock on river left that
allowed him to bypass two ugly holes. Laura D, of GA and our
Tony “Twigs” Hill were next to run it and both made it look
easy. As for the three of us, we gladly ferried our boats across
to river right and started our soon to be, epic portage.
At Sock ‘em Dog, we got back into our boats, caught the
eddy river right, big enough for three boats, to get a good
look at Alison’s rock, the marker for your line and a boof that
should get you over the hole. Everybody successfully makes
it through upright and we head on down river. We keep a
good pace when we get to the lake as the sun is starting to
drop behind the mountain and daylight is quickly waning.
The lake paddle to the take-out is long enough to affirm why
we are all whitewater enthusiasts and to distract ourselves
from the flat water workout, the groups starts the teasing/
ragging, “Tell me again, Where are you staying at tonight?”
Beautiful campfires reward
those who select OUTDOOR
accommodations.
Take-out obtained. Boats and gear loaded.
Bootie beer was paid. Karma was restored.
Dues were paid for the swim at the takeout.
Mandy and Ashley running shuttle bunny services both days.
At our current water level, Crack in the Rock has little reward
to high risk and can easily be portaged as well on river right.
And that was the plan. A fairly easy portage of Crack in the
Rock, possibly Jawbone (depending on how things looked),
and to avoid Hydroelectric Hole. However, apparently
one must ferry back across from river right to river left to
make the easy portage. We did not. Instead we, being the
adventurous, athletic and slightly insane women boaters that
we are, thought we would carry our boats up a mountain,
down several boulders and across a rock cliff. Which we did!
To some degree. But since this was time consuming (let me
remind you it gets dark at 5:00 in the afternoon), there was
still the 2+ mile lake paddle out (which some of us were
blissfully unaware of ), and I am sure at some point the GA
paddlers were thinking, “What are they doing? The portage
Tallulah trip report... To make a long story short:
It was a little cool for November.
Tyson and Tony stayed in a Hotel Friday night.
Everyone else camped at Chattooga River Resort.
Two laps Saturday with a group of 9 and one first timer on
the first lap and 4 for the second lap.
I swam Bridal Veil on the second lap Saturday trying to keep
Mike Stovall from swimming the Bride (He made it to the
bank).
Tyson and Tony stayed in a Hotel Friday night.
Humble Pie for dinner.
Draft bootie beers from the tap at CRR while listening to a
live band.
Tyson and Tony stayed in a Hotel Friday night.
Tallulah Trip Report: The Short
Version (Nov. 15th & 16th)
by Brandon Beaty
Told lies around the
campfire and ate
moonshine cherries.
Two laps on Sunday
with a group of 4 for
the first lap and 2 for
the second lap.
Tyson and Tony stayed
in a Hotel Friday night.
Just Rod and myself for
second lap on Sunday.
He heard how much
fun I had the day before
swimming the Bride so
he thought he should
try it also.
4 laps for me+2,448stairs+2mile lake paddle x 4 +10 of your
closest friends + Tallulah Gorge= Dam Good Time!
Tyson and Tony stayed in a Hotel
Friday night.
ROW TIDE!
OBJ to Nemo (Nov. 22nd)
by Kristin Evans
Mid 40 degrees, approximately 1500cfs, sun shining, brilliant
blue skies and the river to ourselves…seven intrepid
paddlers descended a half a mile into the gorge on what
would be a perfect day of paddling.
For two of us, myself included, it was our first venture down
the Obed. One warm up roll confirmed that the water was
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
9
ice cream headache cold. There were icicles on the cliffs and
in the trees. We did class III read and run all the way to Oh My
God. 90 Right 90 Left was a scream, literally. Lost my mojo at
Oh My God with a belated eddy out attempt and attempted
to run the whole thing backwards. You can imagine how that
ended up. Unfortunately, one of my comrades suffered the
same fate with the addition of a mangled thumb. The jury
is still out on how bad the damage is. She put her big girl
pants on and tackled the rest of the river with determination
(Rocked three combat rolls that day…congrats!).
We dove deep at Submarine Falls and bounced, surfed,
zigged and zagged our way through the rest of the day with
the breeze and sun on our faces. Powered through the flat
water doldrums to thaw out with the hot coffee Heather so
thoughtfully brought to share.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, these are the things I’m thankful
for: Friends that have supported me during my rookie year,
the beautiful whitewater of TN, a best friend to relive the day
with on the ride home and pogies.
Outdoor
Chattanooga
Roll Practice
But, the most amazing thing was the family of people we
kayaked with all year. And, there is one important person
who we didn’t kayak with all year. If you don’t already know
it, Mandy Beaty is the Shuttle Bunny boss! I have no idea
how many trips she made up and down the switchbacks,
but I imagine it was much harder than actually paddling the
river! To all those that joined us this year, THANK YOU! And, I
look forward to more trips in 2015 and a few more people to
show down this magical river.
Fall/Winter Roll and Kayak Skills practice will take place on
select Tuesdays at Southern Adventist University’s Hulsey
Wellness Center. There are two sessions—7pm and 8pm.
Anticipate only being in the water for one session; if it is busy,
the pool gets crowded quickly.
• December 9th
• February 3rd, 10th
• April 7th, 14th
• January 13th
• March 3rd
Admission to the pool is $2, and roll class is $10/person
for non-members. Non-members must provide their own
gear. Outdoor Chattanooga annual membership are $75/
individual or $125/family. First session is free for new
participants.
John Hubbard, Stephen Walker, Kristin Evans, David
Luinstra, Mack O’Rear, and Vera Pencheva take a
group shot before starting their paddler. Heather
Curry was also in the group, but she volunteered as
photographer.
Continued from page 7
Boats and gear should be dropped off at the door at the back
side of the Hulsey Wellness Center, to the right of the track,
next to the heating and air units. Outdoor Chattanooga staff
will bring your boat to the pool. Your kayak must be clean in
order to bring it into the pool.
Note: Southern Adventist’s dress code emphasizes modesty
and cleanliness. Please wear modest workout and pool
apparel, including one-piece swimsuits.
Brandon Koch digs in to keep his speed as he races
below Pencil Sharpener!
Hulsey Wellness Center
4870 University Drive
Collegedale, TN 37315
https://www.southern.edu/wellness/Pages/default.aspx
For more information, contact Outdoor Chattanooga.
423-643-6888 or info@outdoorchattanooga.com.
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
10
Shoulder
Dislocation
actually medical training. Don’t try any of this if you haven’t
gone through some type of First Aid class, or more advanced
training like Wilderness EMT or Paramedic. If you haven’t,
then for the love of Pete, go take a class!
First Aid with
Larry
By Larry Boothby
We’ve all
heard about
it. We know
someone,
or know of
someone
who’s done
it. Maybe
you have
the personal
experience
of seeing
it happen
or doing it
yourself. No,
I’m not talking about drinking a booty beer;
I’m talking about the infamous shoulder
dislocation.
From the first day I started paddling, I have been warned of
the dangers of improper technique. Primarily, dislocation of
one or both shoulders. This month we are going to talk about
it: the anatomy, the mechanism, and what can be done when
there is a shoulder injury. As usual, this does NOT replace
This paddler demonstrates the proper low brace
(above), and shoulder-danger high brace (below).
SHOULDER ANATOMY
The shoulder is one of the most complicated joints in
the body. The joint is formed by the articulation of the
Humorous, that big bone in the upper arm, with the
Scapula, or shoulder blade. The joint itself is a ball and socket
arrangement that allows the arm to make 8 very distinct
motions. This kind of movement requires 9 separate muscles
to cross the shoulder. If this isn’t complicated enough, there
are several major blood vessels and a large nerve plexus that
occupy space in the shoulder as well.
PADDLING PROTECTION
When it’s operating properly, the shoulder offers an amazing
amount of strength and movement. Abuse it and you will
find out just how much you depend on that movement, and
just how difficult life will be without it. How do paddlers end
up with shoulder dislocations? The evil “High Brace”. Get your
paddle over your head, hands above shoulder level, elbows
up, then brace into moving current. That pain you will feel
is the end of your paddling season. How do you protect
yourself? Keep your hands and elbows down and in “the box”
in front of your chest. Rotate your torso to plant the paddle,
and use a low brace instead of a high one.
IDENTIFYING INJURY
If the worst happens, and you or one of your crew suffers
a shoulder injury, you’re going to need to deal with it.
First thing is recognition. Aside from the pain, a shoulder
dislocation is recognized by the drooping and rounding of
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
11
FIRST AID GUIDELINES
Photograph and
diagram of a shoulder
dislocation.
Notice the assymetry
on the patient, and
the misalignment
within the joint on
the diagram.
What can we do: We need to get them off the river and
to a safe location where you can work. Next we need to
evaluate circulation and neurological function. Have the
person wiggle their fingers. Touch the hand and make sure
he/she can feel it. Next pinch the fingertip and watch the
nail. It should turn white when you pinch it and when you
let it go, it should turn pink again within 2 seconds. If any of
these don’t work, or if there is a lack of neurological function,
or circulation, you have a true medical emergency. It is now
time to start thinking about 911 calls and rapid evacuation.
Depending on where you are, that may mean a helicopter
ride.
If the neuro and circulation are ok, then we can sling the
arm across the body, get the person up to the road and go
to the hospital. Placing the arm in a sling doesn’t require any
fancy equipment. I carry a couple of triangular bandages,
but a piece of rope will work in a pinch. Anything that will
moving the arm and meet resistance: STOP!!! DON’T FORCE
ANYTHING!!!! Remember there may be a fracture. You
really don’t know what is going on in there. If you have this
problem, the best thing you can do is try and immobilize the
entire arm in the position it is in. Depending on the situation,
a 911 call or activating an emergency locator transmitter may
be your best bet. Let the professionals come and handle it.
The truth is, that for the majority of the places we paddle,
there are hospitals and professional help very close. Unless
you are on an expedition, you should be able to evacuate the
patient, and get the injury taken care of at a hospital.
If you’re interested here is a great video on the FARES
reduction technique: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=RCD0sZREYIg
That’s all for this month. If you have questions, suggestions, or
you just want comment, I can be reached at lboothby1908@
att.net.
SYOTR!
the effected side. The shoulders should be symmetrical. If
they are not, something is wrong. The problem is that we
don’t have any way to tell if it is really a dislocation, or if
something is broken. Until we can take an X-ray machine
paddling with us, there is just no way to know. With the
younger crowd it will more than likely be a dislocation, and
with older jokers like me, there is an increase in probability of
a fracture.
So what do we do? Go to the hospital. I know, we’ve all
seen the tough guy in the movies reduce his dislocation
by slamming his shoulder into something solid. That’s
Hollywood, DON’T DO IT. You may break a bone, or you may
knock the joint back into place, only to find that the nerves
are crushed and your partner can’t move his hand--EVER.
Worst of all, you may cut blood circulation to the entire arm
resulting in a catastrophic outcome.
These two diagrams show how to splint a shoulder with
a triangle bandage. The goal here is to immobilize the
affected joint.
support and stabilize the arm, elbow bent, across the body. It
can even be done with a PFD. The point is to immobilize the
shoulder joint and the elbow joint. This protects the injury
and should help manage the pain.
After you get the arm splinted, you want to go ahead and
check neuro and circulation again. Same as before. If it’s
ok, then you are good to go. If not, then you need to shift
gears and start moving with a purpose. Finally, if you are
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
12
Sea Kayaking: Nickajack Bluffs
Saturday, October 25th
by Eric Fleming
14 paddlers met at 10 am at the Nickajack Shellmound
ramp on Saturday October 25th.
We put on and headed upstream along the shoreline.
There is a nice bay to check out, followed by a sheer
rock bluff with a cave at the waterline that you can
swim through and come out on the other side! The cave
exit is around a short curve, but the turn is too sharp to
get a boat through it.
It’s always surprising to me how trees and other
vegetation can grow out of seemingly sheer rock
surfaces, especially when I plant stuff at home under
ideal conditions only to have them die.
We paddled up around one of the islands in Rankin
Cove near I-24 and back to the ramp.
It was a perfect day for a paddle, and definitely too nice
to be at home, especially as winter is closing in fast.
10 of us stopped at the Cracker Barrel afterwards and
were surprised to be seated next to fellow sea kayak
club members Angela and John (Angela was just
getting off of work).
It was another fun day of fresh air and exercise in
the great outdoors with great company.
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
13
Overnighters: Etowah River
November 8th-9th
by Jamie Wendt
Our small group made the 2 1/2 hour trek from
Chattanooga to Dawsonville, GA to paddle and camp
on a short stretch of the scenic Etowah River. The
Etowah is perhaps most well known for the gold-mining
tunnel located further upstream, on one of several
Class I/II sections below the river’s headwaters. We
paddled a 9-mile stretch below the tunnel that runs
through protected forest land in the Dawson Wildlife
Management Area.
Access to the river is especially easy here and we
were able to leave a shuttle vehicle (for a small fee)
at the Kelly Bridge Rd. takeout. Dawson County has
constructed an attractive and well-maintained park
at the Hwy. 9 bridge below Dawsonville, and we put
in there. Launching around 2:00, we paddled several
miles and stopped before dusk to camp at a well-used
site on a small bluff above the river. We had a pleasant
evening around the campfire, cooked a shared dinner
in the Dutch oven, and ducked early into the tents as
temperatures started to dip.
about 120 cfs on the Hwy. 9 gauge, but there was just
enough to negotiate all of the shoals without dragging the
boats. After paddling past the confluence with Amicalola
Creek, we arrived at the takeout early in the afternoon.
Though the drive would make it a bit long for a day trip from
Chattanooga, I thought the river was pleasant enough to
warrant a weekend camping visit. For this particular stretch,
we thought the mix of driving time, paddling and riverside
camping was just about right for a low-key weekend.
Participants: Jamie Wendt, Pat Carver, Ben Johnson, John
Hubbard.
The following day we had an easy paddle out, about
5 miles through some shoals and the interestinglynamed Radioactive Rapid. (Apparently the area
was the site for many years of a government
program to develop a nuclear-powered airplane.)
We stopped once for a short hike to a scenic
waterfall, and we climbed next to it far up the
hillside. Water was fairly low for the weekend,
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
14
Our Mission
The Tennessee Valley Canoe Club brings together those interested in canoeing,
kayaking, and related activities; increases the knowledge, safety, and appreciation
of paddle sports for those who are interested; and supports conservation and
preservation of recreational waterways.
Membership is open to persons of all ages. Both families and singles are welcome.
The club’s activities include:
TVCC Yahoo Group
All club members are invited to join the club’s
online paddling forum. The Yahoo Group is a
The Paddler Tattler is the monthly
publication of the Tennessee
Valley Canoe Club.
great place to find out about paddling trips in
The Paddler Tattler invites submissions of
addition to those posted in the newsletter, post
articles, trip reports, videos, and any other
pictures and trip reports of your latest adventures,
news or information of interest to the paddling
or just find someone to go paddle with.
community.
The only requirement for the forum is active
Submit an electronic copy no later than the
membership in the club. To join, go to http://
20th of each month to the newsletter editor by
groups.yahoo.com/group/tvcc/ and click on
emailing editor@tvccpaddler.com. Submissions
“Join This Group”. Please be patient and allow a
may be edited.
• Whitewater & flat water kayak and canoe training
few days for the page administrator to respond
• Whitewater & flat water river trips for all skill levels
and accept your membership. Send an email
Past issues of the Paddler Tattler can be accessed
to the group moderator at tvcc-subscribe@
online at:
yahoogroups.com with your name. See you on
http://tinyurl.com/tvccpastnewsletters.
• Water safety & rescue training
• Extended canoe & camping trips
the river!
• Annual & monthly meetings
Sea Kayaker Email List
• Community service
The TVCC Flatwater Flotilla uses an email contact
list to send out information about upcoming
events. To be added to this list, please send
2014-2015 Officers
an email the TVCC Sea Kayak Cruise Master at
President
Safety Chair
Don Fletcher
president@tvccpaddler.com
Vice President
Ashley Teel
vp@tvccpaddler.com
Assistant Vice President
LaDawn Wolfe
assistantvp@tvccpaddler.com
Treasurer
Debby McRae
treasurer@tvccpaddler.com
Secretary
John Hubbard
secretary@tvccpaddler.com
Newsletter Editor
Meryl Stark
editor@tvccpaddler.com
Webmaster
Teri Zur
webmaster@tvccpaddler.com
River Conservation Chair
Jim Ledbetter
conservation@tvccpaddler.com
598eric@gmail.com.
Mike Shillinger
safety@tvccpaddler.com
Public Relations Chair
Katie LaRue
publicity@tvccpaddler.com
Cruisemaster I, Class II/III
Spence “Dogpaddle” Lycan
cm1@tvccpaddler.com
Cruisemaster II, Class III/IV
Brandon Koch
cm2@tvccpaddler.com
Tennessee Valley Canoe Club
P.O. Box 11582
Chattanooga, TN 37401
www.tvccpaddler.com
Cruisemaster III,
Overnighters
Carolyn Rand
cm3@tvccpaddler.com
Cruisemaster IV, NonPaddling
Jen Maxwell & Rebecca Hendrix
cm4@tvccpaddler.com
Cruisemaster V, Sea Kayaks
Eric Fleming
cm5@tvccpaddler.com
The Paddler Tattler
December 2014
15