seller has no idea the length or model, im hoping it's a sherpa though. does any one know?

Anyone have any beta or tips for Grand Falls on the Dead river in Maine? Most of what I’m finding online is pretty old so any info from peeps who have run it in the past few years is super appreciated.

I don’t know if it’s just the economy but tips have been awful lately. I have been consistently stiffed or just thrown a $20. Idk what it is, I worked at the same company last year and racked $100 dollar tips. Anyone else struggling this season?

I’m trying to spice up my local Grade 3/4 runs and learn more playboating moves. I’m currently considering either the Ozone or the Nova. I already own a Ripper One and a Scorch, but I now have very limited storage space, so whichever boat I choose would replace the Ripper.

I’ve demoed the Ozone several times and really love it. However, I’m not yet skilled enough to do most tricks in it( obvoiously I will practice more if I own one) and I’m worried that it would end up like owning another half-slice.

I’m going to demo a Nova soon. From what I’ve heard, it is extremely fun to paddle, possibly even more fun than the Ozone, but it is not ideal for anything above Grade 3. If it replaced the Ripper, I would then need to take the Scorch on everything more difficult, which could make those runs feel less playful and more predictable.

I don’t know many people who have experience with both boats, so hopefully the internet can offer some useful insight and advice. Cheers!

Edit: I am 70kG/154lbs so a supernova may be a bit too big?

At the risk of blowing up the spot, I want to share some notes from a recent private trip down the Babine/Skeena in northern British Columbia. Frustrated with not winning any of the popular river lotteries this year, a friend planned a trip down the Babine/Skeena in late June. We were a group of 6: 3 kayakers, 2 packrafters, and one raft pilot pushing our (borrowed) 14' raft.

Logistics

We used three cars, two of which drove up from the Seattle/Portland area and one from Alberta. We all met in Smithers on rig day and acquired food/beer, then set up shop at Anderson Flats campground. Talk to the rangers beforehand and give them your plate numbers. We'd prearranged two shuttle drivers to take the raft/bags/boats to the put-in (google maps will try to take you down Suskwa road -- this is wrong and the road is out! The drive to the put-in is 3 hours long and goes through Smithers). The external shuttle was very convenient and I'd highly recommend arranging one; we had some luck asking around on Facebook, and one shuttle driver indicated he'd gladly take shuttling as a regular side gig. We planned for 4 river days with an optional 5th if any drama occurred.

River levels + (brief) beta

We couldn't find any trip reports at an early summer flow. The only really good beta we found was this trip report, running at 40cm on the put-in gauge. Our flows were more like 75cm at the put-in, dropping to around 70cm by the end of the trip. All the commercial trips run this in Aug/Sep, so much lower water than what we had. Below is some brief beta on notable rapids and camps -- everything is flow dependent.

Day 1 (RM 0-30):

Mostly flat, fast-moving water. A few short rapids that may be class III, but otherwise a nice intro to the Babine. Camp on river right at a large beach at the confluence with Shelagyote.

Day 2 (RM 30-60): the money day!

We originally planned to camp at ~RM47 at "waterfall camp," but our raft missed the eddy for camp, so I'll break the beta up into two parts here.

RM 30-47: the day starts with easy splashy waves, but things pick up around RM38. The river stays wide and fast, with many continuous big-water rapids. Everything is read and run -- getting out to scout would be very very difficult. A few places where the river constricts make for some fun canyons. Several rapids here would classify as Grand Canyon grade 6-8, without the ability to scout or the safety of a nice pool to collect yourself afterward. Not too many monster holes, but enough to be aware of. Our planned "Waterfall camp" is at the bottom of a large slide rapid (and marked on the map), so make sure everyone's aware of the important eddy to make camp.

RM 47-60 Since we missed waterfall camp, we continued on through all the named Babine rapids. The river calms down a bit until Grizzly drop:

• Grizzly (~75cm): nice eddy on river left, with an optional portage. No grizzly bears to speak of. There's an easy sneak line that avoids the meat of the central crashing wave on river left, but the center goes if you punch it.
• Sphincter 1: straightforward line, but hard to scout, and feels very sandbagged at III+. Huge crashing waves, but nothing sticky. Several of us hardshell boaters flipped here.
• Sphincter 2: possible to scout if you catch the right eddy, but we all ran the "portage line," which takes the right slot and follows a right-to-center line. A little shallow.
• Kisgegas Canyon: actually somewhat tricky at our flows -- don't believe the flatwater videos from the fall guided trips. The entrance is straightforward narrow wave trains, then a bit of flat, then a second drop that you just have to punch. Decent recovery pool at the bottom.

After Kisgegas the river calms down and we found a marginal beach campsite not too long after. There's very little camping to be had at these flows, so take what you can get.

Day 3 (RM 60-78):

The remainder of the Babine is very flat and fast until the confluence with the Skeena. Prepare to be surprised at simply how much water is flowing through the Skeena: flows were over 40k cfs, and ferrying side to side took several minutes. The first canyon of the Skeena is by far the biggest water I've ever been in. Several massive rapids and some planet-eating holes to avoid. It's more pool-drop than the Babine, but due to the speed of the flatwater and sheer size of the river, a swim would be very long. Scope your line and plan plenty of time to ferry. Prepare for a barfight and some big whirlpools. Once you exit the canyon it's back to flatwater until the next one -- we found a large rocky island to camp on in between.

Day 4 (RM 78-finish):

The second Skeena canyon is easier than the first. The entrance rapid has a choice between two channels, and we all took left, which went just fine. The short sequence of rapids that follows are straightforward wave trains. A swim would still be bad. After this canyon, there's a long flatwater runout to the takeout.

Day 5 bonus:

After running the standard Babine/Skeena, we stuck around another morning to run the Bulkley Canyon. We self-shuttled just the kayaks/packrafts. Flow was 355 cumecs. It's a step down from the Skeena/Babine but a really fun add-on since you'll already be up here. The two named rapids are very fun, and the canyon section following Featherbed was a dream.

Overall recommendations Our crew was a very experienced rafter, a collection of class IV boaters, and one solid class V boater, and we found the rapids very exciting. Any sort of river drama would have been very very bad -- a swim would be hard to recover from, a raft flip would have been a problem, and hiking out would have been all but impossible from many sections. I view this as a definitive step up from the Grand Canyon, due to the remoteness and continuous nature of the whitewater. Grizzlies aren't really a problem this early in the season, and the mosquitoes were present but not as horrible as expected. But if you can manage all of that, this was an incredible trip and an exceptional alternative to the highly coveted American classics!

Bonus caltopo

Bonjourno all

Need some inspiration for a full slice purchase. Looking for something fun to practice surfing in. Already have a half slice so think a classic full slice might add something to the local runs in the UK.

What do people think of the dagger ID 7.0? Would it be the appropriate size for a 75kg paddler or would the 6.9 be better. ( other suggestions welcome)

Needed to avoid a mildly pinned raft in the approach, so I snuck into the race line and Oliver Grossman caught this great photo of me coming out the bottom in my Big Rocker Shredder.

Just got a new (expensive) skirt and I don't want my kayak rim to damage it. I've got a creek Pyranha Scorch that I bought used and the previous owner really did a number on the cockpit rim. There aren't any deep gouges but it's rough, like it's been dragged over concrete, and there are a few shallow cuts. Looking for advice on how to smooth it out without weakening the plastic or making things worse.

After a big mileage day on our last river trip, I was left curious about what others had accomplished on their more unhinged days on the water!

What’s the biggest mileage day you’ve done on a river trip, or alternatively lapped on a day stretch?

It’s been about a decade since I’ve (semi) competently paddled my hard shell which is a circa 2012 Everest. How different are the new designs these days? Hoping to get back to paddling the mellower cali creeks next year and have no idea if boat profiles have really changed much (running pauley in 2015 was probably my high point 😂).

I know Labyrinth is a flat water section but I’m looking for some advice. I have a group of 24 going in late October. One member is adamant we all ducky or pack raft instead of using 12-16ft boats. I plan to have the crew pack backpack style, but we are doing 5 days so having coolers would be beneficial for doing group meals and having water for that long.

I’m not sure what to expect from the water levels except that it will be low. Has anyone done a fall Labyrinth trip and can chime in? Pros and cons to pack rafting vs rafting

TIA!

We were on the Ocoee this past weekend and at double trouble there's a photographer always on river right... I thought this was ocoeephotos.com but the website is no longer active? Did they stop posting photos of private boaters, did the URL change, what's up? Help appreciated

Organizing a friends/family 4 day commercial rafting trip for Hell’s Canyon next summer (8-15 people), and looking for any recommendations on companies. Not looking for a fancy experience, just safe & fun on the river.

And if the company would let a couple of the (paying) people hardshell along side the rafts, that'd be a plus.

Hi! I posted a few weeks back about kayaks for a small woman. Thanks to everyone who helped. I ended up finding a Jackson Zen size small and it is a pretty good fit.

The Problem: I have a pretty short torso. I am 5’2 but have long legs. I know I can get the kayak outfitted to sit a little bit higher right??

Now I am looking for a PFD and spray skirt that works for me. The PFDs i’ve tried push up closer to my chin when I sit down. The spray skirt I was given goes over my chest.

Any types or recommendations?

Thank you in advance! I am really bad at responding to comments so please forgive me. I’m grateful for your insight.

Just a few highlights of what the bigger rapids look like at lower flows. From this last week. Disclaimer - I am a total amateur but not inexperienced.

Looking to replace/step up from my liquid logic remix. Love it just want something else. I already have a half slice I paddle a lot but specifically looking for another river runner. Hit me with some suggestions!

So I have been kayaking for about 8 years now and this year am back in the boat after a labrum repair surgery last year. I am 5’10” 170 lbs and most of my boating is in Northern CA, but I go to Oregon, Idaho, and Washington a bit as well.

I have paddled quite a few creekboats and am looking for my next one. A couple of them I have borrowed or demo’d when I was out of town so have not really given them enough time.

I have been paddling my M Rewind a ton, that is my favorite boat of all time. I love the way that boat boofs and can make those big lean boofs. So much fun. I just picked up an Indra and have not paddled it yet, but I am stoked. Seems like all the things I love about the rewind but a little more business and a little less half slice shenanigans.

I am really looking for the full-on creekboat version of the Rewind (and I guess of the Indra too). I want to be able to make those dynamic moves, have a lot of rocker and skip out of drops. Looking for that feeling in a creekboat that still inspires confidence in step up runs and has just a little bit of forgiveness built into it. I really enjoy big water, but honestly most of my step up runs are ledge drop type runs. Sometimes manky.

Here are some boats I’ve paddled:

Waka OG: I just could not get over how wide it felt by the front of the cockpit and in between the Waka logos. Had my first shoulder dislocations rolling OG (not the boat’s fault, definitely my fault). But still felt WIDE.

Waka Tuna 2: Paddled my friend’s Tuna 2 for a few laps. Came away amazed. Everything I loved about the OG but less edge and slightly less width. Still good amount of rocker. If I could buy one of these new I would. Pretty forgiving actually.

Zet Cross: felt like less bow and stern rocker than I was looking for, and coupled with the 9’ length felt like it needed some speed to come alive. Loved it in big water. Wish it was a little easier to flick the bow up at low speed.

Pyranha Machno M: Perfect warm blanket boat. Totally confidence inspiring on step up runs. Not really what I want as far as dynamic or sporty and not very fast, but I love it for step up runs. Handles mank very well. I still have it and will use it until it breaks. Also love it for overnighters

Dagger Code M: I probably didn’t give it enough time, but it felt a lot like the Machno with more rocker and a big bulbous profile almost like the OG. Not a whole lot sportier than the Machno, just more rockered maybe? I definitely do not think the Code is the creekboat extension of the Rewind. I ultimately decided it didn’t make sense to own both the code and machno, so traded the code for an Indra

Jackson Gnarvana M: paddled the New River Gorge and Dries at super high water in a rented Gnarvana. Was obsessed with it but have only paddled it in big water. I have a feeling this may be the one, but I am not certain.

I will still keep my machno as a mank boat, so looking for something different enough to complement that. Or maybe with the Indra and the Machno I don’t need anything else?

Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!

.

Recent buyer of the above and really rate the camera. Just can't find a decent tether point for a bit of cord to fix to my helmet.

Any other users have a good idea?

Hey all! I'm wondering if any of you have realistic opinions on how long it would take for someone to go from their first day whitewater kayaking to getting onto the Rio Claro.

I'm 36 and a fit individual with commercial rafting experience (not a guide) on the Arkansas River. I know some will read that and roll your eyes, but that's what I have under my belt lol

In my head, I believe I could give myself 5 years of training/learning, but I pulled that number out of nowhere. My goal is to kayak that river, through the chutes, and be done with kayaking. How feasible is it to get just good enough to achieve this goal in the allotted time?

Thanks in advance, I know this is stupid, but I don't know where else to ask

Yet another sizing question. I'm a skinny mofo, waist about 30 inches. I've demo'd a Jackson Flow Small and it felt good, legs didn't feel cramped. I've never been in a Scorch, and unfortunately no shops around have them in stock.

I have a half-slice (Antix 2.0 Small) for day-floats, but looking for a boat to do self-support overnight trips. It will be my first creek boat. I'd say I'm beginner/Intermediate, but a fast learner. Will probably be sticking to Class 4/4+ though.

Trying to figure out which boat makes the most sense. If I wasn't planning to have to stuff items inside, I would definitely go with the Small Flow. I've never tried to pack things in a boat before, and was wondering if people would chime in about how beneficial it would be to have the extra volume of bumping up to the Medium Flow, and how much (if any) less fun it would be to be in the larger size.

My one friend (across the country) who has a scorch says they tend to run small, so not sure if that means I'd definitely be in the Medium, but their advertised spec puts me well within the Small range.