8-31-06: Didn't paddle the X-boat in 2005. In 2005 paddled mostly C-2 with Marci. Had some great trips. In June 2006 I bought a 1984 West Side Boat Shop Javelin (sprint K-1) and paddled that boat for a couple of months and raced it in the annual Dotsero to Hanging Lake Race. It is an excellent boat and a joy to paddle. At the race Marek Uliasz suggested we paddle 50 miles down the Green River to the confluence then 50 miles up the Colorado in Canyonlands National Park. This is a trip I did before about 20 years ago. We (Jerry Welbourne, John Kent and Cap Allen) did in this trip and the shuttle in two days so we didn't have to miss any work. It was October and I hadn't been paddling for the past two months. In a word, I was out of shape and was really hurting. Okay, this time I will be in shape and will paddle the X-boat. So yesterday, 8-30-06, I paddled the X-boat 39.22 GPS miles down the Colorado River from Redlands Parkway boat ramp to Westwater in 4 hour 57 minutes with 4500 cfs. I was at Fruita in 1:06 and at Loma in 1:40 and Westwater in 4:57. What a great long distance boat the X-boat is. The X-boat is comfortable, fast, stable, and has a large cargo carrying capacity. The boat is rated to carry 400 lbs. I used and Epic 224 cm paddle which I thought was much better than my old 200 cm Flite. I have the seat raised pretty high in the X=boat so the longer paddle was an improvement. I can slip a boat cushion under me to sit even higher for comfortable single blade paddling. I didn't use this option yesterday.
Click here for a tiny (159 KB) video of paddling at the end of yesterday's run.
9-9-06: X-boat Loma to Westwater (25.5 GPS miles) in 3:05 with 4500 cfs.
9-12-06: X-boat Redlands to Westwater in 5:04 using Epic paddle. 4500 cfs (Fruita in 1:09) played with helmet cam and stopped for drifting lunch after Blackrocks. GPS distance 39.22 miles.