Die Neu Salto Evolution Ist Ein Super Boof-machine!

Up until last Sunday (23 Aug 09), I had only paddled the new Eskimo Salto Evolution on a couple of rivers, typically in low flows. It felt light and responsive on the water but it was hard to judge how good it could be (due to the lack of testing water).

That (thankfully) changed last Sunday when myself and Paddy made a day trip to the Clare Glens near Limerick. This could be described as Ireland's most photogenic river featuring multiple clean drops and slides. When we got to the takeout, the level was at 40cm (just runnable) but rising all the time.

After my low water experiences, I had noticed that the of any contact between the seat and hull lead to considerable hull flex (especially on those boney rivers). I took a 2 inch sheet of foam and wedged it in the gap and this seems to have stiffened the whole hull considerably. Apart from that I had the standard foot-plate footrest, KISS thigh-braces and seat pad and some crude hip-pads fashioned on the day from an old block of foam, duct tape and my river knife.

After the short walk in to Top Drop we took it in turns to run the drop/take photos. As I was on photo duty to start, I was last to run it and knew the line I wanted in my head, but didn't know how the boat would react. I seal launched in, took the couple of strokes to the lip and then the Salto took off, gliding flat in control and landing assuredly at the bottom. I barely got my hair wet and my confidence was boosted for the rest of the trip.

We continued on down, nailing Sidewinder and cruising through constriction (the one rapid I was most nervous about). For the rest of the trip to Big Eas, the Salto handled perfectly - carving into eddies, boofing and flaring rocks and holes and resurfacing quickly and predictably from small drops.

At Big Eas, I ran a little too far left (fearing the curler would push right towards the chimney) and clipped the stern on a ledge halfway down. Luckily there was no damage to boat or body (although I did feel a little tender for the rest of the day).

Once we regrouped in the eddy below, we cruised down Little Eas and then on to the take-out.

Overall the new Salto Evo paddled very well and over the next two runs we got on Sunday, it handled better each time. It is a creekboat that is reliable, predictable and easy to paddle. It has subtle rails which allow for carvey turns and eddying without being grabby or trippy. The Salto has always been renowned as a boat that boofs easily and the Evo has the auto-boof switch cranked up to the max. There wasn't one occasion on the 3 runs we did where the bow nose dived under water and thankfully all the bigger drops have aerated pools to land in. The only downside to the Salto package is its outfitting (or lack thereof). While Eskimo do have the KISS outfitting system, it still is an optional extra and does still leave a lot to be desired especially when compared to all the other WW kayak manufacturers (the backrest, while function wasn't as supportive or reassuring as I would have liked). The other suggestion I would have would be some sort of step-out pillar between footrest and cockpit rim to ease exit in a pinning situation.

Sluice - August Bank Holiday Monday

Ger and myself hit Sluice on the August bank holiday Monday for a wee bit of a session. Check it out...

Team Jackson Boats!!

Here they are at last!

Irish team Jackson boats brand new 2010 models

lots of boats on the roof in transit!

and here it is irish coloured 2010 model against the 2007 model!

and heres some pics of some new allstars at nottingham!

US Trip Round Up, Part One

Well I'm finally about to getting round to
writing a trip report from our recent "expedition" to the US of A. It all started in Seattle, before we quickly headed for Canada (as the lure of MEC was too much for James). So we got a quick blast on the Chilliwack and found a kayak shop that was even worsely laid out than our own!






No sooner had we got used to Southwestern
Canada (and CAN$) than it was back to Northwestern USA (and US$).

Heading back via Seattle (again) towards Moscow, Idaho

to meet up with the main man in town, general Mr Nice, and existentialist

thinker, Bennett Barr.

He was kind enough to show us around his buzzing Metropolis and

enabled James to conduct another spending spree at NRS HQ (its as big

as they say).

After catching some Zzzzs at B. Barr's gaff and a minor technicality featuring an exploding tyre (not my fault honest!), it was off to the Clearwater River and the Lochsa Tributary. Lovely warm up run, pool drop in character with lots of variety to keep us entertained. Wai Har had some interesting lines and paddled her socks off while we developed an interesting "rafting" technique to get her through the harder stuff.

After some awesome cranberry lamb sausages that evening and some hot spring action the following morning, it was off to the mighty Salmon River for our last warmup before THE SNAKE.

The Main Salmon was bigger volume but more of a cruise than the Lochsa and pretty much epitomises US booze cruisin'. There were some big 'n' bouncy rapids but no real play features as such so we legged it to the finish before the lightning hit.
Cheers 'n' Beers,
Colm

N.B. I-CANOE, the I.C.U; the B.C.U. and/or the K.G.B. do not condone the use of alcohol (or other substances) while in or on the river. Anyone who does, does so at their own peril!

What a loooooooong weekend.

Hey,

I don't think I've had such a long "long weekend" in ages, all the rain that was promised just never seemed to happen so I had to settle for a med - low run of the perennial Wicklow classic that is the Avonmore ( note the name is not Annamoe :D ), at least it was a fun day out with some of the folks from Rockhoppers kayak club and I actually got reunited with some paddles that I had misplaced some time last year on the Upper Liffey.

Apart from that I decided to do a bit of tinkering with my own website and try give it a bit of a face lift.


It's not going to win any design awards any time soon but I'm liking the slicker appearance so far,I have a bit of a t-shirt comp planned for the next couple of weeks so stay tuned for more details of that.

Myself and some of the rest of the i-canoe team are looking forward to making our way to Cork next weekend for the third instalment of the Irish Freestyle League which is been run by Mick Barry and his minions ( his words not mine) and promises to be good craic even if the feature is nicknamed "Hole of Death".

If you are planning on going along try register sooner than later, fair play to the Munster Dive crew for supporting the lads running the event.

I'll lash up some photos after the carnage that will ensue after the weekend.

Laters,


Adrian