First ever Kruger 340. Leave it to a bunch of Kruger paddlers, most of which are also Watertribers, to run the river anyway. Im sure there are other posts about this unsanctioned river run. Well, several of us were almost to KC, our vehicles were in Columbia, and there was a river between the two. An OC-6 built by Everett Crozier, two Kruger Cruiser tandems, and four Kruger Sea Wind solo, including myself. Let me tell you about the river. First, even if the permit wasnt pulled outright by the Corps due to flooding, there is no way the race should have happened on time. These fourteen paddlers are very experienced and were paddling the perfect canoes for the conditions. The river would have chewed up and spit out perhaps the 1/3 or 1/2 of the field, who had less experience or less seaworthy and durable boats. The river was FAST. So fast, in fact, that a LOT of paddlers would have been unable to eddy out and make it to the boat ramps. The river was FULL of debris. So much, if it could support your weight, you could have crossed the river in many, many places by jumping from log to log, and not gotten your feet wet. Combine the two, and just as you are turning to eddy into the boat ramp, BAM you get whacked by a log doing 6 mph and your race is O.V.E.R. There was virtually no recreational boats on the river. It would be stupid to get ANY prop propelled boat out there. I would never, ever take my personal boat out there, much less a borrowed one. The safety boats would have been in much danger of major damage from the debris, if they were run. And if they were out there, they would be proven ineffective because 1) they would get destroyed and 2) they couldnt go anywhere fast anyway. There were to separate surges of debris. The first surge was generally above Katfish Katys ( corresponding to the second crest) and the second surge was at St. Charles. More coming.....
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 14:47:11 +0000
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