Hi Norm, Today, Jocelyn, Marline, Harold, Lois and I cleaned the Boardman from Brown Bridge to Beitner. The river was really really clean from Brown Bridge to Shumski, and had just a small amount from Shumski to Beitner. However there were a number of things that were just too big for us to handle with the boats and manpower we had today, especially at the present water level. It was fast, pushy, but not dangerous. However the big stuff was all in really tough spots. I have a photo of the one dock section, and there were two 4’ x 8’ plywood paneling sheets, and one large piece of plastic sheeting like you would use to wrap a pontoon boat. When the water drops we would be happy to go out with you and some other guys in tandem canoes to get the tough pieces. John Heiam ******************************************************************************************************************************** The dock is just downstream of this house both of which are on river right. All the other large items are also downstream from this house which I would estimate is 20 – 30 minutes downstream of Shumsky. F.Y.I. On a totally different topic, a week ago Pine River Paddlesport Center put out a plea for funds to help them keep the Pine open from blockages. With all that is going on, the outfitters don’t have enough money to help pay them to keep the river cleared. As just one example, after they spent almost a month clearing the river after the winter, the recent flood created seven blockages that needed to be portaged. The club sent them $1,000. Several of us also contributed to their Go Fund Me page. Some of the club donation was money you gave us to apply toward local river projects. We thought this was a worthy cause. PRPC raised $1,500 through their Go Fund Me page, and then the $1,000 club sent them directly brought the total up to $2,500. They are thrilled to get that help. John ****************************************************************************************************************** Check out this nasty chair that Margaret and I pulled out of the Boardman today. About a half mile downstream from the Garfield Rd. bridge. I bungeed it to the kayak and hauled it about a 30-minute paddle to our house. Hope you're well. It was beautiful on the river. I do get a kick out of it. Some day, perhaps after the govt rolls out a vaccine, there's a nasty dock in the river a couple of miles downstream from the Forks that should be removed. It's in front of what appears to be an abandoned hippie house that used to have prayer flags strung around the property. Sort of looked like one of those Mt. Everest camps in Nepal. It's a nice piece of property. Would probably need the owner's consent. Ted Wedling ************************************************************************************************************************************** John Heiam 2020_0611 Hi Norm, The last time we cleaned from Brown Bridge to Beitner (May 22) the water was high and fast, exactly like to today. We passed by two chairs and a huge plastic tarp (maybe 10’ x 20’) because we didn’t have boats that would hold that thing. We thought we would come back when the river was lower. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. We went out today from Shumsky to Beitner even though the river was exactly as high as it was then. At least we knew we could get under the low bridge. Lois brought her Mohawk 13 solo to haul the big stuff. We found the usual assortment of small stuff, and then I found the big plastic tarp. It was still all tangled up in a log jam exposed to a fast current jet. I went in and found a solid log to lean into, and then I opened that great Smith & Wesson Black OPS knife you gave me. Luckily I had sharpened it last night. I started slashing and pulling, gathering the thing into my kayak. When I was done it went from the bottom of my kayak over my head, but I had it all! I managed to push it down a bit, and then did a really fast ferry over to where Lois was waiting. We were able to stuff it into one of those big river cleanup bags. I kind of wanted to pull it out to display it for the end photo, but it was so dirty I didn’t want to touch it again. Some other river angel got those two chairs we spotted May 22. It was a success except that Mitch lost his hat to a tree branch, and then his sun glasses when he capsized looking for his hat. We could have had a photo of me paddling with that plastic tarp in my kayak, except Jocelyn didn’t come along. I declare the Boardman clean. Thanks again for the knife. John Heiam *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** https://www.traverseareapaddleclub.org/content.aspx?page_id=5&club_id=813410&item_id=54680 Stupendous Seven See New Future of Paddling, Also Clean River. Bruce, Glenn, Harold, Jackie, Jocelyn, Pam and Ron paddled from Forks to BBL on June 6. On our de-trashing descent of the Boardman, we came across an intrepid team of marine architects testing the new future in paddling. Scarcely a week after the launch of the Dragon spacecraft another new craft saw emergence. We interviewed river aficionado and senior TAPC officer Jacklyn Anderson about this new craft. Ms. Anderson extensively tested the craft in dry dock. “Well I was skeptical at first, but I must admit I have been getting pretty sick and tired of scrunching down in a tiny cockpit… You know how you can chip a nail on those dang rubber hatch covers every time you want a cool one, with Covid and all getting a manicure fix is no small matter”. One paddler noted that the craft was not as maneuverable as some, and seemed to require a fleet of tow vehicles, but many will find this a small price to pay for the improved visibility, comfort, and convenient access. Engineers Lassers and Moore did an initial assessment. Aerodynamic, and hydrodynamic efficiency are usually measured by comparing the drag of the design to a right rectangular prism of the same frontal area and length as the vehicle. Moore commented that due to deflection and spinning, this design may actually achieve the never sought after and seldom achieved drag coefficient greater than 1. Lassers observed that, unlike tippy canoes and kayaks, control-ability of the craft probably does not diminish with transfer of alcohol from the cargo bay to the occupant. New Craft Ms Anderson Tests new craft Below we can see that control issues may reduce the desirability of the craft for some users. Attachment of the pilot and seat to the craft were strictly gravitational. This may result in shedding useless cargo and occupants. I should also mention that we did clean the river from Forks to BBL. Glen was the champion collector; he even extracted a rather large metal real estate sign which Jocelyn spotted on a previous voyage. The river was quite clean but there is a chair and two basket-ball size toy balls there were stuck in fast moving water which we need to get another day. ********************************************************************************************************************************** Photo Gallery URL Link http://www.brcleansweep.org/2020_0522_BBL-Beitner/