Weekend of fun including SPUD/TATER Nanty Takeover and SPUD the Ocoee trip 2

 So... trip report for Sept 26-28 weekend.. I went up Friday and stayed at Mary's house in Andrews.  She had to work Saturday at ERA and I had only brought my SPUD with me - no hardshell kayaks - because I knew I was going to do the Spud/Tater Nanty Takeover and it was a blast!   It rained a good bit, and I was glad to be in my drysuit, though I only had a t-shirt and leggings on underneath. 

Photo Bomb with blingies on our faces

SPUD and TATER NATION

Afterwards I checked out the items for sale at the Nanty Fest.  The new Antix 3 looks sharp.  The double rails down the hull - like the rails on the Rockstar V - very cool. 

New Jackson Antix 3.0

Double rails on the hull of the Antix 3.0

Double rails on the hull of the Antix 3.0

Went to Tom and Lola's for dinner and I got to say hello to Cliffy cat. 

Cliffy!

Sunday we met at the Ocoee take-out.  Roscoe P. Wavetrain had brought my new to me Dagger Kayaks stratos from River Sports Outfitters in Knoxville.  We strapped it to my roof racks and locked it, then went to the rails put-in with my trusty SPUD.  

My new Dagger Stratos 14.5 sm touring kayak

Right off the bat I tried something cute going into Staging Eddy and flipped on a crease and swam.  hmmm that's not what I expected.  Am I going to have one of those days?  Thankfully that was the only gotcha on the run and I had great lines.  

Gonzo Shoals I ran around the big rock and used the little hole there to turn me, then ferrired to far river left.  I haven't tried the walk-the-plank in the SPUD yet.  

Broken Nose, I have decided the main line makes the most sense, because a swim there is right by the bank and easy rescue, whereas a swim at the sneak sucks in a myriad of indescribable ways, though I'll try.  A swim at the sneak leaves you in the middle of the river, with no way for your friends to easily get you.  So.  I ran the main line, did a sort of boof off the far downstream side of the curler at the top, landed in the main line eddy there, and headed left.  I will be grinning about my line there for the rest of this week!

That's my second Broken Nose SPUD main line, so far.

Moon Chute, then boof line at Double Suck, then the meat of Double Trouble.  Flipper I did right side eddy ferry to the left, decided not to eddy out and ran the standard line.  I thought then about getting out at Go Forth, even though our cars were at the bottom.  I felt gassed. I felt intimidated.

The others were not stopping, and they encouraged me to go, so I said alright. Their support meant so much to me. 

Tablesaw- great line - I followed Mary.  Diamond Splitter, etc. etc. all the rapids were golden.  And I decided to run Hell Hole, because Eva was in my head saying do it.  And I did, it did try to grab me but I got away, lol.  

Another great SPUD the OCOEE day and I look forward to many more!

No pictures on the Ocoee - didn't bring my phone. 

Me in my happy place - the Hiwassee

 

Hiwassee River, 09-13-25. Photo by Peggy Robertson.

I wanted to post this photo of myself in celebration for 26 years of paddling the Hiwassee River.  It was my first whitewater river back when I started, and it still remains one of my favorite places on Earth. As one of our paddling clan said, "She's the mother of us all" because the Hiwassee is where so many Southeastern paddlers take their first learning trips and become part of the river family.  Also I really like this picture.

I swam.

 

SPUD the Ocoee was awesome!

Here is me buzzing about my great SPUD run on the Ocoee Labor Day!

Love getting my hair cut by my cousin Regina!

My cousin Regina owns Salon on Crescent and it's always great to visit with her.

kayaker pic

I saw my friend Terra the other night at the Leeds Farmers Market. I have not been able to paddle together with her and Micah much this season. But hopefully soon! 

I like this picture of me so I'm sharing it.

Jackson Flow review

 

I demoed Dennis C's medium Jackson Flow on the Hiwassee Sunday. I had paddled his Flow once before briefly on the Mulberry Fork last year and wanted to give it another try.

I've been spending all of my river time in my medium Jackson Antix 2.0, and expected the Flow to have a similar feel. Once we put on and I ferried over to the grasses where we get everyone together, I thought, this thing is a pig. It felt sluggish and slow. I was surprised by this and had a suspicion that seat position was the key. I pulled over at the teaching island and moved the seat back from the middle to one notch back. (One great thing about Jackson outfitting is how easy it is to adjust the seat and bulkhead on the fly.) I was right; moving the seat back let the bow release some and it let me edge the boat and surf. I was able to put the boat where I wanted and catch all of my little surf spots. Front surfing is my favorite thing to do in a kayak and it surfed well. I purposely did not boof any rocks as I was in a friends boat, but I also purposely went through holes just to see how the bow rocker felt; as expected it went over the holes instead of plugging them. Example being the feature at the top of Devil's Shoals.

The knee position is flatter than the Antix, and I kind of wish they had gone with the Antix knee height and am curious why they didn't. I didn't notice it after awhile and it wasn't uncomfortable. It rolls easy.

The Flow does not have the feel of a fast performance creeker, but that isn't its purpose.

To me it's like an Antix for days I don't want the slicy stern grabbing me. I think the Flow is designed for river running and creeky rocky runs with little eddies to tuck in. I like that it is shorter than most creekboats these days. No idea how it does in big water, but it does have edges which would help. I dig the boat.

*edit to add, this would be a good boat for beginners as well.

Me in the medium Jackson Flow