Terry's Pics from a Labor Day Paddle

What Big Sweep is About

Kudos to WCNC TV for it's promotional piece about "Big Sweep"

Harry, Sheila and Fran return from Hunting Island, SC

We will get the full story later. Hopefully someone in the group will embellish on the fun the others missed out on. I'm sure Terry would be more than happy to give Sheila the paddle!

The lead song on the music playlist below the slide show is "Sailing". Somehow the song seemed appropriate for this slide show. There was time I would go "sailing every evening after work. Christopher Crosses' song "Sailing" pretty much sums up the feeling I got each time out. Even though I kayak more, "sailing" is still my first love. I still get the same feeling anytime I'm out on the water even in a kayak on a windy day. The 2nd song on the player I put there for "Harry". A great surfing song by Jan and Dean "Surf City". The song some how seemed appropriate since he was out numbered 2 to 1.


Thanks to Sheila for providing us with the slide show below . Her comments always add a special touch, making the photos more personal to the viewer.

Just in case Terry decides not to give Sheila the paddle, there is an old rule Sheila needs to remember "Possession is 9/10 of the law".

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Click on the Music Player Below while you watch the slide show. Just click forward until you find a song of your liking.

Rowan County Big Sweep

The "Flat Creek Gang" was treated to a visit from "Mighty Kayak Dog"


You couldn't have had a more perfect day for Rowan county's "Big Sweep". Participants met at Dan Nicholas Park. Mike Lambert and Bob Pendergrass of Dan Nicholas Park welcomed the volunteers as they arrived. Mike was the coordinator for Big Sweep and gave us assigned areas we could go to. Since I was familiar with the "River Road Area" along Tuckertown Reservoir, I elected to go there.





Somehow I became the default "sweep leader" of what I dubbed as our "Flat Creek Gang".(the name being derived from the "Flat Creek Access Area" off River Road we were assigned). I was only the leader because I was the only one who knew the location of our destination. I don't believe it had do with any leadership skills, other than my sense of direction on how to get there, so others could follow me in their cars.





We had a lot of good people helping and everyone seemed to know what to do. The group made my job easy and it even looked like I knew what I was doing once I got there. All that was required of me was to act the part of a leader for a few hours. I even left our troops alone for a few minutes to see if they could function on their own. I was able to pull this challenge off by helping shuttle some kayakers I befriended at the Flat Creek access area. Would I see a mutiny when I returned? The lesson I learned when I returned was, a leader really isn't required when you have a good group of workers. I had 16 "good ones" who didn't didn't need me other than lead them to the Big Sweep site.


Once we got to our destination we broke up into groups of 4. This allowed us to cover more area a lot faster, including an access area on the Davidson County side of the Tuckertown Reservoir. Our "Flat Creek Gang" decided it had no boundaries, I think they all were inspired by "Mighty Kayak Dog" who hails from the Kernersville area. We learned their are no boundaries from "Mighty Kayak Dog", who kayaks waters all over the world. "Trash is Trash" no matter where you find it. Our new group adapted this philosophy and learned to work outside the box. No one gave it a second thought as to what county we were in. Our goal was to help clean up, not county lines.

Most of our group was new to Big Sweep and that included me. We were provided with plenty of work gloves, trash bags and even a tee shirt. Mike Lambert, this year's Big Sweep director, had suggested people bring "tools". I had no idea what kind of tools to bring, so I grabbed an assortment before I left home. For future reference, a "garden hoe" is a wonderful tool!!! A pitch fork, shovel and potato rake(if tool end is nailed on to stay in place) also are good tools to bring. You learn very quickly what works and doesn't work when picking up trash. I would highly recommend rubber boots or waders for wearing in the mud in the future. Charlie was the only one in our group dressed appropriately for the task at hand. He's only 5, but he was ready and raring to go. Just check out his photos in the slide show below.

Our finds included a lot of plastic bottles, small propane canisters, bait boxes, fishing line, tires, carpet, Styrofoam cooler chest lids, reflectors, glass bottles and tire rims. The strangest find of all was a "chicken foot" with a nail through it, I don't even want to guess what that was about.

We all found it very disturbing that people wouldn't even walk 10 feet to dispose of their waste in a nearby trash can. There needs to be a return deposit of 5 cents on each plastic bottle or the litter problem with plastic bottles will never be resolved. You don't find many aluminum cans because of they are worth about 3 cents a can at the recycling center.

The "Flat Creek Gang" did a wonderful job and had fun doing so in the process. I hope all 17 will return the 3rd week in September next year. It will be fun watching Charlie grow up. Let hope he makes this an annual event in his life. I look forward to seeing everyone next year or sooner if they decide to paddle with HRL Paddlers. My friends know I invited almost anyone I meet on or near water to go kayaking with our group. I handed out plenty of HRL Paddlers cards which have phone contact numbers and web address.

Listen to some good music while you watch the slide show, click forward until you find a song you like.

Terry's Photos from Saturday's Fun Paddle/Low Country Boil

Low Country Boil and Fun Paddle

Tentative plans for Saturday are for some fishing, fun paddling and rescue drills.

Weather permitting, we will do this at my family's lake house on High Rock Lake. If you want to catch a big fish(big in my book is 20lbs or more), you will need to be there at 7:00 am. Now if all you want to do is paddle, practice rescue, play baggo. (no don't worry, I didn't say banjo), horseshoes, and cook, then 9:00 -10:00 will be find . We should wind up everything up by 2 pm. I've posted a sign up sheet on the site. This little get together should wet our appetites for the upcoming Shrimp Feast we will be having at Hunting Island, SC the following week. I'm going to teach Fran and Terry how to catch shrimp and I know we are going to catch a lot. Email me for questions or directions.

Rescue Techniques- Sheila's Pictures

Sunrise Paddle- Tuckertown- Harry & Sheila's Pictures

Hwy 801 Access-Boones Cave- Salisbury Pump Station - Sheila and Harry's Pictures

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Make It Safe- Winston Salem Journal Editorial

Image via Wikipedia There is a great editorial on Idols Dam in Today's Journal. We hope you will take the time to read it. Thanks to the Winston Salem Journal and reporter Lisa O'Donnell for taking the time to report our concerns, about this beautiful. but deadly dam.

Click Here to Read the Story!

Hwy 801 Access-Boones Cave- Salisbury Pump Station - Part 2 of Terry's Pics

HRL Paddllers will start Geocaching

Several of us got the Geo-caching bug from Paddlefest! Our plans are to start seeding our paddle trails with geo caches. We will try to teach you geocaching as we learn ourselves. I got the distinct feeling once Fran gets the hang of it, there will be plenty of buried treasure to find from HRL Paddlers. Hopefully Terry and others will beat her to the jump. The video below will give you an idea what it's about. Most of our Geo Caches will be around the water.




Maybe when the "Colorado" GPS by Garmin below ,drops down to $100 in price, I'll get one. I loved the features! Presently they are a little less than $400 and Terry has bought many a kayak for less than that.

Idols Dam News Story- News 14 story

CLICK HERE TO PLAY

News 14 did a feature story on their 5:00 news about Idols Dam. Terry did a great job in front of the cameras and expressed the concerns our group had when we paddle the area back in July.

Now for those who would rather read a written account of the story above, click here. Our thanks to Ed Scannell of News 14, for their coverage on the safety issues of Idols Dam. HRL Paddlers is not trying to create problems for anyone. We feel these safety issues can be resolved working with the City and the property owner of the portage area. We hope the media attention that Idols dam is receiving will serve as a warning to others of the present dangers of this low head dam. We do not recommend anyone using the portage area, until the safety issues of the portage have been resolved.

Saturday's launch could very well be from your front door!

The good news is "no shuttling". Hanna will bring the launch site to you. All our group has to do, is meet at an agreed upon spot on the water. Sorry Fran, this looks like one of those Saturdays that might be good for a meeting. The question is where? Salisbury, Lexington or Winston? I'm open to suggestions. Borders, Barnes & Nobles or Starbucks

801 to Boone's Cave to Salisbury Pump Station- Terry's Pictures

Listen to some good music while you watch the slide show, click forward until you find a song you like.

Idols Dam News Story in Winston Salem Journal- Hopefully this story will lead to making the area safer for boaters, paddlers, fishermen and others

We hope today's story in the Journal will help eliminate what we consider one of the most dangerous portage areas in the Yadkin River Basin. Thanks to the Journal for bringing this to the attention of their readers. Hopefully with the help of the City of Winston-Salem Utilities, Montie Hamby and Mr. Comer working together, we can make the area a lot safer. Paddlers too most take some responsibility for safety measures as well. To read the story in today's Journal, click on the title below:

Making the Yadkin Safer

Thanks to the Winston Salem Journal news reporter Lisa O'Donnell for her story on the dangers of Idols Dam. Thanks also to news photographer Lauren Carroll for her photos.

801 to Boone's Cave to Salisbury Pump Station

Listen to some good music while you watch the slide show, click forward until you find a song you like.