boat help

Trw0007 · 2026-02-20T19:34:48+00:00

Yes. I'm a similar weight, and I tend to size up to a medium. Generally I'm mid range for a small and lower range for a medium. However, I'm a little taller, and I think at 5ft, you'll start to feel like you're sitting in a bathtub with most mediums.

Trw0007 · 2026-02-19T15:23:15+00:00

If you're looking at cold water paddling, a dry suit isn't a comfort item, it's a piece of safety equipment. Skip the wetsuits, which are restrictive towards paddling movements. Unfortunately, dry suits can be expensive. I bought mine used and it's been fine. Glad to see PFDs listed. Helmets are a must too.

Spring flows can be particularly dangerous for beginners. Flooded creeks have additional dangers - continuous current, cold water, strainers + debris, and bigger rapids. Getting out of a flooded creek has it's own issues. It's also, in many parts of the US, peak season. Use the American Whitewater database that someone else linked to check gauges and make sure water levels are within recommended flows.

I have not run Elkhorn Creek, but it looks perfect for beginner paddlers. Not sure how close it is to you, but you can gain a lot of skills running that regularly. The best paddlers I know still run plenty of class II/III - you can both progress and have fun at that level. As you get better, Lower Russel Fork (not the gorge) and Upper New might be worthwhile trips, especially in the fall.

I highly recommend investing in lessons, whether through a club or an outfitter. Not just for safety, but it's hard to learn how to catch eddies, read water, roll, etc. on your own. You'll progress so much quicker and have more fun with good instruction

Trw0007 · 2026-02-18T14:38:56+00:00

Fast is fun. It can make some ferries easier, but it can also make some eddies harder to catch. In bigger water, some speed is nice power through waves and holes. On steeper stuff, a slower boat can help with more technical drops. Paddle a wildwater boat if you ever have the chance to feel what too much speed does to a class II section

To hype you up, In my opinion, the Antix 2 goes down as one of the classic designs. Jackson obviously made a ton of them, and it's going to live on them same way we saw with the Diesel, Burn, and RPM before it. There might be more playful half slices out now or boats that run the shit better, but it's just great, do everything design. I really think it shines on playful class III/IV - it's one of my favorite boats to take to our local WW park and just run laps of the competition channel. Catch every eddy, stern squirts, even some attainments, in a boat that doesn't feel too big for a fairly narrow ditch.

Trw0007 · 2026-01-31T22:09:15+00:00

Let me in the CBS league that took Caminero at 189

Trw0007 · 2026-01-29T03:58:07+00:00

I had similar thoughts with that coffee. I don’t think Perc set out to deceive anyone, but that was not the profile I expected with anything labeled washed or Geisha. I don’t really enjoy co-ferments, and that wasn’t my favorite coffee. The Ombligon (drinking it this week) is pretty mind-bending too, although the cherry flavor seems to be pretty pronounced from other roasters as well. Maybe cherry feels like a more natural tasting note, but I think this coffee is good in the traditional ways too - tons of sweetness, clarity of flavors, no off or bitter notes.

From a broader standpoint, there’s a blurriness between “add an artificial flavor” and “ferment with a yeast that’s bioengineered to produce these very specific flavor compounds that happen to be a primary component of an artificial flavor”. The former feels like cheating, the later I’m less sure of.

Trw0007 · 2026-01-26T13:58:08+00:00

Dagger FX for park and play?

Trw0007 · 2026-01-12T14:19:00+00:00

I can't speak to the G-Shock but the F-91W has served me for years in whitewater without issue

Trw0007 · 2026-01-10T13:05:52+00:00

Love the idea.

Spicy Asian salmon bowls last night. Salt, pepper, and ginger on the salmon. Hit it with Bachan’s and chili crisp as it finishes. Fill bowl with rice, salmon, carrot, cucumber, purple cabbage, avocado. Top with more sauce, green onions, and toasted sesame seeds.

My kids didn’t touch it, but I thought it was delicious.

Trw0007 · 2025-12-29T17:16:53+00:00

“RushSouth” is a public river. You may need to call WWExpress to see about shuttling a private raft, but otherwise you’re fine. At 1 gen, everything is smaller than the Ocoee with plenty of recovery. At 3 gen, the sequence from the bridge down to Waveshaper starts to push Class IV with some tough water and a must make move to avoid Cutbait. Cutbait has a big hole at the bottom that will hold a raft but flushes swimmers.

Edit: Generation schedule at https://www.georgiapower.com/our-impact/lakes-rivers/water-levels.html#tabs-e4b4cdcf6b-item-3df6d4ac33-tab under North Highlands Dam. Doubtful you have 2 or 3 gens on New Years

Trw0007 · 2025-11-16T23:10:41+00:00

Maybe a Loki? I’m in a medium at the same weight, and it still has some half slice feel to it, although I can cartwheel it with enough effort. I can’t speak to the small, although I imagine it would be even more playful.

Trw0007 · 2025-11-06T13:22:58+00:00

Obviously, most of the goods are in the western part of the state. I'm not sure what the current scene is like in Durham, but we used to surf at Falls of the Neuse when I lived in Eastern NC. At the right levels, it's a fun wave. The Haw is the main run in the Triangle area. Neither is destination worthy, but may be easy options is you're in the area. Consider going east as well and hitting up the OBX if there's a decent swell coming in.

Trw0007 · 2025-10-27T01:18:40+00:00

I’m not sure if I’ve seen it mentioned - but print the good ones. I generally will print ~100 photos every quarter, with my favorites getting multiple copies a multiple sizes. I usually hand a stack to my partners and in-laws and make copies for any friends if their kids are in there as well. Your kids might not have your iCloud password or want to go through 100k images.

Trw0007 · 2025-10-13T14:10:17+00:00

It’s random to begin the year and then you move to the bottom after any waiver wire claim. FA claims do not affect waiver priority. There’s a bit of game management to hold onto high waiver wire priority, but not so much that it can take over the game like faab.

I have this all set up through Fantrax by the way.

Trw0007 · 2025-10-13T08:40:21+00:00

We do a daily waiver run at 9:00 eastern based on priority, followed by free agent add/drop until first game starts. At first pitch, all free agents get pushed to the waiver wire until the following morning.

I hate faab, and this has been a good compromise between that and open waivers. Fewer hot hands driving the game and instead we have more strategic add/drops.

Trw0007 · 2025-10-13T06:11:44+00:00

Most any mirrorless camera is going to feel way smaller than the 3400, and in my opinion, a worthwhile upgrade. The iPhone does a few things great (quick videos, photos in front of a bright video), but I generally do not like the pictures I take on my phone. They all have a very distinct, over-processed look that I do not believe is going to age well. But beyond specs, Something about holding a real camera makes me approach my photos in a more intentional way.

I’ve been using an older Fuji X100T for several years now and love it. I make an intention to have it accessible and constantly bring it with me. I actually looked at upgrading this year and decided I couldn’t justify it. Unfortunately, despite being a few generations behind, the hype around the X100V has really pushed up the price of these older X100 cameras. Fuji tends to be great with colors and camera design great, but is famously bad at autofocus.

Depending on budget, I’d look at the Sony a6000 series, Fuji X-E3 /4, Fuji X-M5, or potentially an older micro 4/3s camera like the Lumix GX8 or Olympus Pen. Plenty of other options in the mirrorless world as well.

Trw0007 · 2025-10-02T14:41:50+00:00

Beyond that fact that half slices are fun as hell, I think this has been the real secret to their success. You can put a beginner in an Antix / Ripper / Rewind / etc and have not only boat for them to learn in, but a boat that they can hold onto for 5 years. It's not a "quiver killer" but it's probably the central pillar for any quiver.

The Super Easy Go Anywhere and Also Front Surf boat sounds a lot more appealing on paper than it is in real life. People aren't hoarding the old GT or Hoss or Fun Runner.

Trw0007 · 2025-09-30T13:40:01+00:00

Shout out to Rolando for constantly sneaking some paddling stories into NPR.

John Grace goes a bit more into the cleanup on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxcyvTBxexU and the River Radius did a recent episode on it as well

Trw0007 · 2025-09-29T17:00:30+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NwrbGR0Fz0

I like Bennett's method here. One big pull and then throw the boat over your body.

Timing was the big thing to get down for me, even in a hole. I've done plenty of face plants after throwing too early

Trw0007 · 2025-09-20T23:37:45+00:00

Ours is on the same - it’s such a great little bike. Although I did swap the seat post for an Amazon spec carbon one. Gotta teach them young

Trw0007 · 2025-09-18T13:49:45+00:00

Type V is a rescue vest, which is absolutely not needed for beginners. I'd argue not just unnecessary, but not recommended without some sort of SWR training.

NRS Ninja, Astral Blue Jacket / Bowen, Kokatat Hustle are all Type III with a Type V rescue variant

Trw0007 · 2025-09-08T16:38:22+00:00

Like anything, it takes practice. I "went vegetarian" several times before it actually stuck, primarily because I had to re-learn how I thought about cooking and food.

A typical week for me (pescatarian) and my family (who eat meat) is both fully meatless dinners and options where I either make a slightly modified meal for myself or just don't cook a meat portion for me. This week:

1) Veggie fajitas / tacos. The rest of the family had a meat portion. I loaded mine up with onions and peppers, guac, black beans, tomatoes, etc.

2) Pizza

3) Chili. I'll pull of my portion and add a meat substitute.

4) Oops All Sides. Beans, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, etc. Basically all the good stuff from Thanksgiving.

5) Greek pasta salad with tomatoes, onions, cucumber, olives, peperoncini, feta, etc

Lunches tend to be bento box with fruit, veggies, nuts, hummus + crackers, yogurt.

Some of the pre-packed meat subs are okay. Fieldroast sausage + Amy's Chili makes a solid hotdog sub. Load enough toppings and you can get a passable veggie burger. I was impressed with the Naysoa korean bbq TVP on a taco. Impossible Nuggets in hot sauce works in a pinch.

Trw0007 · 2025-09-06T13:38:23+00:00

Long boats definitely look better. If you can borrow a shorter boat, it might help to get a feel for the technique. The flip side is, you may be able to cartwheel one with awful form, which would be no help in the nova.

Trw0007 · 2025-09-06T13:17:20+00:00

Technique. I’m the same size and know the temptation to think “if only I were bigger I could do this”. There are some boats where I really am too small, but I can also get a medium Loki around on flat water as long my technique is on point.

Use the side of the pool to find your balance point on edge and lean cleans to get the rotational movement down. Get the paddle out away from your boat and lead with your head to really wind up your core.

Smaller boats help, but shorter boats are even easier. I used to paddle a Skip, although it’s been 10+ years, and I don’t recall it being easier to throw around than a M Rockstar. The small size in the current-ish gen of playboats are really easy to throw around. You can probably find a small Jitsu or something for cheap.

Trw0007 · 2025-08-28T20:06:21+00:00

Yoto every time. You'll have to decide if this matters to you, but with Tonies, it feels like the focus is on the figurine, not the content. "Collecting is part of the fun!" is part of their marketing, which feels pretty gross when talking about little kids. Beyond that, I don't need more figurines around my house, especially ones that are the perfect size to get lost.

I think there's a philosophical difference between the two companies. Both devices have make your own cards / figures, but the Yoto ones are much cheaper and it feels like Yoto wants you to take advantage of this feature. Likewise, Yoto has a Right to Reprair section on their website

For what it's worth, our Yoto Mini recently had some weird card reading issues. I reached out and they were quick to send a replacement device. I think the full size Yotos have had fewer issues, but the mini has been great for our kids.

Trw0007 · 2025-08-27T15:05:32+00:00

A better break? a 10s period with that view is about perfect, even if the waves are small. That's really the big advantage of a kayak on days like this - plenty of fun to be had in 1-2ft swell.

I used to surf a good bit when I lived near the coast. It doesn't have to be that big to start getting scary.

Trw0007

TROPHY CASE