Tandemonium / Tandemnation

[Cheeks]

Glad you enjoyed the boat Aaron, and no worries if it got a little creased or anything, I hear that Big Al only buys tandems that have a crease in them so it should be all good...

[Not Elvis]

Thanks to all 38 tandem teams who showed up on Saturday and the 35 tandem teams who stuck around for Sunday. We really dominated the river, with its royalex-clogged eddies, "oops I don't have any boat control" wave clearing, and photo-worthy descents of Cucumber and Double Hydraulic.

Having successfully eaten up all of the permit spots for not one but three time windows, our strength as a interweb-based organization was felt by all who clutch their training paddles.

ACTUALLY...

DARN FEW SHOWED UP.

It was discussed on the river--we had a bazillion posts on the poll, and not nearly as many participants for either trip (14-15 July or 25-26 August)

What happened?

I know that Big Al had to secure his 914th Upper Yough run of the year, but that doesn't entirely explain away the numbers. And where was B.A. on Sunday? Do we need to re-evaulate the way we setup this trip? Do we need 6 months notice for calendar planning, since the Yough runs every weekend, unlike waiting to plan the North Branch Armada weekends? I am being serious. I want to see more tandems next year. It is hard to cross the river while remaining dry without sufficient quantity of tandems to span...

Do we need to market this more as TurkeyBASH, vol. II? I know people would show up just to see the shuttle bus loading process...

[Cheeks]

I take full responsibility. I had to be at Gatineau Fest. Next year there will be no excuses, provided we have a date in advance and it doesn't conflict with a tentative trip out west I'm planning.

Part of the attendance problem may stem from:
Not having a tandem
Not having a partner
Not having a solid date

So, if we pick the date way early and stick to one, that would probably help. As for the first two, I think there are a plethora of tandems out there - like mine - that would be totally borrowable, as well as paddlers who would be willing to paddle bow, stern, etc. So maybe to go with the date choosing thread next year, we should have a boat and partner choosing thread to match asses to seats

Just a thought, and what do I know, I was too busy eating poutine and drinking Molsons to show up, eh?

[PAC]

Guilty! Son's college visiting got in the way and since I C2'ed the prior weekend with the daughter I was there in spirit at least. JW was out with a bad shoulder and Big Al was.. well being Big Al.

Just think this year has been pretty crazy for a number of folks.

It might also do to the fact that single blade paddlers might have some resident fear with having a craft with 2 paddles working! Just saying.

[John Coraor]

Sorry, had to move my tandem partner into her dorm at Yale.

John

[Not Elvis]

So it would seem, based on PAC and JC's responses, that we should move the Tandemonium to earlier in the summer (no later than end of July) to avoid back-to-school issues.

Just looking to make sure we accomplish what we set out to do when we first launched this trip concept--to annoy kayakers. Oh, and have fun, too!

[KNeal]

Sorry, Jay. I'm still looking for my key.

[Not Elvis]

Can one of the site administrators move KNeal's post to the "Gauley 2012" topic where it belongs?

[KNeal]

Just try it.

To keep this more on-topic, I'm more available mid-summer.

[Walsh]

In the spirit of tandemonium, I launched a 7' aluminum john boat in the Cacapon and started putting dudes in it. At four, we had 1" of freeboard. With five occupants, it went straight to the bottom.

Jay, let's C-2 sometime - even if there's not an official event. You know where I live.

[bambam]

Wussy excuse, and I think it remains a really cool idea, but it was one weekend prior to a big weekend for me, the New River Rendezvous at Labor Day. I just didn't have that much travel energy in me at that time.

OC-2 and C-2 is great. Keep trying.

Ken Dubel