Freeride Testing

The Freeride from Dan MacFarlane on Vimeo.

The new Freeride has arrived. We picked it up yesterday and took it for a spin. The air temperature was a little chilly at 40F (5C), but the film crew toughed it out. Now we just need to teach the new little boat how to do some tricks.

Belize 2011

Belize Diving from Dan MacFarlane on Vimeo.

We recently enjoyed a trip to Belize where we spent a week diving at the Turneffe Flats resort, on Turneffe Atoll. The resort is a 30 mile (1.5 hours) boat ride from Belize City. There were only 4 guests (including Erin and I) so we pretty much had the island resort to ourselves for the week. We did 3 dives a day for 6 days, totaling 18 dives at various sites around the Atoll. Highlights include: disturbing a rather large crocodile while walking along the breach, hunting lion-fish (an invasive species in the Caribbean), encountering a pod of melon-headed whales, and the trip to the Blue Hole and nearby Aquarium dive site.

Be sure to checkout the Video above.

Here's a map of the dive sites:


View Larger Map
And some photos:

2011 Paddling Season

The New Boston, Farmington River, CT.
As the 2011 paddling season comes to an end, we're thinking back to the great times we've had on the river this year, and the great people we've met. This year was our first full season of paddling, and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Here's our river log, which does not include the many lake sessions we spent practicing our rolls:

1. 05-Jun-11 - Satans Kingdom
2. 12-Jun-11 - Crystal
3. 18-Jun-11 - Shepaug
4. 25-Jun-11 - Crystal
5. 03-Jul-11 - Fife
6. 09-Jul-11 - T-Ville
7. 09-Jul-11 - Satans Kingdom
8. 16-Jul-11 - Fife
9. 17-Jul-11 - Fife
10. 23-Jul-11 - Fife
11. 30-Jul-11 - Fife
12. 31-Jul-11 - Fife
13. 20-Aug-11 - Fife
14. 21-Aug-11 - Dryway
15. 27-Aug-11 - Dryway [Video]
16. 03-Sep-11 - Fife
17. 04-Sep-11 - Lower Millers
18. 04-Sep-11 - Fife
19. 05-Sep-11 - Crystal
20. 10-Sep-11 - New Boston [Video]
21. 17-Sep-11 - Crystal
22. 24-Sep-11 - Crystal
23. 01-Oct-11 - New Boston
24. 02-Oct-11 - Shepaug
25. 02-Oct-11 - Crystal
26. 08-Oct-11 - T-Ville
27. 15-Oct-11 - New Boston

Thanks to everyone for making this a great season.

At the put-in.

The New Boston

The New Boston from Dan MacFarlane on Vimeo.

The Dryway

The Dryway from Dan MacFarlane on Vimeo.

River Report: The Dryway

River: Deerfield River
Section: The Dryway
Discharge: 1000 CFS
Class: III-IV
Date: 21-August-2011

The Dryway Put-In Before a Release
The Dryway is a 3 mile section of the Deerfield River in northwest Massachusetts near the Vermont border. It's fed by a dam release and is known as the "Dryway" because unless there is a scheduled release, the river is usually dry. When the water is flowing however, this is an exciting place to be.

With rapid names like "Labyrinth", "Dragon's Tooth", "Death Slot", and "Terminator Hole", the Dryway may sound a bit intimidating. For this section of river you need a good roll and you need to know what you're doing. There are several advanced class IV rapids which are described by American Whitewater as "Intense, powerful but predictable rapids requiring precise boat handling in turbulent water," and as such, the "risk of injury to swimmers is moderate to high, and water conditions may make self-rescue difficult."

The Dryway is a fast flowing, rock laden, adventure playground that will get the adrenaline flowing.

For our first descent of this river we were lucky to have been acquainted with an experienced paddler who had previously checked our skills and was prepared to guide us down. Our previous experience with "big water" made me quietly confident of our ability to paddle the Dryway, but there were still a few nerves as the release horn sounded and we prepared to gear up and head into the first rapid.

The put-in is just below the dam and across the river from an old decaying factory. Steep steps led down to a small concrete platform on the rivers edge. From here we launched into the water and set forth to head downriver into the first rapid called Factory rapid. This is class III rapid that was a good warm up. The nice thing about the Dryway is that the rapids start off relatively easy and then increase in difficultly as you get further downriver.

We paddled through Split Hair rapid (class III+), past Judy's Hole, and through Left Turn rapid (class III+). Things were going well. Our guides showed us the lines and pointed out the hazards as we caught eddies and made our way downriver. Jagged rocks were prevalent above and below the water providing a continuous set of obstacles to avoid. Some of the rapids were relatively long, meaning a mistake at the top could be costly. Erin and I got caught off guard a couple of times and our boats were flipped over. Fortunately our combat rolls came out to play and we were able to recover from these without incident. The river was fast flowing with strong currents and big waves to punch. It was a blast!

Dunbar Brook rapid (class III) was especially pushy, and was followed by by False Tooth rapid (class III) which precedes the Dragon's Tooth rapid (class IV). Dragon's Tooth (also called Fuzzy Bunny by our guide - if you don't want to be scared) is described as the hardest rapid on the Dryway and we pulled the boats over on river left to scout. The river converges forcing the water into a speeding torrent going down a rocky drop. The tongue leads towards a big recirculating hole followed by large waves that seem to come crashing from several directions.

We saw the lines we needed to make, and decided to go for it. Our guide led the way, followed by Erin, myself, and our second guide and safety boater. I saw Erin get flipped and at the top of the rapid, and remarkably she rolled back upright in an instant. Unfortunately the damage had been done. Disorientated from the flip she was thrown into the large waves and choppy water below the tooth and I lost sight of her.

I was luckier and charged down the tongue to punch the waves at the bottom. I was knocked sideways, but managed to stay upright through the turmoil. I saw Erin was now out of her boat and in the water. I pointed my boat in her direction and started paddling.

Boat and paddle recovered and still pumped up we headed downriver. Before we knew it we were at the next rapid called Labyrinth (class IV). With direction from our guide we blasted through it, navigating the currents, avoiding rocks, and punching waves.

We floated towards the take out feeling very satisfied with our first Dryway run. But it didn't stop there. We had so much fun that we drove the boats back to the top and put-in for a second run.

It was an awesome day on the river.

Camping

Camping from Dan MacFarlane on Vimeo.

River Report: T-Ville

River: Farmington River
Section: Tariffville Gorge
Discharge: 878 CFS
Gage height: 2.16 ft
Class: II-III
Date: 9-July-2011

Tariffville Gorge or T-Ville as it is known is home to the Whitewater Triple Crown. Erin and I headed there this weekend for our first paddle on this section of river. The gage level of just over 2 feet put it in the class III- rating. There are several play holes here, however we opted for more of a river run by carrying our boats slightly upriver. From here we were able to work on our ferries and other maneuvers, including our first encounter with some slalom gates. It was hard work with more paddling that usual against the current.

We eventually made our way down to the main features of this section, where the play holes are found. There were half a dozen play-boaters here forming an orderly line to enter, and then get ejected from, the main hole. We surfed in and out of the current, ran over some small drops, and got the feel of some of the larger holes we've seen so far. Needless to say we also got some roll practice in the current.

After a few hours tiring ourselves out, we carried out boats back to the car in search of some lunch. I'm sure we'll be at T-ville again as it seems like a great place to work on or skills.

River Report: Zoar Gap

River: Deerfield River
Section: Fife Brook
Discharge: 850 CFS
Gage height:
Class: II
Date: 3-July-2011

Out first trip of the season to the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield River in Massachusetts. This section is dam controlled and due to the recent rain the release was running all day. As we neared the river, heavy rain was falling By the time we reach the put-in the rain had mostly passed and we met another group of paddlers we recognized from the Farmington River.

Once on the river, the first rapid, "Hangover Helper", did it's job as the cold dam released water woke us up. We let the commercial rafting trips pass us as we paddled downstream. There was a steady fog and slight drizzle lingering in the air. The weather must have deterred most people from the river as we only encountered a few other groups on the river as we paddled the 6 or 7 miles downstream towards the Zoar Gap.

While most of this section of river is class I-II, the the Zoar Gap is said to be class III making it the hardest part of this run. Erin and I were well ahead of the group at this point and decided to read-and-run the rapid. I led the way and dropped into the eddy at the top from between the two rocks on river left. Erin followed but dropped over the ledge a bit further left. Erin continued to make it safely through the holes at the bottom of the rapid with a great run. I however, proceeded to flip in a similar place as last year. This time thought, I was armed with my new and improved roll and in spectacular fashion (according to Erin) managed to roll up onto a sloping rock face on river left before being washed back into the water, upside down. My second roll was clean and I caught the eddy below the rapid to catch my breach.

We decided to run the rapid again by carrying our boats back upstream. For the second run I took a similar line as Erin and finally made it through the Zoar gap without flipping. By the time our third run came, we had been joined by the rest of the group. I took another slightly different line and again made it through without incident.

Here's a video of our final run through The Gap:

The Lake Experience

The Lake Experience from Dan MacFarlane on Vimeo.

River Report: Shepaug

River: Shepaug River
Discharge: 250 CFS
Gage height: 3.42 feet
Class: II-III

The Shepaug River water level rises and falls quickly after rain. The river is normally only at a good runnable level during the wetter seasons of Spring and Fall. We were lucky then, to be able to run it in June which is an unusual event. The chart below shows how quickly the level rises and falls.

The rain we got on Friday (the 17th) meant Saturday was a rare event. We were up at 8am this morning to check the gauge before racing to the river to get on the water before the level dropped out of range.

We met a couple of other kayakers at the take-out and then made our way to the put-in, 6 miles or so upstream. Not long after we got our boats on the water, I knew this was going to be one of our favorite runs.

The river is narrow. As it runs through the woods, trees overhang the river, with branches occasionally dangling into the the water. It's more like a creek than a river. It winds back and forth through the woods with a continuous foray of rocks and drops that make the whitewater interesting to navigate.

The 4 of us were the only ones on the river. We stopped at a couple of features to practice surfing waves before reaching the takeout. It was a very satisfying run and an unexpected pleasure to be on the river at this time of year.

River Report: Crystal

River: Farmington River
Section: Crystal
Discharge: 1200 CFS
Gage height: 6.75 feet
Class: II

The section of the Farmington River known as Crystal lives up to the guide book descriptions: it's a 2.5 mile section of class II rapids separated by areas of slow moving flat water. The separation between rapids becomes less towards the end of the run, finishing with two solid class II sections.

View River Run: Crystal in a larger map

It's a fun run with plenty of rocks, making it a great place to work the river and practice catching eddies, ferrying, and surfing. We ran it with a group of other kayakers, and then ran it a again at our own speed. It was a great day on the river, and now our arms are tired!

River Report: Satan's Kingdom

River: Farmington River
Section: Satan's Kingdom
Discharge: 350 CFS
Gage height: 4.4 feet
Class: I-III

Our first river report of 2011. After several weeks practicing our rolls on the lake it was time to move on to the next level. Based on some research and flow rates, we chose to run Satan's Kingdom on the Farmington River. This is a short stretch of moving water rated as class I-III by American Whitewater.

Our put-in was at the Satan's Kingdom State Recreation Area, which happens to also be the site of the Farmington River Tubing company. They conveniently allowed us purchase a ride on their shuttle bus which helped us position our car a few miles downstream at the take-out.


View Satan's Kingdom River Run in a larger map

Once on the water we practiced some ferries and rolls in the current to get a feel for the water (it was cold) before heading down stream. There was a small riffle under the route 44 bridge which leads into the gorge where the river narrows and you will find the most difficult rapid in this section. From a distance we saw some tubers drop out of sight as they went over the top of the drop. We approached cautiously and ran the short rapid as a read-and-run before eddying out on river left. Some large rocks in the middle of the river make the white water feature and make for some interesting lines from top to bottom. We got out of our boats and carried them over the rocks back to the top of the rapid so we could run it again. We stopped to take a closer look at what we'd just run and from the river bank it looked larger than it had felt. We chose a different line and ran it again without incident. Fun stuff!

Further down stream we found another small riffle with a small wave that allowed us to practice a surf/ferry across the river into a midstream eddy. This was also a good place to practice our rolls in slightly stronger current, so while surfing the wave we purposefully flipped and rolled several times without incident.

The next rapid was on a bend and had a drop on river right followed by some waves center left. The river was wider here and there were several clean lines, however the waves were the biggest yet. I tried a couple of times to between these waves without success, but I did get to try out my roll again in some even more turbulent water.

The remainder of this section was relatively flat so we made the most of it by catching eddys behind rocks and practicing a few more rolls.

It was a very enjoyable run and I look forward to doing it again soon.

Montana

We're back from a trip to Montana. We spent the week relaxing on the farm with a trip to Yellowstone National Park for a couple of days. This is a huge park that covers almost 3,500 square miles and is centered on a super volcano meaning the park has many geothermal features including the Old Faithful geyser. The park is home to mountains, lakes, forests, hundreds of waterfalls, and lots of wildlife (including bears).







As well as the Yellowstone adventure, we also managed to fit in several other short hikes during our stay (shown in blue on the map below).


View Larger Map
See more photos from the trip by clicking here.

Breaking in the kayaks!

This afternoon we loaded up the kayaks for the first time and headed over to a nearby lake to try them out. The new Yakima Big Stack made it really easy to load both boats on the car and strap them down.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and although the lake was cold, it was not nearly as cold as expected!

The new boats are great! We circled the lake and had plenty of time to paddle around and get good and comfortable in our new LiquidLogic Remixes.

Happy paddling!

Whitewater Triple Crown

We spent the day at the Whitewater Triple Crown (as spectators). The event consists of three disciplines: Wild Water, Slalom, and Freestyle. It was tiring just watching.

Here's how the pro's do it:


Haley Mills

Emily Jackson


Dane Jackson

More photos here.

Grand Canyon - Day 15

Saturday 9th October 2010 by Dan –

Click here to see the movie on Vimeo.

No swims today! We left Upset Hotel at mile 150. It was a quiet day on the river, no big rapids, just small ones and riffles. Tim, Jim, and I did some seal launches off a rock. We stopped and got water from a waterfall coming from a small side canyon. Brad was paddling the duckie today. We stopped at Havasu Creek for a hike.


The trail went on for miles. We did an hour each way. It was very scenic and I would have liked to go further and seen the large falls, if only we had the time. We noticed a lot of debris alongside the creek that we speculated were from the recent storms we had experienced. Back on the river we practiced some rolls in the afternoon and at the end of the day I got a combat roll in Fern Glen rapid (mile 168) as we were looking for a campsite. I was attempting a last minute traverse move from river-right to river-left to skirt an upcoming hole, however I underestimated the speed and power of the current, as well as my strength. The river is very muddy today. Lava Falls is coming soon!

Grand Canyon - Day 14

Friday 8th October 2010 by Dan –

We left OC’s camp in the morning after some solar powered battery charging to keep the camera batteries topped off. We hit Doris rapid and I swam, not quite awake yet. We paddled Kanab rapid, which is one of the longest on the river, and fortunately is not that hard. The river has many bends in this part of the canyon with several sections of rapid on each bend. It makes for a fun ride. At lunchtime we stopped to explore Matkatamiba Canyon. After securing the boats below the canyon entrance we climbed up a steep rock face and followed a trail around to get into the canyon. In the side canyon we found clear water flowing over flat rocks and down naturally formed steps into pools. It was a great hike and somewhere we could have spent the whole day.


Moving on downriver, we were unable to find a camp above Upset rapid and so scouted Upset and then ran the river-right side. It was a fun run. I overtook Tim as he navigated a rock near the top. I then got closer to the hole than I planned and felt its pull trying to suck me in. I had to dig in to stay on course. After my run I shot video of the other rafts hitting the big hole. Everyone made it through without incident. Although it was late in the day, spirits were high and we made camp in a narrow part of the canyon at a site known as Upset Hotel. There was just enough room to pitch a row of tents on the sand between a towering rock wall on one side and a steep bank down to the fast flowing river on the other. As darkness fell we ate dinner and looked up to admire the small strip of starlit sky visible between the darkness of the towering canyon walls. No GPS signals here.

Fan Belt Replacement

Warning: this is a technical post that you don't have to read unless you want to know how to change a fan belt. :)

With the help of this post I was able to replace the fan belt (part 70000-73818) on the Kubota B7100. Normally replacing a fan belt would be a simple procedure, however in this case, the hydraulic pump for the Front End Loader (FEL) is driven by the front PTO shaft which has the belt looped around it.

In the hope that someone else might find this useful, here are the steps I used: 

1. Remove the two protective plates from the front of the tractor that are covering the FEL pump.
2. Loosen the adjusting nut on the tension pulley and turn the tension bolt to release the belt.
3. Remove the belt from the tension pulley so that it's loose between the top pulley and PTO shaft.
4. Loosen the radiator by removing the cotter pins and then loosening the bolts at the bottom of the tractor.
5. Carefully work the belt past the radiator fan rotating the fan and working the belt around one blade at a time near the bottom of the radiator.
6. Disconnect the front chain link that connects the PTO shaft to the FEL pump.
7. Remove the 4 bolts holding the hydraulic pump mount so it is possible to separate the shafts.
8. Work the fan belt through the between the top of the PTO shaft and bottom of the radiator until it becomes free.

Install the replacement by following these steps in reverse.

Many of these steps involve working in the confined space of the engine, and therefore it took me about 2 hours to remove the old belt and the same amount of time to put the new one on.

January Storms

We began the New Year with several inches of snow on the ground, left over from the first snow storm of the season. While our driveway was initially impassable, it did not take much to clear it and we were back in business.

The second storm of the season hit on the 8th of January. This one dumped 9 inches, leaving a decent amount of fresh snow to be cleared. After the snow was pushed aside it gave us our first opportunity to enjoy the white stuff and we made the most of it with several snowshoe excursions.

In quick succession, on the 12th of January we were hit by another big storm, this one dumping well over 14 inches on us overnight, and adding what was already on the ground. We woke up to quite a spectacle. Erin went outside first to start shoveling and soon came back in and told me to not even bother getting up. The cleanup from this storm was difficult, but we persevered and managed to eventually get the driveway clear with the help of the tractor.

On the 18th of January mother nature mixed things up a bit and an ice storm took hold. This was a mess to clear up, but the driveway remained open nevertheless. We sat by the fire in the evening trying not to hear the loud cracking sounds as the trees around our house, now bent over by the weight of the ice, finally snapped and crashed to the ground.

On the 21st of January there was more snow, but only a few inches which seemed inconsequential to mountains of snow we had already dealt with.

On the 27th of January another massive storm hit, this one dumping in excess of 12 inches, and adding to the ever increasing amount of snow on the ground. The cleanup from this storm proved the hardest yet as we were quickly running out of places to put the snow.

After 3 days without mail (because our mailbox was buried) and spending most of the weekend continuing the big dig out, we now have a day to regroup before the next storm hits on Tuesday.