USA Day 14.5 to 16 – The fleet gathers and heads up Lake Powell and the Colorado River

I have already put extensive comments on my flickr gallery.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boatmik/sets/72157622510542194/

So let’s introduce the participants and the boats!  They gathered in the afternoon.

People as far away as Texas, California and Australia (me).  Not a huge number, this cruise works well with up to around 12 to 15 boats.  A huge thanks to Jim Thayer who thought up the event.

Before we look at the boats and meet the people the scale of the area has to be seen to be believed.

The cliffs are high.

This is Chuck and Sandra of Duckworks.

They and their son Joe travelled 1100 miles or a little more (Chuck says 1121.25 miles - Yahoo maps has a lot to answer for)

This is Jim Thayer on the right.

Jim (right) kicked off the Kokepelli Cruise about 15 years ago.

This is Martin Adam’s PVC tubing Catamaran.  It is version 5.  It has 2 inch thick foam bulkheads on 18 inch centres inside the tubes to prevent the walls from buckling. This is version 5.2 and the boat is evolving into something concrete and interesting. Note the tie down straps used to attach the hulls to crossbeams etc.

The Rebelcat - he is working on improving the sailing performance.

The Duckwork’s Kayaks designed by Jim Michelak.  Chuck, Sandra and Joe drove 1100 miles.  The boats worked really well for us.  A lot of capacity because of the transom.  Might need a bit more skeg so they don’t weathercock quite as much, but they were very useful boats in the range of conditions.

Four of the five kayaks that duckworks brought to Utah.

This is a boat that was self designed by Randy Swedlund and crewed by his dog Jake (an OZ cattle dog cross … so I am not the  only Australian here.

A nice dinghy!

Kellen Hatch brought his XCR designed by Chris Ostlind.  His family was not coming on the whole trip but they were there for the weekend

The lovely Kellen Hatch's mini trimaran.

This is the designer, Chris Ostlind.  It was a pleasure to meet him and his wife Lorrie.

Chris in yellow.

There were a couple of the Hobie Mirage drive tris also owned by Cindy and John Denison, two canoe loads of experienced Texas canoists.  Mike and Michelle Miller brought their SeaPearl 20 foot double ender.  It is one of the early ones

Sea Pearl 20

Steve and Tanner Thayer brought an original racing dinghy probably from the mid ’60s – a Penguin.  Note the slides that allow the shrouds to be moved forward on a run.  This was a rather astounding boat.  The bottom shape was not dissimilar from the GIS.

Penguin Dinghy

Some racing people will know the significance of the sailmaker – Ratsey of Cowes.  Before OZ sailors started to trust local sailmakers anyone who wanted to compete truly seriously would get Ratsey Sails from the UK.  Cultural cringe on our part.

Sail Label.

These are the Gale’s boats.  The early MacGregor 25 was the main support boat for the trip.  The other boat is a sliding seat whitehall sailboat rowed and paddled by his wife Heather.  The Whitehall is moulded by the Thayers in glass.

The Gale's boats. The whitehall has a sliding seat arrangement that integrates cleverly with the centrecase.

The international space station went over.

The wobbly diagonal line is the space station. I was hand holding the camera.

Dobler Dory - sailed well by Kim Apel

This is me hitting the water on my kayak.  That is the biggest pack of Corn Chips in the universe.

Corn Chips

Upstream the Buddha looks over the water placidly

Stone formation.

Michelak Micro Look Alike - Picara - Dave and Anita Hahn

We lost Joe.  He headed off after a bunch of other canoists thinking they were us.  He found us later.  Sandra was about to head off to look for him.

Reflections on the Colorado River

Our first night landing.

Camp

Still Life.

The Texans cooked Enchiladas for the group that night.  It was really hot with little shade.

Dinner shelter and kitchen.

We all slept quite well after talking until about 9pm.  When we woke up the wind was very still.

More to follow!

Tom Gale and Jim Thayer. Jim is the originator of the Kokepelli Cruise which kicked off 15 years or so ago.