KAYAK FOR SALE - $450
includes a cover, skirt, wood paddle, pump and paddle float. It can be seen at the East Shore Cafe on Main Street in downtown Daphne, by asking for Larry. The boat has been used by a 70-year-old man, who only used it in the bay and swamps.
Red Boat Mickelson

National Paddling Film Festival
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Lexington Convention Center, 430 West Vine Street, Lexington, Kentucky

Raising money for river conservation and access for over 20 years, the NPFF is an all-volunteer run competition which showcases paddlesport related film, video and still photography. Run by paddlers, we have divisions for film makers who are amateurs, professionals and something in-between. Motion entries accepted until January 21, and still photos until February 18. Check the website for details on entering or attending, by

clicking www.surfbwa.org.

The Film Festival, Silent Auction and Awards Party all will take place this year in the newly renovated convention center. Our special guest is Kent Ford, world champion kayaker, paddlesports commentator from the Summer Olympics, and prolific producer of instructional books and videos. Check our website for more details; tickets will be available on-line.

Zina Merkin
zmerkin@uky.edu
Bluegrass Wildwater Association

For a special Gary Worob report on last Sunday's Monet Paddle, click on MBCAKC Paddle Reports.

Inflation Strikes Again!
Recreation permits for Eglin AFB are now $7.00 per person for this current season. For more information and the mailing address, click on FAQs. Thanks to Dick Becker for the update.

CANOE FOR SALE
Mohawk canoe-16 feet long x 36" wide. Compare to Intrepid 16 feet, click on Mohawk Canoe
This canoe is in very good shape and is an excellent roomy, stable, load-carrying family canoe. $425.00
Call Charlene Lee 251-928-0366 or email charlene@interlink-llc.com

The Bob Andrews Memorial Adventure Event was held and completed despite tough weather conditions. Director Larry McDuff would not have a Big Boy Event any other way! Larry declared the race a rousing success after losing only one participant, who attempted to find a shortcut through many backyards on the trail run segment. After straying way out of bounds, the unnamed athlete was officially disqualified.

For a complete report and an added bonus of festive poetry, please click on MBCAKC Paddle Reports.

FLASH: 2nd ANNUAL SUPER BOWL PADDLE & PARTY
date: Sunday, February 6, 2005
place: Party at Harriet & Fritz's in Fairhope, paddle to be announced later
comments: You don't have to paddle to attend the party - details about time, what to bring, paddle location and directions will follow at a later date. Mark this one on your calendars, so you will not miss it. Last year's paddle/party was legendary, including the food, fun and halftime costume malfunction!

DECEMBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS
prepared by Bruce Zimmerman


Bob Andrews Memorial Adventure Event
Date: Saturday, December 11, 2004
Time: 3:00 PM
Contact: Larry McDuff 928-1582
Place: Fairhope Yacht Club
Comments: This is not a race; everybody wins. Pairs of participants will go separately at the same time. One will paddle a boat from Fairhope Yacht Club to Rock Creek and stop where a kayak will be tied up. Bring a bowline to secure your boat since there is little river bank sand left after the storm. The paddler will walk or run up the creek and trail to a meeting place near the Montrose post office. The other person in the pair of participants rides a bicycle to the same meeting place. Switch off. The paddler becomes the bike rider and rides the bike to the yacht club. The other person walks or runs to the kayak and paddles back to the yacht club. Larry needs responses from anyone wishing to participate. He also needs some helpers on the course.

Styx River Paddle
Date: December 11, 2004
Time: 9 a.m.
Place: Meet at the Oasis Truck Stop and shuttle to the put in, which may be Steel Bridge.
Contact: Marc Vance, (251) 458-7574
Comments: Styx River has a drop that may be Class I or Class II depending on the river stage. If you have the boat for it (spray skirt), this is fun. If not you can portage around the drop over a rock shelf and maybe borrow a boat to try the drop.

Econfina Creek
Date: Sunday, December 12, 2004
Time: 7:30 AM
Place: Meet at Oasis Truck Stop on I-10 at Wilcox Road exit 53
Contact: Sonya Wood Mahler- 709-7588 (cell)
Comments: We will travel to Hwy 20 & Hwy 77 north of Panama City. The Econfina Creek is the source of drinking water for the city of Panama City, FL. It is a brown, slow-moving creek with crystal clear springs feeding into it along the way. The banks of the creek are rolling hills of loose sand, often hundreds of feet deep. Intermixed with the hills are dozens of shallow, sand-bottomed lakes that have extremely clear water.

We will put in at Hwy 20, go upstream to Pitt Spring, Williford Spring and Blue Spring. Then we will go downstream past our put-in to several large springs, down to Hwy 388, and back up to Hwy 20 by 4:00 PM.

If interested, you may transport your kayak on Sonya's trailer for $10 or rent a kayak from her for $40. Please contact Sonya by Wed., December 8th, to arrange for a rental and get a headcount. If you are renting, give her your height and weight, so she can choose the right boat for you.

This is a beginner-friendly paddle with some upriver paddling. It will be good for snorkeling, so you may want to bring fins, mask and with 70 degree water, a wetsuit jacket.

Be sure to bring: towel, jacket, polartec or sweatshirt, hat, sunglasses, water shoes, camera, lunch, drinks, PFD and change of clothes. Sonya will bring: first aid supplies, bottled water, maps to the put-in site and of the creek.

For further general information, call Bob Andrews - 251-367-4144 cell

Big Lagoon
Date: Saturday, December 18, 2004
Time: TBA
Place: Leaving from Big Lagoon State Park
Contact: Larry McDuff 928-1582
Comments: Over night campout on the Johnsons Beach National Seashore

Matt's Monet Paddle
Date: TBA
Time: TBA
Place: Buzbee's Fish Camp
Contact: Matt Darring 463-8523 or iama@backpacker.com
Comments: This may be the last one since Matt has been doing this for a year.


2nd Annual Super Bowl Sunday Paddle and Party
Date: Sunday, February 6, 2005
Time: TBA
Place: TBA
Contact: Harriet
Comments: More details at the next meeting. - Paddle to be announced. Party at Harriet and Fritz's following the Paddle. You don't have to paddle to attend the party.

News and notes:

Our December meeting was well attended, with 31 members. The Bayou LaFourche paddle that Tom went on in November, was fully booked with 170 paddlers! The route on Bayou LaFourche started at Donaldsonville, LA and ended 54 miles downstream. Each night the group was greeted by local families who provided Cajun feasts and live music. This extraordinary event happens around the second weekend in November, so you may need to get a reservation far in advance. Marc Vance gave us a rundown of what rivers in northwest Florida are cleared after the Chainsaw Paddles: Juniper Creek, Escambia Creek, Blackwater, Coldwater Creek, Boiling Creek are cleared. Clearing Turkey Creek is still in progress.

More Good Kayak Building Information
Here is an email received with several good websites for those interested in building your own boat. There are also some pictures of a kayak in progress here in Mobile.

Hi,
I live in Mobile and check out the trip reports periodically. I noted the reference to Greenland kayak building and thought you might want to check out these sites:

www.kayakforum.com
and
www.oneoceankayaks.com

They are two excellent Wood Strip building sites, with links to many other excellent sites offering information and plans to build your own.

For Stitch and Glue kayak building, go to: www.clcboats.com, which is an easier way to build a boat.

Also...WoodCraft opened a store on Schillinger Road next to Hobby Lobby, and has spoke shaves, nice hand planes and wood like padauk, bubinga and has epoxy, etc.

I began building a stripper in June, and am nearly done with it. The following link goes to photos giving the basic idea of my boat: kayakphotos

Patrick C.
Mobile, Alabama

FLASH PADDLE: Econfina Creek

Date: December 12, 2004
Time: 7:30 AM
Place: Meet at Oasis Truck Stop on I-10 at Wilcox Road exit 53
Contact: Sonya Wood Mahler- 709-7588 (cell)
Comments: We will travel to Hwy 20 & Hwy 77 north of Panama City. The Econfina Creek is the source of drinking water for the city of Panama City, FL. It is a brown, slow-moving creek with crystal clear springs feeding into it along the way. The banks of the creek are rolling hills of loose sand, often hundreds of feet deep. Intermixed with the hills are dozens of shallow, sand-bottomed lakes that have extremely clear water.

We will put in at Hwy 20, go upstream to Pitt Spring, Williford Spring and Blue Spring. Then we will go downstream past our put-in to several large springs, down to Hwy 388, and back up to Hwy 20 by 4:00 PM.

If interested, you may transport your kayak on Sonya's trailer for $10 or rent a kayak from her for $40. Please contact Sonya by Wed., December 8th, to arrange for a rental and get a headcount. If you are renting, give her your height and weight, so she can choose the right boat for you.

This is a beginner-friendly paddle with some upriver paddling. It will be good for snorkling, so you may want to bring fins, mask and with 70 degree water, a wetsuit jacket.

Be sure to bring: towel, jacket, polartec or sweatshirt, hat, sunglasses, water shoes, camera, lunch, drinks, pfd and change of clothes. Sonya will bring: first aid supplies, bottled water, maps to the put-in site and of the creek.

For further general information, call Bob Andrews - 251-367-4144 cell

Go to MBCAKC Paddle Reports to view the latest paddle report for a trip to Mudhole Creek in December floodwaters.

For those into kayak boatbuilding, you may be interested in the following email:

In the event you think that any of your members might be interested in
learning about Greenland Style Kayak boatbuilding, Techniques or History,
your members might find the following of interest:

The Fall 2004 MASIK, Qajaq USA's Newsletter, Is now online and downloadable,
and is FREE!

click on www.qajaqusa.org/QUSA/newsletter.html

Articles on traditional kayak building, the Greenland Championships, Harpoon
throwing and making, appear in this issue.

Ed Zachowski
Public Relations Advisor, QAJAQ-USA
ed@qajaqusa.org

Flash Paddle - Mudhole Creek
Date: Saturday, December 4, 2004
Time: 10:30 AM
Place: Cloverleaf Landing
Contact: Brint Adams - cell 251-583-9919
Comments: Due to high water conditions on the Tensaw River, this paddle is recommended for moderate to strong paddlers. For those unfamiliar with Cloverleaf Landing, we will meet at the Bruno's parking lot at Hwy. 31 & Hwy. 225 in Spanish Fort at 10:15 AM. Others may go directly to Cloverleaf where we will put in. The trip will go downriver past Blakely State Park, cross over to the west side of Apalachee River and enter Mudhole Creek. After exploring it, we will return back upriver, stopping for lunch at the pavilion at Blakeley. There is a $3 launch fee at Cloverleaf. The trip will be approximately 7-8 miles.

Reminder - Adventure Event - Saturday, December 11, 2004
Get your team together for this fun event involving paddling, biking and trail running/walking. If you need a partner or boat/bike or have questions or want more information regarding the event, come to the December club meeting on Tuesday, December 7th for help and to see if you can team up with someone. Contact Larry McDuff if you would like to volunteer by manning a transition area or intersection turn. The event will be great fun for everyone.

Here is a repost of the original announcement:

Bob Andrews Memorial Adventure Event
Date: Saturday, December 11, 2004
Time: 3:00 PM
Contact: Larry McDuff 928-1582
Place: Fairhope Yacht Club
Comments: This is not a race; everybody wins. Pairs of participants will go separately at the same time. One will paddle a boat from Fairhope Yacht Club to Rock Creek and stop at a rope swing. The paddler will walk or run up the creek and trail to a meeting place near the Montrose post office. The other person in the pair of participants rides a bicycle to the same meeting place. Switch off. The paddler becomes the bike rider and rides the bike to the yacht club. The other person walks or runs to the kayak and paddles back to the yacht club. Larry needs responses from anyone wishing to participate. He also needs some helpers on the course. No Potluck dinner at the gazebo afterwards, due to FYC event that evening.