2 days left!

Dear friends:

This is just a reminder of what we all need to keep in mind for everyone's success and enjoyment on the canoe trip...

#1 - FOR SEVERAL YEARS, our policy has been "every man for himself" on boating equipment, camping gear, transportation and food. If you and your partner want to cooperate on any or all of these, great. If you are certain that someone is providing for you in one or more of these aspects, super. PLEASE don't presume that someone will have something you need that you didn't bring or arrange for... Everyone wants to see everyone else have the best time ever and will do anything they can to help you out, but it is impossible with the number of people coming from so many directions for any one person to "cover" an unlimited/unknown number of people and variables. Everyone is welcomed and we hope to see you on Friday morning

* YOU must get yourself, your boat and gear to Branch Camp (Oleopolis/Joe's camp) at 9 AM Friday morning OR if you prefer you may meet us at Buckaloons with everything you need at 10 AM.

*Joe will pile as many boats as possible on his goose-neck trailer (wagon) and as many paddles, life jackets and gear as possible in the bed of his truck.. If worse comes to worst you may need to transport some of your own gear in the vehicle you are riding in to Buckaloons.

*YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for your own ride to Buckaloons.. Your body has to get there and Joe doesn't have room for people AND gear.

*YOU will be responsible for your own ride home from Oleopolis on Sunday at about lunchtime when we take out. Your boat and equipment and gear are on your own once the trip ends at the river take out at Oleopolis.

*YOU must provide your own paddle and life jackets (and a whistle according to boating law) - tent/bedding, rain gear, etc is your responsibility. Nobody has a free supply of these like we sort of had in some years past.

*IF YOU arranged AHEAD OF TIME for Doug to buy food for you, you MUST GIVE HIM MONEY on Friday. If you didn't tell Doug before last Saturday (beach day), then he didn't buy you food and you are on your own for all meals.. If Doug DID BUY YOU FOOD, you are still on your own for lunches and drinks


GOOD ideas and tips from a veteran:

- bring plenty to drink.. Fluids are at a premium by the last morning
- sun burn is a real threat.. (out for many hours in the open sun with the reflection of the water) bring high power, waterproof sunblock and use it. but DON'T get it in your eyes.. It's waterproof and won't stop burning like crazy for a long time. Insides of thighs and calves are more sun exposed than normal in the squatting boat position..
- waterproof "dry bags" are a smart move in case of rain or capsizing
- bring a light for night time.. It gets completely dark
- we don't litter.. you will pack out everything you bring in. glass bottles and metal cans tend to be hassle over the 3 days.
- the lighter you pack the higher you float, the easier you propel, the less you drag, the quicker you break camp, and the less comfortable you are while camping.. Your call.
- cell phones work intermittantly
- Food is expensive, but available at the IGA in Tionesta on the 2nd night..
- there really are river police after all, so bring life jackets and register your boat if it's not (at least in Emlenton.. )
- GPS's work slick, but may sink. iPods, eyeglasses, buckled canoes, pipe boombooms and dead geese definitely sink. Bavarian pretzels don't.
- bartering exists and thrives... if you can provide a commodity like fire starting, entertainment, snacks, cigars, or coffee for others, maybe you'll be invited into a tent during a downpour for example...
- habanero sauce is really hot and you cannot ride a cooler to Oil City after dark..
- bottle rockets burn holes in brand new rain flies, and cans on the fire are NOT cooling down.
- paddling upstream sucks. a canoe CAN be help together almost exclusively with high-quality duct tape..
- the fire arms are for retrieving twitching backstraps from strangling deer on the bank, and green chicken is edible..
- gorillas in the mist are a myth and should not be fired upon
- rocks do NOT float gently to the bottoms of the river..
- the river water is NOT antiseptic and WILL put you in the hospital if you have an open wound. Ibuprofen and neosporin are nice
- DON'T mess with the cook.. or Gordon. He's armed... well.
- Joe doesn't appreciate having his generosity rammed down his throat.
- putting packs of firecrackers down porta-potty exhaust tubes is NOT socially acceptable
- towing swimmers is a losing proposition
- milipedes are toxic to mucus linings of the eyes, nose and throat
- "mup-heres" are almost as deserving of tarring and feathering as the game commission
- Ted is narcoleptic dead weight as a partner. If you are in Chris's boat, you will dump at least once. If you are near Chris at any time you are in danger of random acts of exuberance.. (like being friends with an enormous saint Bernard with ADHD)
- that thing in the middle of the river isn't swimming upstream.. harpooned turtles do.
- a little b&e during desperate midnight island camp floodings is a case for moral relativism, but leads to warm, dry poker games
- weed wackers have nothing to do with canoeing, you can't build a sail on a canoe, and holding all the boats together like a barge through rock-strewn rapids is dumb..
- rope swing at your own risk
- you will never forget this weekend. (the north trip is cooler)

Feel free to respond to and/or edit this info if you have at least 5 canoe trip voting points...

PLEASE pass this info on by email or word of mouth to anyone not included in this mailing who is or is considering going..

See you FRI am.