Oct 3

Written by: Rob Virostek
Wednesday, October 03, 2007 8:22 PM

This morning we set out with a half dozen or so boaters bound for the Lower Wind River. This is my first trip since becoming the Regional NorthWest Paddler for DragoRossi and I decided to take the Stinger, a moderate river runner with a touch of play in the design. My brother Joe is paddling his Pyranha Inazone 240. We met “crazy Ray “ and his crew at the Lewis and Clark exit and headed to the Lower Wind. After a slight miscalculation on a gravel covered exit I now get to explain to my dad about a broken taillight. But we trained hard today and hopefully, he’ll forgive that slip up. The rest of the trip up was quick and we put in about 4:00 pm with a good 2 hours of light left to make the run. The first rapid was a bit technical with a right left right line course and Joey hasn’t paddled the old boat in 2 years. He ended up pinned and decided a quick swim and self rescue was the fastest way to get back on our way. Joe can recover his entire setup and be back in his boat before most folks even realize he’s out, so no harm done. The entire run was a nice quiet trip, full of III maybe a IV here and there as far as rapids go. It was a good opener and a great way to test out a river runner style boat. I can honestly say the DragoRossi Stinger made the trip with high marks. I was able to pull a few cartwheels and it swung around easy and smooth, unlike my older river boats. On the bigger Flume and Sheppard Falls, it held the line without being pulled around like a spud/play boat. A big thanks to Tony Zanetti and DragoRossi for a solid boat that lets me play in the holes and on the waves, but still gives me the safety for the creeking I do. It keeps me online for the drops.

©2007 Rob Virostek

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