NY paddlefest
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Might be worth a first visit if you have not been there before, or if one of the vendors is there with a boat you might like to try. Otherwise it is far more focused on the young kayak set than canoeing. Paddlefest is not what it once was. Now there is a gate fee just to look around. Each vendor has to give a percentage of sales to Mountainmain, the organizer. Some who you might think would be there no longer attend.
We're headed over to give another look to a couple of Swift canoes and give them a try.
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So true! Started going when it was still in Inlet and it was more casual and laid back and a lot more vendors.. I've purchased a couple of canoes there way below the MSRP. It's a great opportunity to test paddle canoes that otherwise I wouldn't even get to sit in. Got to attend a seminar led by the legendary Dave Yost (Camping and Canoeing for Old Farts), great time. Got to chit-chat a couple of times with Charlie Wilson. The man has forgotten more about paddling than I will ever know.
At paddlefest my then 12 year old granddaughter saw her 1st SUP and she was smitten. It was this grandpa's joy to see his little sweetie get up on the board and paddle without dumping. Now 15 and she has her own board.
When I started going (years ago) with a buddy, we tented and cooked over an open fire and watched the sunset over the lake. Now my wife, eldest son and my aforementioned granddaughter haul the travel trailer and plug in with full hook-ups and eat dinner at Frankies and Red Dog Tavern. Lunch is in town. Only breakfast (done in the microwave) is done at "camp". We do manage a campfire at night for ambience.
All things change. Sure, it's not what it used to be but at least it's an excuse to be in Old Forge. An excuse to do a couple of day hikes, and watch Grandma have fun shopping with our Granddaughter.
Sadly, even though it's not what it used to be, I won't be able to go this year. Happily, I will be paddling the Manistee River with a bunch of old geezers.
Jon
I don't do crowds, but I know the people at Mountain Man. I know they work hard to put on a good show. It should surprise nobody that they are trying to make money.
A few years ago I did a presentation. There is a lot of work the Mountainman staff does. At that time there was no fee but a big problem was lots of people who came to kick the tires so to speak and then buy elsewhere
Smaller outfits were charged quite a bit to attend as vendors and now don't come
Smaller outfits were charged quite a bit to attend as vendors and now don't come
G
Guest
Guest
Things bought or ordered there used to have a significant discount. I bought My Swift Keewayden 14 canoe and aquabound navigator paddle there for that reason. Don't know if they still do that. Besides, it's a good place to stop on the way to or from a ADK trip and buy a sub for lunch. I saw Slipstream canoes there when they first came out. Almost bought a pink one for my lovely wife.
Turtle
Turtle
Spent a rainy day going to ADK Paddlefest, first we tried to cut the diagonal from Rt 9 just inside NY border up to Saratoga and got lost because NY does such a great job of marking their county routes. We got directions from a farmer that had seen some 'kayaks for sale' signs the before while delivering manure. Anyway got there about 11 in the rain and only a few diehards there. So when we made it over the Swift Canoe tent we spent a couple hours talking with Charlie Wilson fighting to keep up with all the information Charlie telling us.
Took the Keewayden 15 out for a test paddle in the rain watch a women do the back step off an SUP in 40˚ F weather, the conversation turned to whether the water or the air was colder.
We did lunch in Saratoga at the 7 Horses Bar and I made up my mind to go back and buy the Keewayden 15 with the Basalt Innegra Ext, Kevlar fusion interior, Black Carbon trim, Carbon Tech package and Kayak foot braces. I opted out of the $350 Carbon Fiber detachable yoke and settled for the Cherry. Bill Swift wrote my order.
Figuring the my car GPS could find its way home we struck off thorough the NY farm country. We made it home, but did have to ditch the GPS and use a paper map.
Next time you have a choice of a great day to test canoes or a rainy day, pick the rainy one. Saturday we might have gotten 10-15 minutes with Charlie, they were "Swamped" after 2 hours I thought my head was going to explode. They sold 19 canoes on saturday, as far as I know 1 on sunday and we got the royal treatment.
Took the Keewayden 15 out for a test paddle in the rain watch a women do the back step off an SUP in 40˚ F weather, the conversation turned to whether the water or the air was colder.
We did lunch in Saratoga at the 7 Horses Bar and I made up my mind to go back and buy the Keewayden 15 with the Basalt Innegra Ext, Kevlar fusion interior, Black Carbon trim, Carbon Tech package and Kayak foot braces. I opted out of the $350 Carbon Fiber detachable yoke and settled for the Cherry. Bill Swift wrote my order.
Figuring the my car GPS could find its way home we struck off thorough the NY farm country. We made it home, but did have to ditch the GPS and use a paper map.
Next time you have a choice of a great day to test canoes or a rainy day, pick the rainy one. Saturday we might have gotten 10-15 minutes with Charlie, they were "Swamped" after 2 hours I thought my head was going to explode. They sold 19 canoes on saturday, as far as I know 1 on sunday and we got the royal treatment.
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Good for you!! You must have had quite the headache that night... lol
Well, Kevin did enjoy a quiet Sunday in the rain with plunging temps wherein Swift sold three hulls, but inadvertently left his data sheet at Seven Horses. It occurred to me on my drive up into the hills that meant he no longer had possession of those notes; must have been the low pressure? Anyway, the technical canoeing instruction event is the Adirondack Canoe Symposium, held in conjunction with the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association Assembly at Paul Smith's 14-17 July this summer.
Contact info is www.freestylecanoeing.com and catboat3@gmail.com. Email me at charliewilson77@gmail.com for an electronic file on the forward stroke.
CEW
Contact info is www.freestylecanoeing.com and catboat3@gmail.com. Email me at charliewilson77@gmail.com for an electronic file on the forward stroke.
CEW
No it's just a paddling event paying homage to The Rat.
When you're done with that you can go talk boat with the owners of a couple of hundred wood canvas and stripper hulls at Cedar City at the WCHA Assembly.
We're gathering our Loon Works boats together . , Inspired by Chestnut Canoes these wood dacron masterpieces were built by Tom MacKenzie who passed recently. Their use was FreeStyle and canoe tripping.
Not ready to commit? Stop by Wed Morning July 13 at Paul Smiths for a free intro class.
Will the event in Old Forge essentially be the same? Second chance in a couple of weeks
OF is a three day event, so a little larger and certainly longer, than Mountain Man's Saratoga PaddleFest. Same cast of misfits, except pretty Robyn Rutkiewicz will be in the Swift booth rather than Werner's, and joined by Grizzly "Griz" Caudle.
Thanks Charlie we had a great time and the Baxter Stouts and a 'Gansett might have something to do with it. Beside there were more copies inside the store.
I have plans to be at Churchill Dam, ME the next week so I don't think the Assembly will happen.
I have plans to be at Churchill Dam, ME the next week so I don't think the Assembly will happen.
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Sooooo... did anybody here attend the Old Forge fest? I missed it this year, 1st time in a very long time. I was on an 8 day paddle on the Manistee River.
One a year is my limit
