Virginia New River Float Trip August 2021

Overview

A buddy planned a float trip on the “VA New” and here is some info! (Remember the New River flows north 🧭)

Here is the put in and take out. You can download the data from Gaia. About an 18 mile trip. We keep our campsites a secret 🔐

GaiaGPS - Float Trip Virginia New 2021

SeaDek Installation Before the Trip

Source: https://www.seadek.com/jackson-coosa-2012.html

Since I like to stand A LOT on my kayak I thought SeaDek was a good quality choice. After a while your heels can get sore from all your weight balancing on the plastic so some padding was right up my alley

Post Trip Thoughts: Worked great and indeed was very comfortable. I got it pretty muddy and it just washed off. It also didn’t seem to get too hot in the sun but water splashing probably kept it cool

Planning

Don’t forget your fishing license

My camping stuff is in the basement so I like to plan food out and such on paper. Sort of a mix between paper and digital for some reason 🤷‍♂️

Knowing what kind of rapids is important and this is a great site to help: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/view/river-index

We are on fishing kayaks so not wanting to do anything too crazy 😅

Source: https://www.americanwhitewater.org

You need to know CFS (cubic feet per second) also — this was the closest location I saw. For context, we’ve been on a similar stretch where the CFS was 10,000. So we knew we were getting slower and safer water:

USGS Current Conditions for USGS 03171000 NEW RIVER AT RADFORD, VA

Sun screen count used 3.5 bottles between mainly me and 2 other people for 3 90 degree sunny days:

New For This Trip

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07591GBWZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PBHT6FG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• I didn’t need to use the pliers much but I mounted them to my chair as I’ve seen others do and they work GREAT the few times I used them (I’ll post a picture next time). It’s nice having the quick access especially since I don’t wear my PFD much until rapids come up
• Sometimes you just need a bunch of little carabiners to help tie things down. These are a bit cheap but they do their job mostly well. I may switch to snap swivels; well in conjunction with these (see below)

Changes I’d Like

• Waterproof tackle box or the below happens and I didn’t even dump
• Camp chair (I have room in my hull so why not?)

Although the hull can be a pain to get into…

Here is where the GoPro is going to go now for the next trip: (stabilizer bar was built by previous owner and I STILL haven’t used it)

I Also Bought These For Next Time

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00469AX4O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NJBGXS2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07117DNV5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084J5J995/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• No more rusty tackle #FTW 💪
• Sometimes the carabiners need two hands so I want to try the swivel snaps to see if securing gear to the yak is any easier with them
• A buddy got his anchor stuck and had to cut it in a safe rapid so I’m keeping safety in mind with the knife. Hopefully it lasts forever
• I don’t really eat much of a breakfast but I’m all out of Breakfast Skillet packs and they are my favorite dehydrated breakfast meals

Park and Ride Issues

Do not leave your vehicle at the location marked below

Somebody tried to break into my truck via the passenger side window and they tried to tear off the handle on my Leitner cargo box. Luckily they both are mostly un-scathed 😅