7/27/10

Lower Salmon River & the Maiden Voyage

July 12, 2010.  Lower Salmon River, Idaho.  The Zizumara touches the river for the first time.  A-Team eases her into her new watery home.
10 souls. 100,00LBS of gear. Most of which was outfits and champagne.

Dressed to impress... yes, we are still at the put-in.
The Zizumara receives her blessings and hopefully hears our prayers for safe travels.
And a little bubbly for us!

We loaded the boat with the essentials and shoved off.
Perfect day for a maiden voyage.
Dog claws making sure I don't get too attached to the paint job.
We got to our favorite camp early and took full advantage.  And a good excuse for a wardrobe change.


The gunwales were dressed in LED for the evening.
She matched her namesake -Delphinius in the sky.
Next day we get our first taste of some whitewater.
We got a little sideways in Wrightway and at 15k it was huge.  Good thing I had 2 awesome highsiders.  Perhaps I should have put the rubber chines on the boat...
Prepare for launch.  3...2...1...

First rocket ship ride for the ZIZ.  Good highsiding Bro!

Kindred souls.
The Ziz takes a break from the whitewater for a little lunch in the sun.
At some point this day I took 1/2" off the Ziz's nose after hitting a meta-limestone wall in cougar canyon.  It was about as low impact as you get but still enough to put the first ding in the boat.  Glad its over, now I can relax.
There's a little magic in the left side hatch.
Ziz=Party venue.
Ziz=Dance floor.
Ziz=Bed... not tonight!
All ship shape and ready to run China... on the right! woo!
Close up.


Basically, the Zizumara is a floating bar.  If only I could bring the bartender on every trip.  Yoohoo...Ken!
Beautiful last night in Blue Canyon. View from the perch at Buzzards.

Fine bailing technique after a big run in Eye of the Needle.
Then out to the Snake and finally the take out.
Not bad for a maiden voyage.

Maiden Voyage or Bust

When the boat letters arrived in the mail I was jumping for joy, but, I was too nervous to put them on by myself.  I was terrified of putting them on crooked or in the wrong place.

After consulting with people in the know I finally decided to tackle the last big step on the boat.
Gail the design guru gave me the "how to" and then set me free to sink or swim.
A bit nerve racking.
No second chances.
Almost there.
Beginners luck.
Phew!
The Zizumara is river ready.