COP Newsletter Article

I hope you enjoyed the stories from the February issue. I apologize for missing credits on the Wild Onion, Wild Times article. It was written by Mike Ross. He's a Dublin resident and a burgeoning adventure racer. I wrote the article on tying boats down. There were a few stories left out but that'll cost you a beer to find out.

John Lane is the Boating Activity
Chair and will trade ya
a beer for a story anyday!

Eric Gehres, newly minted
COP Whitewater Director,
gets his feet (and a bit more) wet
washing kayaks before the first
pool session.

I like to give credit where credit is due. We have a lot of folks who deserve a lot of credit. Eric Gehres is whooping up on his new role as Whitewater Director. The board deserves an attaboy for okaying the Dagger GT kayak purchase. Everybody who has used these boats says they're great. Mark Steinmetz and Crew are running a great Eskimo Roll class. Dan Downes just ran a great Kayak I, and the instructors garnered high praise. Chris Russell and Larry ("I-swore-I'd-never-do-Kayak-II") Krall are taking over Kayak II from Sharon Seslar who has moved on to and will undoubtedly excel as COP Newsletter Editor. Walt Taylor is helping build the COP Boating Leader First Aid Kits. And we have a host of folks to thank for running the pool sessions: Libby Ciolek, Joe Liddle, Ernie Pfund, Jim Shaffer, Neil Baker, Bill Mumford, Bart Butler, Janice Hogrefe, Doug Eldridge, Jacalyn Slemmer, and Jeff Haven spent their Sundays working for COP. Doug Eldridge has taken on the job of submitting the monthly boating calendar to the newsletter as well as additional scheduler duties. Bill Mumford will be taking over the job of sending out leader packets to our folks who are running various boating activities.

You know you can tell if the person driving in the car ahead of you is a boater. Just get up close to them and watch how their head swivels. You may see the car drift a bit towards whichever side of the road they can most easily see the water from. Doesn't matter if it's a pond, lake, stream or stony, bony creek, they'll look. And dream of being on it, in it.

I was watching starlings in our birdbath today. We've got one of those heated jobbies, a hot tub for birdies. The starlings were flapping and flinging water from their wings and gabbling and jousting at each other in indignant mock fighting. Their spray glistened as it arced through the cold winter air. I imagined them as paddlers, jostling and queuing for the next ride on a wave or in a hole. I imagined our Columbus Outdoor Pursuits paddlers preening and readying for the coming paddling season.

One difference between the birds and us is that we are a little surreptitious about directly fouling our nest. About every other day we have to scrub the birdie tub and refresh the water. And the stuff that comes out of there? Yuck! You'd think they could find a better spot to poop! And the squirrels aren't off the hook either. Looks like they get a little too relaxed around the warm water from what I've found.

One of the things we've been following is the construction of a sewer line across the Olentangy River at the US 23 crossing in Stratford south of Delaware. A developer south of the river placed piers in the river and plans to install a sanitary sewer on top of these piers. At issue is safety, navigability, and potential pollution.

I tramped out to the site and took a few photos. The piers are about 6 feet above their bases, which was the (low) river level when I was there. The pipe would be installed on top of the piers. To the untrained eye and some more competent observers, it looks like we're creating a potential downstream death trap with the suspended sewer. It looks like kayakers, and especially open canoeists, will have a serious clearance issue when river levels rise during periods of heavy rain and dam releases. So, just when it's the most fun for whitewater paddlers, the sewer will pose the greatest entanglement and entrapment hazard for boaters. Also, the project seems poised to act as a grandaddy sweeper, trapping trees and other debris that would normally float downstream. This would dramatically increase paddlers safety risks. We also think the project puts the Olentangy water quality at potential risk from a pipe breach. With minimal clearance at higher flows, it seems possible, perhaps likely, that water pressure against objects jammed against the line would rupture the pipe and spew sewage into the stream.

What we know so far is that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency would like to see a different construction option. We know a local landowner was involved with a temporary restraining order against the sewer line construction that may have been rescinded. We presume that the current construction method was chosen due to least cost option and think that the project was begun without proper permitting.

There are a couple construction options that would more safely carry sewage across the river and pose less risk for paddlers and pollution. One would involve a lift station that would pump sewage through a pipe that would be placed at a much higher level (either on piers or attached to the US 23 bridge) above the river. Another would involve boring through the riverbed. Both methods would be pricier but would offer significant protection to people and the river. This is clearly a situation where the developer will be pitted against the best interests of the paddling and recreating public. Specific interest groups like Friends of the Lower Olentangy and the governmental agencies like the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Scenic Rivers Section and the Ohio EPA all work to preserve and protect recreation and natural resources and public safety. Our group will continue to study the issue and make appropriate contacts to try to influence a safer construction option.

The Olentangy River is a scenic river both by declaration and popular acclaim. The waterway is occasionally odoriferous, seemingly cause by sludge released during higher dam flows but the scenery, history and wildlife are abundant in the upper reaches as well as spots and corners tucked into the urban Columbus landscape. This is one of our backyard resources that deserves a little more coddling and a little less bludgeoning. This is a waterway that we should be able to enjoy without fear of entrapment or contamination from a fouled nest.

Did you ever guide your canoe down an ice-tea colored river, between sand dunes you would swear are cane sugar? The sky is a seamless blue bowl, spotted with fleecy white clouds. You dip your paddle in the water, scarcely disturbing the waters of the river. The canoe glides under contorted branches of oak and willow. Sound nice? I am planning on a 4-5 day canoe camping trip to the Ohoopee River, in the Georgia coastal plain.

Canoeing experience is needed for this trip; the Ohoopee is a winding creek with some surprises in the way, namely strainers in the bends. In addition, canoe maneuvering ability and a good flexible attitude are good things to have on a trip like this. Things can occur that can cause the best planned trip to go awry.

We also try to visit some other places outside of the canoe trip. In the past, we visited Cumberland Island National Seashore, snorkeled in the freshwater springs of northern Florida, checked out some of the Civil War era forts of the Georgia coast, and visited charming and historic towns such as St. Augustine, Savannah, and St. Simons.

My trip will leave on Friday evening, March 21, and return either late Saturday March 29 or Sunday March 30. I must add that due to my severe allergies, no smokers will be welcome on this trip. This trip is a COP members-only benefit trip!

Winners of the first annual COP Boating Leader Lottery.
Leaders were awarded tickets based on the number of boating events
they lead and cash prizes were given based on a ticket draw.
Lucky winners, from left to right, were Dave Seslar ($75),
Guy Sheaffer ($100), and Eric Gehres ($50).