Anybody ride in Western IA?

[lighthouselowflyer]

Got a little boat last fall and hoping to have it running better this year. Rode a little bit on the Platte from Louisville to 64, and on the Elkhorn. Took it over to our farm in Iowa and had a good time on the Nishnabotna from the Riverton ramp, except for the big log jam blocking the whole river by the Shenandoah airport had a pretty good ride. Just wondering if anyone else on here rides over that way to meet and ride sometime. Went and looked at access near Adel IA on the Raccoon river and it looks interesting, talked to some people at a bar along the river and they said somebody from Omaha area comes over to ride there a few times a year. Just looking for some different scenery since my little boat isn't a powerhouse and won't run with the big boats on the Platte for speed.

 

[BenBad]

Hello lighthouselowflyer,
I know there are a few in the Red Oak IA area. You do not have to worry about having a slow boat. I have to stay out of the way of the big boys (and Girls) out there also. I normally just bring up the rear when I am boating with a bunch.

 

[lighthouselowflyer]

Thanks BenBad, I will be riding plenty on the Platte since I will probably be keeping the boat at the house. It is plenty wide for me to give clear paths to the faster boats. Going to get some more stick time on it and then want to travel around some experience some new scenery. As long as I am confident in the reliability of the boat I won't mind going alone a little bit. Just kind of nice to know of others around that could help out if trouble comes up.

Maybe I will see you out there. And I might be in the market for some of those headsets once I get this thing running strong.

 

[BenBad]

That eagle head is what I have on my rudders so if you see that it will be me out there. I run out of Lake Platte View which is up by High Way 92. I come down to I80 every once in a while, or to the mouth of the Elkhorn. From where we run out of we are blocked from going upstream most of the time by the rail road track just down from high way 64.

If you would like to try out the headsets I have mine with me all the time and you can hop on my boat and we will go for a ride and give my set a try.

 

[lighthouselowflyer]

Thanks, hadn't logged in for a while. I might be interested in some headsets. I got my new prop last Wednesday and took the little boat out 4 times since. I guess I have a small enough cage and prop because I got in at 64 ramp on Friday and went down past Venice and Two Rivers, it was pretty close though probably had around 8 inches to spare. Must have just hit the timing right to be in the low flow part of the day. I eased up to it cause I wasn't quite sure and my passenger sure was turned around checking it out. I sit pretty high on the rigging and my eyeballs are actually right at the top of the cage so if I get up to a bridge and think I don't need to duck then I will make it through. Probably see me riding out of 64 ramp a lot more after tonight. I took the wife down to Louisville ramp and had a good ride up past the guard camp. When pulling back to the ramp there were some people out sitting on the ramp so instead of turning around above the ramp and feathering it in backwards with the current which would have prop blasted them, I went past under the bridge and then came back through upstream and was going to ease it sideways over to the tie off post. Got the front right side up on an old bridge beam that was just low enough to not be giving a good indicator swirl with the jettie rocks disrupting the flow above the ramp. Got a fresh tear in the poly and luckily just a scratch in the aluminum hull. Made for an interesting 10-15 seconds since it pushed up my normally high side and I knew if I gave it any throttle I would dip the low side even worse and sink us. Wife and I both jumped ahead and to the right so it balanced out, I shook it back a little and the current pushed it back off. Took on about a gallon or two of water lapping over the side, was very close to dropping it to the bottom. The guy coming in behind me didn't know for sure what had happened but he knew there was a lot of activity going on in our boat so he circled around wide and high to stay clear of that spot. Thinking I will drive the extra 10 miles to Valley and shove my boat off in sand instead of dodging old beams from now on.

 

[BenBad]

Yes there is some stuff in the water down by Louisville I have been told. The water has been down this year so we have been getting under the RR bridge. Every one calls it the green river bridge. The big thing to watch up at highway 64 ramp is their rules as they will tow a vehicle up there.