Last year we canoed not once. No rain=no water in the Mattaponi. This year we haven’t been because we’ve been busy and we bought a new truck at the end of 2001 and needed to build a new rack to carry said canoe. We built a new rack last weekend and would like to go out in the canoe before the canoe gets off its rack in the garage and walks out due to neglect. The problem is this…if the water is running too fast on the Mattaponi we can’t go because we’re not crazy. And, since Isabel and then the tornado that ripped through left trees over everywhere we’re not sure if the route is clear or not. We’ve always had to do the limbo or the duck to get under trees before but I’m not interested in portage for any great distance especially in late October/early November. We can check flow by either visiting the put-in or take-out place to see how the water is running. What we can’t check is if there are a gazillion trees over the river.
I did what any rational person would do I checked on the internet to find out if the eco-tour dude that we’ve met plenty of times at the put-in place has updated his website. You know he knows if the route is clear enough for some canoeing. It is his business. Apparently, though he updates his website once in a blue moon. He hasn’t updated since May. It is still spring in his website universe. I hate to tell anyone what to do (yeah right, I love to do that) but if you run a company that is dependent on the river then perhaps you want to update your website. If I were a prospective customer I might want to know if you can even lead tours before I waste my time calling you to arrange a trip. At the same time I feel bad in even thinking of calling him to find out if the river is clear because I’ll probably never-ever use his service.