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The largest ever Canoe Invitational Flotilla assemble at the Visitor's Center at Old Forge (NY) last July (2001). This year's event sported 15 paddlers… 7-two man paddlin' groups and Whiskey-Tottin'-Roger in his solo, Lost Pond Canoe. The plan: (a) the Boys would paddle the Fulton Chain through 1st, 2nd and 3rd Lakes to reach 4th Lake's Alger Island; (b) they would spend two nights in lean-tos on the island; and (c) paddle out on day three.

The-Boys-From-NH arrived (right) at "g's" ready to rock. They moseyed up the street to The-Principal's house where The-Other-Jim (lower right) loaded up their 14 footer. From there they drove north and picked up "g's" canoeing partner... Wolfer (AKA The-Iron-Man-Paddler). Hours later (we won't go there!) the Boys all convened at the Visitor Center at Old Forge.

The Canoe Invitational is an unusual event. Aside from the diverse collection of personality disordered participants who annually convene to capture some semblance of a lost or forgotten childhood, the 3-day trip offers participants an opportunity to… simply... play. Organizing the event is easy. AXE (AKA Jim-the-Gentleman-Hiker) and "g" plan the route over lunch in January. The details are disseminated over G-WeBconnect

and then potential participants work out the details to secure a paddlin' partner, etc. (Check out the secret invitation link for the Canoe Invitational 2001!) So… With warm, 80 degree sunny weather… The 7th Annual Canoe Invitational kicked off with a great start (below).

Above: High-Altitude-Joe enjoys life at sea level. He momentarily trades-in his hiking boots and sailing endeavors on board the Tiny Ripple 2000 to paddle with the Boys. Here, Joe demonstrates the art of one-hand-paddling. Despite how hard his bowman had to paddle (Ed the I Will Only Eat Hotdogs On The 6th Annual Canoe Invitational), Joe repeatedly remarked, "You know… I could paddle this way the whole dang trip!"

Above Right: Wolfer quickly learns to embrace the turbo-paddle. Unwittingly, he agreed to be "g's" paddlin' partner without appreciating the controversial nature of having to use "g's" bent wood paddles. For years, AXE and some of the others believed that the use of bent-wood paddles was a corruption of basic canoeing etiquette and tradition. They were known to secretly meet at night and devise horrible schemes to vandalize "g's" turbo-paddles. Once, "g" caught wind of a plot to burn them! Since then, he's taken to the idea of sleeping with his water-buddies.

So... what the heck is this controversy all about? Why would (seemingly) normal buddies act so vicious and hostile towards "g" and his bent-wood paddles? The answer: Paddle Envy! The Turbo-Paddle is the fastest paddle on water! As Wolfer would quickly learn… the turbo-paddle had POWER! This was good and bad news for "g." It was terrific that Wolfer had so quickly mastered the bent-wood paddle. It was bad news for "g" because of Wolfer's immense strength and conditioning. You put the turbo-paddle in the hands of a crazed, iron man and there's no way "g" could synchronize his paddlin' to Wolfer's! Never-the-less… Over the course of this trip… Paddle-Envy was clearly evident by this year's Canoe Invitational participants.