17 January 2008
Riverboarding
Posted by Mick under: Riverboarding .
I’ve had this idea of going down a river on a cross between a bodyboard and a lilo/air mattress with handles for a while now and never found anything on the web, so i went over to the Inflatacraft store on Burwood Rd in Hawthorn (can’t find their website) to see what sort of inflatable’s they might have that would work and one of the store attendants there said what i was looking for was called a “river board” or a “river sled”.
Bugger…i thought i was onto something new :(
Turns out that it’s called “riverboarding” (it’s also called River Sledging and hydrospeed) and it’s gaining in popularity in the USA and New Zealand, but there seem to be only a few companies making serious river boards and they are all in the US. Of course i can’t find anything on the web about retailers who might keep them in stock in Australia (Canoes Plus can order one in from NRS) and after doing a search on Google and Windows Live, it turns out that not a lot pops up about this activity for Australia at all…there aren’t that many videos on youtube either.
Not sure if i’m into the idea of going down a Grade IV or Grade V rapids on a riverboard though…i was thinking of more leisurely trips down rivers like the Yarra (the upper reaches), Acheron, Thomson, Wellington, Goulburn and the upper part of the Murray…you know…rivers with just the occasional Grade III and not a constant flow of white water ;) The idea actually came to me while thinking how good it would be to spend two days walking up to Lake Tarli Karn (map) from Licola and then to come back down via the river.
Anyway…i found more of a surf type mat called a Redback Surf Rocket from a company called the Land and Sea Sports Co being sold at Inflatacraft, so while its not a full-blown start-of-the-art riverboard, it will probably do for a few spins down the Yarra River in the Upper Yarra Valley, while i think about ordering in either a NRS Manta Surfer River Board or a NRS Inflatable Rescue Board through Canoes Plus.
So keep an eye out and i’ll get around to posting more as i dig further into the activity of riverboarding :)
2 Comments so far...
chris ord Says:
29 September 2009 at 10:20.
Hi Mick,
I’ve just comeback from a day’s paddling the upper reach of the Yarra (in flood) – was going to lilo it to cover a guy – Ian Neville – who is doing the entire length. Anyway, I can from experience say that the top end of the Yarra when it has water in it is great for liloing, especially the upper end when you are right in the wilderness (Yarra Ranges NP). It’s an adventure, but when you’re up as far as the dam wall, you’re usually walking a fair bit! Still an adventure… I’ve paddled the entire length bar a couple of short stretches for the first Source to Sea (http://landcares2s.wordpress.com/) and it’s a mild but pretty in stretches run. Also ran a lilo derby in the township of warburton for a couple of years (http://www.flickr.com/photos/splatt/1115369464/ OR http://melbourne.jollypeople.com/annual-warburton-lilo-derby/ – check the cartoon we had done for it!). A 3km race on lilos with two checkpoints. Love to one day re-establish the event (it was a fundraiser, done in fancy dress, with a joke and a funny face checkpoint, points for best!). We did ours on surf lilos, the ones with rubber handles and V nose which proved perfect. When the water’s low and you’re rock rubbing a fair bit, perhaps a harder bottom would be good.
I see you mention the Tarli Karn to Licola run…coincidence or what – me and an AR racer Jarad Kohlar are off on Oct 4,5,6 to do exactly that – trace it down with lilos until we get to enough water to paddle, for a story for Outer Edge magazine. Want to join us? Get in touch if so. chriso (@) outer-edge.com.au.
Finally, after my running of the lilo derby in Warburton, I always wanted as a laugh to start up the International Lilo Pilots Association…(even had tshirts made up at the time) – wanna start it with me? A blog like entity where we promote the use of lilos as an adventuring activity. Nothing like floating down the river on a pointy nosed lilo!
Mick Says:
29 September 2009 at 13:39.
Hi Chris,
The upper sections of the Yarra’s been running like crazy during the last week so it must have been a hell of an experience hitting that part of the river yesterday….though i imagine it would have been easier paddling a canoe than trying to navigate it on a lilo.
I also just checked out the Source to Sea blog and it certainly looks like you had a great trip in support of a great cause. Without the people and groups that you met along the way the river would certainly be in a worse condition than it is today.
The Warburton lilo derby was a great idea…and the Flickr photo you point to was actually taken by me…it certainly is a small world ;)
I’d love to take a part in your Tarli Karn to Licola run…if it wasn’t starting at the end of this week though :( Keep me in the loop on any other little expeditions you might do in the future as I’d love to have the opportunity to join in.
I’ve actually been wanting to get some information up and running on riverboarding (especially since the recent NZ issue with Mad Dog) and it’s probably a good idea to incorporate lilo stuff in there as well. I’ll drop you an email and we can organise a chat.
Have fun doing the Tarli Karn trip and i look forward to reading about it in Outer Edge.
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