Category Archives: Blueway

Y, Scouts, Food, Photography at WWALS Boomerang paddle race 2018-11-03

Update 2018-10-28: Now at State Line Ramp! Yes, we’ve moved downstream, to plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals, in two states (Georgia and Florida) and four counties (Lowndes, Brooks, Madison, and Hamilton).

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

WWALS Boomerang
Langdale Park to Sugar Creek
and Back Again
Withlacoochee River
Valdosta, Georgia
11 AM, Saturday, November 3, 2018

Join us for a fun filled day of kayak and canoe racing and leisurely paddling on an idyllic blackwater river by the biggest Suwannee River Basin city.

New sponsors: the YMCA on Gornto Road, and the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, with aerial drone photography by The Georgia Photography Fanatic, and food by Under Construction BBQ, plus at the turnaround walk up to The Salty Snapper.

Flyer, WWALS Boomerang
Follow this link for a printable PDF flyer.
Or this link for the same flyer 2 per page.

WWALS Boomerang, Logo

Event: facebook, meetup, but don’t forget to get tickets!

Tickets: $30 per boat.
We also recommend Continue reading →

Deadline extended for WWALS Boomerang early-bird tickets, through 2018-10-13

Update 2018-10-28: Now at State Line Ramp! Yes, we’ve moved downstream, to plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals, in two states (Georgia and Florida) and four counties (Lowndes, Brooks, Madison, and Hamilton).

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, GA, October 8, 2018 — By popular demand at the Hahira Honeybee Festival, WWALS has extended the deadline for early-bird $20 tickets through Saturday, October 13, for the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, coming up Saturday, November 3, 2018. This new event goes downstream and back again on the Withlacoochee River and the west edge of Valdosta, the largest city in the Suwannee River Basin, only a few miles from Valdosta State University. Someone from the Atlantic coast of Florida won our spring BIG Little River Paddle Race this spring, and kayaks or canoes from everywhere are welcome at the Boomerang as well. If you don’t have a boat, two outfitters so far have signed up to supply those. There will be food and drink and music at this WWALS fall paddling festival.

WWALS, Parade
WWALS Boomerang organizer Bobby McKenzie and family with fellow WWALS board member Dan Phillips in the parade at the Hahira Honeybee Festival.

Boomerang paddlers will race from Langdale Park Boat Ramp, just off of North Valdosta Road (US 41), down the Withlacoochee River to Sugar Creek Landing, and back upstream. If you don’t want to race, you can just paddle, and if you don’t want to paddle upstream, you can take out onto Gornto Road. Bobby’s four-year-old son finished our other paddle race, so paddlers of all ages are welcome.

For all the details and to get tickets, Continue reading →

Flyer and last discount ticket day for WWALS Boomerang Withlacoochee River paddle race by Valdosta

Update 2018-10-28: Now at State Line Ramp! Yes, we’ve moved downstream, to plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals, in two states (Georgia and Florida) and four counties (Lowndes, Brooks, Madison, and Hamilton).

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Update 2018-10-08: Early-bird $20 ticket deadline extended through October 13th!

Today is the last day for the $20 early registration for WWALS Boomerang, Langdale Park to Sugar Creek and Back Again, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, Georgia.

Here is a flyer and a two-per-sheet version, both in PDF ready for printing.

Flyer, WWALS Boomerang
PDF flyer.

Get your $20 early-bird tickets today before they go up to $30!

And if you come to the Hahira Honeybee Festival today, you can see Bobby and the McKenzie clan march in the parade.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Cancelled: Alapaha Quest, 2018-10-06

Due to low water in the Alapaha River, this outing is cancelled. Also, this is the same weekend as the Hahira Honeybee Festival, which takes a lot of WWALS resources; please come join us there.

Lots of people, Parade

Plus we’re doing a Cleanup at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River, Saturday, October 13, and the WWALS Boomerang on the Withlacoochee River from Langdale Park down to Sugar Creek and back, Saturday, November 3, and a paddle in the Okefenokee Swamp Saturday, December 8, 2018. Plus numerous festivals.

Next year the BIG Little River Paddle Race will be Saturday, April 27, 2019 at Reed Bingham State Park, and Paddle Georgia is starting at Troupville Boat Ramp for five days down the Withlaoochee and Suwannee Rivers in June 2019.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Continue reading →

Video: Paddle races, water trails, and Sabal Trail jury trials; Suwannee Riverkeeper on WGOV Radio 2018-09-13

Thanks to Steve Nichols for having me on The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols, 105.9FM WVGA. We talked about water trails, paddle races, and the Sabal Trail pipeline federal eminent domain jury trials, which were being settled as we spoke. Also we hear the Naylor Boat Ramp will be finished soon by Lowndes County.

On air, Movie

As I asked Steve about the three jury trials:

This is about federal eminent domain for the Sabal Trail pipeline.

SN: That’s right.

Now they already built the pipeline. But for these landowners, they sued them for the eminent domain. They do not have a written agreement with the landowners. They have not paid them a cent. But they already built the pipeline. Does that sound right to you? Continue reading →

WWALS Cleanup at Sheboggy Boat Ramp, US 82, Alapaha River 2018-09-09

Update 2024-04-20: Better picture format, links, and signature.

Gretchen took some pictures at the cleanup at Sheboggy. Others took pictures of the upstream paddle; probably we’ll post some of them later.

[A dynamic group]
A dynamic group

Continue reading →

Naylor Boat Ramp status @ LCC 2018-09-10

The Naylor Boat Ramp should finally be complete within a few weeks, said Project Manager Chad McLeod at Monday’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session. It will be interesting to see what paddlers report back from that site after yesterday’s paddle starting there as part of the Alapaha Quest to paddle in segments the entire Alapaha River Water Trail.


Status of Naylor Boat Ramp by Chad McLeod in LAKE video @ LCC 2018-09-10

What Chad McLeod said Monday morning, 10 September 2018, transcribed from Continue reading →

Banks Lake New Moon Paddle, 2018-09-11

Join us for a leisurely paddle at sunset approximately 4 miles around the lake, looking for alligators, bats and birds. This is a leg of the Alapaha Quest, since Banks Lake is in the Alapaha River Water Trail.

When: 7 PM, September 11, 2018 (be on the water promptly by then!)

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County.

GPS: 31.035097, -83.097045

Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp

Bring: the usual personal flotation device (PFD, and you must wear it), boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. For everyone’s safety bring a light for your boat or to put on yourself, such as a glow stick, so that we will be visible to other boats. This will be one night after the new moon. It will be dark once the sun goes down at 7:46PM. Mosquitoes can be bad at the launch, especially after dark, so you may want to bring bug spray, but they are usually not a problem on the water. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Shirley Kokidko, On the water
Shirley Kokidko leading a previous Banks Lake paddle, 2018-07-27.

Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper on Steve Nichols radio 105.9FM WVGA 2018-09-13

Thursday morning Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on the “top rated morning talk show in south Georgia” with Steve Nichols, talking about paddle outings, water trails, paddle races, and the Sabal Trail pipeline federal eminent domain jury trials going on right now in Valdosta.

When: 8:30AM, Thursday, September 13, 2018,

Where: The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols, 105.9FM WVGA
Live streamed on the show’s facebook page

Event: facebook, meetup

Suwannee Riverkeeper banner, Interview

What:

Guest: Suwannee Riverkeeper® John S. Quarterman

Host: Valdosta Today bills The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols as:

The top rated morning talk show in south Georgia, Steve Nichols offers both sides of every story from Berrien County to the Beltway, and everywhere in between.

Should be fun. Do tune in.

More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Sheboggy Boat Ramp 2018-08-11

Thanks to GDOT, the stolen Sheboggy signs have been replaced. Remember, we’ll sell you one for $25.

Meanwhile, come on down to Sheboggy 1PM today for a cleanup and upstream paddle.

With bridge, Boat Ramp

Context, Left sign
Context, Left sign

Continue reading →