On January 15, 2009 Nathan and I scouted a possible location for a paddling day trip on Reedy Fork Creek. The launch is at NE Park just east of Brown’s Summit between North Greensboro and Gibsonville, NC. We ran the shuttle (approx 30 min) and once back at the launch site in the park we unloaded our kayaks (I was paddling a Remix XP 10 and Nate was paddling the Tegris Ultimate 12) and set off. The air temps were in the low-mid 30’s with water temps a few degrees above freezing. A hundred yards down stream the Reedy Fork Creek joins Buffalo Creek. Buffalo Creek is a drainage ditch that winds through Greensboro picking up a lot of trash and debris and carries it by way of the Reedy Fork Creek into the Haw River.

This is a fairly scenic paddle. There are little to no roads, buildings, or structures along 90% of the this route. This mostly flat water paddle has intermittent rapids (class I) with one class II rock garden about halfway along this eight mile paddle.

After slogging through the backwater of the dam, near what will be the take out for store trips, and commenting on the overwhelming amount of trash in this area, we portaged the dam and continued on to the confluence of the Haw River.

At the confluence we turned left and continued up the Haw River, portaging a few rapids the were either too strong or too bony to paddle up we finally stopped just short of the take-out on US-87 and carried the boats a couple hundred yards to the van. By the time we got to the take-out the air temps were in the mid 20’s and ice had formed on our boats and paddles. It was an invigorating day on the water and will give us more opportunities to take folks out on local waterways. We will be organizing a river clean-up on this stretch of water later this spring.

Remix XP 10 review:

Paddler Height- 5′ 11″, weight- 175 lbs (+ approx 10 lbs of gear for the days paddle)

The outfitting was extremely comfortable, I used most of the hip pad shims to get a snug fit in the boat. The large rear hatch and bulk head kept my gear dry and no water was found in the hatch at the end of the trip. The hatch was big enough to swallow a 200 cubic inch pack, shoes, and a few water bottles and was nowhere near full. I could have doubled the gear I was carrying easily. The tray that runs up the center of the cockpit was great to keep a water bottle and snacks handy and and dry in one place in the boat so I didn’t have to try to find them had they slid around in the cockpit.

I did not use a skirt due to the recreational aspect of the paddle and to see how wet I would get since I would imagine many folks using this boat may not want to use a skirt. I stayed quite dry during the day, a little water came in over the cockpit rim when leaning the boat on edge so Nathan could see the skeg.

The skeg worked remarkably well, I left it up while paddling through the ledges and rock gardens that dot this paddle, but during the majority of the trip I left in down to help the boat track in the long flat water stretches. Wondering how much the small skeg really helped, I put it through a couple of tests. First I paddled with the skeg up and the XP 10 handles like a big whitewater boat. It is fairly maneuverable but has really good stability. It eddy turns and peels out well in minor rapids. With the ten foot length it does take a little bit of extra umph! to move it through tight areas, but the more this is done the easier it gets. For the next test on a deep flat water stretch with a good current (2-3 mph) I got a good head of stream going (with the skeg down) and the boat track remarkably well. I quickly raised the skeg and lifted my paddle over my head, the boat immediately started to spin out. As I came all the way around 360 degrees I deployed the skeg and the XP10 quickly started to track in a fairly straight line again. I also tested the durability of the skeg by purposely leaving it down and running over shallow rocks. I easily retracts back into the skeg box and pops back out when clear of the rock. The skeg seemed no worse for wear, at the end of the trip, after doing this a couple dozen times. The skeg does make a bit of noise rattling back and forth inside the skeg box but if it was any tighter debris would get stuck and potentially cause the skeg to malfunction.

The XP 10 also has remarkable stability. Both primary and secondary. I felt boomproof going over ledges sideways or bouncing off rocks, I wouldn’t recommend a novice doing this in the temperatures we were paddling in but under more comfortable conditions getting wet would not matter as much. This boat will also hold an edge if you can get it leaning and can maintain the good J-lean. The primary stability is so good it takes a good bit of effort to lean this boat on edge and I imagine a great deal of effort to actually tip it over.

Overall I would highly recommend this boat for mid-size to large paddlers who wants to do mixed paddling (flat to class I-III whitewater) but would like to get a bit more aggressive than you could in a rec boat. It is also great for the paddler that may not want to learn a roll, due to it bomber stability. This would be a great boat for the local NC Piedmont rivers (Dan, Haw, Yadkin, Mayo, Smith, New, etc). I did feel a little loose in this boat, but with a bit more time spent customizing the outfitting it would fit me well.

Please come stop by the store and see the new Liquid Logic Remix XP10 (also the XP9 for smaller paddlers), demos will start on March 14 at the Guilford side of Lake Mackintosh or join us the trip discussed above later this spring. Stay posted for times and dates.

Will