Olympus Tough 3000 at James River Batteau Festival

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I usually post at Classic Camera, but this is the first whitewater trip I've taken where I was able to have enough electricity to shoot it all on my compact digital, the Tough 3000.</p>

<p>A James River batteau was a Colonial-era whitewater cargo boat, designed and built to carry 4-10 ton of tobacco down the rapids of the James River in Virginia, from the Allegheny foothills to Richmond, for export. Usually crewed by slaves or free black men, it was an occupation where color didn't matter if you had a strong back, and the skill and bravery to run the rapids with cargo - and then push the boat a couple hundred miles back upstream with poles, loaded with supplies.</p>

<p>These batteau were common from about 1770 - 1880 on the James River, slowly overtaken by canal boats and then the railroad. At that point, they slowly faded from memory, living on only in literature and a few artworks. By the late 20th Century, nobody alive had seen one.</p>

<p>But then, in 1982, a construction project in downtown Richmond uncovered about 100 batteau hulls in the sediments of the former canal boat basin. Archaeologists saved a few, measured many, photographed all they could, and .... made drawings. Re-enactors built new batteaux, based on the drawings and designs of the excavated examples, and began to run them down the James River again, this time out of curiousity.</p>

<p>It turned out they were fun boats to run down the river, and by 1986 the James River Batteau Festival was founded, a 120-mile run from Lynchurg to Richmond, completed in 8 days, with stops at history river towns along the way.</p>

<p>From June 14-21, 2014; I was able to crew aboard the batteau, the Clifton Lee. These are the photos from that trip.</p><div></div>

<p>Batteau have a rudder at each end, called "sweep oars" or "sweeps". This results in both ends being steerable, and the boat being very nimble for a boat that weighs 4,000-6,000 lbs. empty.</p>

<p>The person running the bow or stern sweep does so from a raised deck. That raised deck is the perfect place to sleep at night, as I usually did....</p><div></div>

<p>Saturday, June 14th, the festival begins. The batteaux are poled across the James to Lynchburg's Percival Island, for the start.</p><div></div>

<p>Poling is done from the walkboards, which are 8" wide and run along both sides of the boat. At first they seem impossibly narrow, and the whole idea of pushing a boat through rapids with a 20' long pole seems crazy. But... after a while they don't seem as narrow, your balance improves, and the pole touching the bottom of the river adds another point of stability to your stance.</p>

<p>We only lost one or two people overboard in rapids. And yeah, we brought the back in right away, none the worse for the experience. Well, a little wide-eyed.</p><div></div>

<p>The batteaumen were portrayed as wild, brave, hard-working and hard-drinking, shirtless, and shoeless. Here's a simple shadow selfie that I hope conveys all of that....</p><div></div>

<p>The second morning started out foggy and mysterious....</p><div></div>

<p>And later in the day, scenes from the past such as this one....</p><div></div>

<p>Several of the excavated batteau had fire-pits, so the modern ones do as well. Lined with earth, clay, fire-brick, or some combination of the three, they allowed cooking on board so the men could eat on the way.</p>

<p>So of course, modern batteau have fire-pits too.</p><div></div>

<p>Day 3, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes in the morning....</p><div></div>

<p>Duct-tape fixes almost anything.</p><div></div>

<p>Here's the rest of one of our bow sweeps, the one with duct-tape shown above, but in Period clothing.</p><div></div>

<p>And here, in a more relaxed position. </p>

<p>We'd trade off our duties, so eventually every crew-member could do everything. Some were better at running the sweeps than others, so the A-team sweeps might run the harder rapids, B-team sweeps run easier rapids, and C-team everything else that's left.</p>

<p>Time aboard wasn't all work; there was time to sun-bathe and nap as the batteau continued to make downstream progress.</p><div></div>

<p>Josh, a 13 y/o whitewater kayaker, takes his turn at front sweep.</p><div></div>

<p>Josh poling....</p><div></div>

<p>Josh - a modern-day Huck Finn.</p><div></div>

<p>And a selfie, Period clothing, as the trip progressed.</p>

<p>The mud and dirt are real. Getting out to push the batteau off rocks and shallow ledges was a frequent occurrence. We had a good boat and crew, but.... sometimes there just wasn't enough water flowing over the shallowest of the ledges.</p>

<p>Physical effort required was about like pushing a car out of a snowbank up north.</p><div></div>

<p>There was music on the river, as we continued down....</p><div></div>

<p>And fine dining, using the batteau as a combination picnic table, buffet bar, and drinks bar. One meal even included some fine, home-made corn whiskey. Drop anchor, climb out, soak in the warm water to escape the HOT summer heat, and just ... live. Oh, and eat. And perhaps drink a little bit.</p><div></div>

<p>In camp, the river provided a handy place to wash. Dr. Brummer's soap was a favorite.</p><div></div>

<p>Into every life, a little rain must fall, eventually....</p><div></div>

<p>In camp, in the morning, all batteaux in a row.</p><div></div>

<p>Finally, the end - pulling into Maiden's Landing, just outside Richmond, at the end of Day 8. Finished!</p><div></div>

<p>I hope you've enjoyed the photo-journaling. It's the first big river trip I've done where I had enough electricity and batteries to power the Tough 3000 the entire time, using spare pre-charged batteries *and* a 12,000 milli-amp dual USB-port power supply.</p>

<p>Several photos were taken while I was in the water, and the camera was in my hip pocket while I was in waist-deep water helping to push the Clifton Lee off rocks and shoals.</p>

<p>Great trip. I'd do it again in a minute.</p>

<p>Nice images and write up Doug. Looks like a fun way to spend a week. Thanks for sharing.</p>

<p>Wow, what a great adventure. Your journal makes every minute come alive. Nicely done.</p>