Short sleeves and Rock Island in Spring

April 28, 2008

By Clay Wright

It’s hard to beat Spring in Tennessee!

Ok, so it’s hard to beat Spring anywhere but ours comes sooner than most places which makes it a tough place to leave…

With temps in the 80’s we’ve been enjoying LONG sunny days down here at the hole in the day as well as ‘After-work’ hours from 5:30 till dark, now around 8PM! Lots of short sleeves on the water, and sunbathing on the hot rocks between sessions serves at the perfect way to rest up.

The extra daylight is helping too, Monday we put on Caney Fork at 5PM! While the rains were just barely enough to make it floatable (1′ .15”), what a great feeling of freedom to know we had nearly 3 hours of light to work with and wouldn’t be getting hypothermia even if we got slowed down. Now we just need more rain! But that’s the way it works, isnt’ it? As soon as the short sleeves come out the rains slow down and the rivers drop out, signaling a long summer of dam release fun.

For me, the coming of May means time to head North to WV or way out West. But for now I’m hoping for rain while surfing the warmer water Rock Island, sunning on the rocks in between sessions, dodging ticks and poison ivy, and planning the travels of summer.

If you haven’t surfed Rock Island in awhile it is time to come back. Check flows here.

It’s been 3000 often but it’s still good down to 1500 cfs, and don’t forget we’re on CENTRAL time!

Clay Wright