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This is a Bald Eagle we saw hunting on the way from Howardsville to Scottsvill
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Sedalia Endeavor & Morning Dew, taken from on top of rock island.
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Tom Moore – Anthony Rucker
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Mason Basten, packing oakum
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Virginia Creeper, coming into Goolsby’s
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Dreaming Creek, coming into Goolsby’s
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Michael Ramsey, on a killer rope swing from Wingina to Howardsville
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The Morning Dew
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Ralph Smith, front sweepsman
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just for fun
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hula girl on a kayak :-)
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Spirit of Buckingham, leaving Wingina I think
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i’m pretty sure this is the Columbia Drifter
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Sedalia Endeavor
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Sedalia Endeavor, leaving Lynchburg
The Lord Chesterfield was off the ramp and in the river by 11 a.m. today and pretty much ready to go by 2:30! Theres “a little bit of a water problem,” possibly water coming in somewhere around the kingplank, but so far no cause for alarm. We know what a Big Fat Water Problem looks like, and this isn’t it.
There was a column by Darrell Laurant published in The News & Advance in Lynchburg on Thursday 6-17-2010.
http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/opinion/darrell_laurant/article/wheres_the_batteau_buzz/27902/#comments
I wrote a long comment regarding the column and the other comments. I’m re-posting my comments here:
With all due Respect to Mr. Laurant’s opinion about the state of the batteau festival and all the other comments regarding Lynchburg, I would like to say that there is and always has been a big misunderstanding about the “Batteau Festival” name and the facts about what the “James River Batteau Festival” actually is! For many years Lynchburg has attempted to put on events sponsored by various organizations such as Lynch’s Landiing. The public was invited to these events and used the “Batteau Festival” name. Some years there were huge carnival events and other years there were smaller activities on the island etc. All these events were actually just events planned for the Lynchburg site by people and organizations in this area. The ACTUAL James River Batteau Festival is on the James River. Lynchburg hosts the beginning of our eight day event that is spread out along the river in eight separate locations. Each site has their own event in conjunction with the James River Batteau Festival. For instance, Scottsville put on a wonderful event last year, timed with the arrival of the Batteaux into town. There were crafts, musicians, and of course the batteaux at the river. Each locality tries to coordinate an event to go along with our festival. The James River Batteau Festival organization plans the campsites, lines up portable toilets and much more for lots of sites. We can’t possible afford to put on special community events at each location. We really appreciate all that the many organizations in Lynchburg have done for us over the years. Its unfortunate that many people are confused about “The Batteau Festival” and think it is only rides and cotton candy in Lynchburg or a beer festival downtown. The facts are that we start in Lynchburg as a re-enactment of the old trade route that took tobacco and other items to Richmond. The history of the Lynchburg area regarding the Batteaux is rich. I encourage everyone to please come down to the river to Percival’s Island in time for the 11am departure. Come early and talk with the crews. Dogs are welcome too! And yes they do what dogs do, so what. If you love the outdoors thats part of life. And Life on the river is great! Come and enjoy it for yourself. Come and join us on the river. Visit the many locations. Relax and smell the roses so to speak. Come to Wingina—nothing could be finaaa…lol.. And Darell did you forget the time you and your wife rode my batteau years ago from Scottsville to Slate River? I recall you enjoyed it very much. In our Batteau family the batteau BUZZ is loud and clear. New and old crews are coming together for this 25th anniversary and building new boats, pulling up and fixing old boats and we have several generations of batteau family members now. The fact that Lynchburg doesn’t have a lot of money to put on a carnival or whatever this year doesn’t mean we aren’t excited. Come and join us in any way you can. For those who are bored, and have a been there done that attitude after reading some comments I ask you again to dig a little deeper and learn more about us. Batteauing is the hardest work you will ever love I used to say. When the batteau bug bites you, there is no cure. Oh and I miss my friend Matt who used to write for the News & Advance years go. He did the best job anyone has ever done in covering the many days.
I’ll be covering this event and posting photos and such as many days as I can find internet and the time to make web pages and others may be posting to our blog page. We have tons of information on our website http://batteau.org . Sorry if Darrell can’t hear the buzz and we love Lynchburg. We just need to clear up the misunderstandings and all enjoy the Batteaux and the James River.
Holt Messerly, Former JRBF Chairman, 1996, VC&NS;Trustee, and former Captain of the retired batteau “James River”.
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Batteau “Thomas Jefferson’s Spirit of New London”
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Glen Shrewsbury holds back batteau from the raging waters in New London.
The batteau “Thomas Jefferson’s Spirit of New London” was on display May 1st in New London. Capt. Glen Shrewsbury and other members of the boat dressed up in period clothing and explained the batteau to the public. VC&NS River Atlas’s were also on display. New London is an historic village just west of Lynchburg. Click here to go to the New London website.
The Batteau “Rose of Nelson” participated in the 4th annual Rivanna River Regatta while on the trailer. A nice exhibit was on display for the VC&NS, showing atlas’s and photos, etc. Many people stopped by to talk about the history. A meal was cooked on board. This was a nice event.
The new Batteau “Columbia Drifter” was recently flipped over. Alex Shaw (Andrew Shaw’s Brother from the Batteau “Debbie”) is the contact person. More details and photos to follow
The new Batteau “Rosalee” was flipped over on Sunday May 2nd. Reports are that a good time was had by all. We welcome this new batteau into the fleet!
Photos by Doug Berry.
My name is Randy Waycaster. I’m not sure if you have received word through Ralph Smith, Roger Nelson, Tom Moore, etc, but a group of us here in Buckingham have been building a batteau over the past couple months.
The boat has been named the “Spirit of Buckingham”. There are ten people total involved in the building/navigating of the vessel. The crew consists of Roy Turner(of the former Manteo batteau), Barry Crickenberger(of the former Buccaneer batteau), Mitch Crickenberger, Josh Craft, Shaun Saunders, Brian Staton, Jack Buni, Woody Dunkum, Ronnie Craft, and Randy Waycaster. At this time the boat is nearly complete, and is sunken at Roy Turner’s pond. We lack finishing the brackets for the sweeps, storage boxes, and possibly a canopy.
This is where we stand at this time, feel free to post the info in whatever manner/extent you like. Unfortunately, Mitch Crickenberger(seen in the first pic) left on a 400 day journey to Iraq on May 2, 2010 and will not be with us this festival. If you will, please wish him a safe tour and return from all of us. I’m sure at least a few of us will be present at this weeks meeting in Scottsville and look forward to seeing you and the rest of the batteau crews.
Many thanks and take care,
Randy Waycaster
 The best darn boat on the river!!! I’ve been meaning to put up some information about the Maple Run for months now but never got around to it. Now, sitting here at home, going crazy from the snow, seems like a perfect time to focus on the summer and batteauing down the river!!!
Our Current Crew:
 Captain Roger with his wife, Susan Captain Roger Huffman–most often found sitting in his chair by the back sweep, telling of lies (and sometimes truths that sound like lies), and keeping us off of rocks. He is our master boat builder and is a true craftsman. He could use some work on tree identification though. Ha!!
 Ricky on the front sweep Ricky Brightwell–this man takes a lot of abuse from the rest of us all week and should be commended for it! Ricky is a dedicated river rat who enjoys taking wrong turns when shuttling, running us into rocks (when he’s trying to sweep and talk at the same time), and falling off the boat when we are in the middle of a race with another batteau.
 Randy reading the river Randy Lee–this boy scout could start a fire in the middle of a downpour! Randy is a master fisherman who can read the river very well, keeping us off rocks and near good fishing holes. He is also great at starting fires, cooking breakfast, and drinking mass quantities of beer.
 Beth, showing the boys how to work! Beth Harker–one of the few brave females to dare to ride the Maple Run, Beth is as tough as the boys, pretty as a flower, and smarter than her dad (ha! just kidding, Ricky!). When she’s not poling or sweeping, she busies herself handcrafting batteau jewelry for the crew. She also enjoys risking her life and limbs by jumping off of high rocks/cliffs in the middle of the river.
 Cooper, in the blue UVA hat Larry Cooper–a native of Hogtown but recent convert to the City Slicker-ville of Wyndhurst. We are trying to help him get over his fear of dirt and river water and are coaching him to slowly learn that showers are overrated, clean clothes are unnecessary, and bologna is indeed a breakfast item.
 Boot and a big fish Boot Cox–if we could get young Brandon “Boot” Cox as excited over batteauing as he is about the guitar, this festival would be huge!! But Boot is a great batteau rat, poling, sweeping, getting sunburnt, entertaining with his guitar. Now if he could only find a job… (he’s my brother–I’m allowed to make fun of him!!)
 Rebekah manning the front sweep Rebekah Pekar–well, this is me. I just keep myself busy keeping the boys in line (a full time job), firing the cannon on the Yankees, and periodically manning the front sweep. I’ve had adventures on the batteau over the years, ranging from the wild ER trip from the river to UVA to the serene bridal portraits taken on the Maple Run. Here’s to more good times next year!
 Dewey in 2006  Bob Wells in 2009 *We have 2 more crew members who still ride with us in spirit. Dewey Wood, who everyone knew and loved, was our co-captain with Roger for many years. He is a legend on the river and we could write a book telling of his tales of strength, humor, and love. Not a day goes by that we don’t share stories or think about Dewey. Bob Wells, another crew member, passed away recently after a battle with cancer. He’ll be with us in spirit this year also.*
And every year, we have stray family members, friends, and other river rats come ride a day here and there….all are welcome!!!
We’ll SEE YA ON THE RIVER!!!!!
-Rebekah
I don’t know about you all, but the snow was pretty for a while, and it was fun getting out of school for a while (I’m a teacher and we enjoy snow days just as much as the students!) but I am ready for summer!!!! I can’t wait until I’m on the Maple Run again and can feel the hot sun beating down, have cool river water to jump into, and can share good times and cold beverages on the river!!! I can’t wait til this June!!!!!!!
 Maple Run leaving Lynchurg, Day 1 2009 -Rebekah
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