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Coming Soon to a Georgia River Near You!!
This picture (above) was taken on the Chestatee River above Lake Lanier.
According to the Hovercraft Atlanta
website, the Chestatee offers good cruising as far as twenty miles above the
lake. Having just stumbled upon this website today, I am not sure if I
want legislation passed to prevent this or if I want to start saving for a
hovercraft of my own. It sounds like one of Jim Nielson's new fishing
innovations! According to the (admittedly not much) research I did today, you
can cruise your local river at top speeds of 30 to 50 miles per hour, and a
tankful of gas can get you around 100 miles. The bad news is that a hovercraft
will set you back just a tad, as the recreational models (like those pictured
above) start at around $10,000 or so. Don't despair, however. You can purchase
kits and build your own for a couple thousand bucks and I saw used hovercraft
for around $1,000.
The picture above was taken at Horseshoe Rapid on the Chattahoochee above Lake
Lanier. Many of you have braved this rapid or possibly pulled a shoal bass from
here. I wonder if these guys caught any? I guess my main concern with these
things is safety. I'm not in the habit of having to look both ways before
crossing the river, and I'm pretty sure my canoe would lose in a
collision.
Well, since I don't live in Atlanta anymore I believe I'm safe. The rest of you
might need to have airbags installed in your kayaks or wear crash helmets to the
creek, but I ought to be safe. Think again, Sam!! The picture of that joyrider
above was taken at Sprewell Bluff on the Flint River. You can check out the
different rivers frequented by Atlanta Hovercraft on their website, but the
Coosawattee, Etowah, Chestatee, Little, and Chattahoochee rivers are but a few
of the rivers that have been visited by the hovercrafters along with a bunch of
premier smallmouth streams in North Carolina and Tennessee.
I'll admit this much: It looks like fun. It also seems like hovercraft probably
have a minimal negative effect on the environment. It could be worse. At least
they aren't using dredging machines to help them search for gold like they do on
the upper Etowah. One website even touts the benefits of hovercraft to fishermen
seeking to reach that special, secluded spot. Hmmmmm... It does present a few
possibilities. Still, my first reaction to
hovercrafters on Georgia rivers is not positive. I could change my mind on this,
but I don't think what my outdoor experience needs is a bunch of noise and boats
whizzing by at 40 miles per hour. I can go to any lake for that. I doubt that
the hovercraft is going to be a huge craze or present a statewide menace to the
rivers we love so dearly, but to me, this is certainly not a positive
development. I'll be interested to see what others have to say about
"Georgia River Flying" on the GRF Message Board. In the meantime, I'm
going to start saving up in case this hovercraft thing catches on. |
