Allow me to explain the enigmatic title:

A friend and I are organizing a special event called Anything Inflatable which involves floating down certain rivers in switzerland, on anything inflatable. There is no goal or purpse, just to have a cool day off in the nature, with beer or any other drink you prefer, and have some fun on the water. Extra activities include wrestling on floating trampolines (with styrofoam clubs), drinking beer, observing the swiss countryside, drinking beer, being observed by curious people on beaches (we got a lot of stares and some people joined us spontaneously), drinking beer, trying to fish out beer that fell into the water and finally having a good dinner in a restaurant.

For the skeptics, we already tried this last year on the Linth Kanal and it was a huge success. The water was bloody cold in early june, but it made the occasional fall all the more fun. There were some rapids which spiced up the otherwise very gentle floating through the swiss countryside.

The only requirement is having a flotation device that is capable of holding your weight the whole day (it will take the best part of the day floating down the river). The following optinal stuff is beneficial:

* Drink & Food. It is generally good to bring drinks. Being out in the sun will make you thristy all the time, but hunger doesn't set in until later when the floating is nearing its end anyway.
* Waterproof sacks. These are very practical for personal belongings like phones and wallets.
* A rope. While we'll do our best to bring a lot of this, its good to have one extra so you can tie your stuff together. Last year, we didn't have enough rope and stuff was always floating away. To recount, we had to hunt and fish out: a hat, many bottles of beer, a sack of food and my towel.
* Sun cream. This is almost essential for all of us with northern traits who always get sunburn.
* Pump and patches. Patches are good if you get a leak and a pump is obviously neccessary unless you have the lungs of a glass blower. Getting an amphibious pump which can help you pump out water from your flotation device is a good idea.
* Life jacket. I advise people to bring life jackets! I noticed that this isn't stressed enough. The river will be only a gentle flow on the better part of the route, but there will be some spicy rapids as well. None of them are too big for amateurs, but in case you're not 100% sure of your swimming abilities, better err on the side of caution.

As I said, any floating device will do, but for the best comfort, at least a small boat is recommended. Last year, Athleticum had these inflatable trampolines for ~150 CHF. Those were awesome, it is round and you can put a lot of stuff inside without fear of it falling out since the trampoline is quite high and stable. Maneuvering the things is futile, but then again, there is no need since the river flow carries it. In case they still have them in stock, I recommend picking one up!

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

After studying the climate model of Switzerland and understanding jackshit about it, it has been decided that unless it’s going be a hailstorm that day, the Anything Inflatable event will happen on the 4th of august (4.8.2007), on Saturday.

Our route will go from Bremgarten to Windisch. Both have a train station relatively near to the river or have a bus stop very close. This is the route where most rafting happens and I think it is rightly so. There will some rapids, but only mild ones so we shouldn’t have any problems flowing down them. Most importantly, there are no dead spots on the river, so lazy sods like me won't have to paddle .

We’ll meet at the Restaurant Kreuz right next to the Bremgarten train station. From there, we’ll take a five to ten minute walk to a suitable position to disembark. I recommend buying some patches and a good pump because it will take some effort to inflate all the stuff. The patches come handy if you manage to get a leak. Some pumps are amphibious, meaning they can pump water as well, it is very good to get one like that, since you will need to get rid of water inside your flotation device from time to time.

You can check the planned route here: http://map.search.ch/d/gvhmzdlow.en.html?edit=9551f078aa7b5226 (please don’t alter the route). I’ve marked the disembark and landfall positions (roughly). The route is still open to suggestions, as I see Christian knows the river better than I do, so if you don't like something about it, don't hesitate to talk to me.

Don't forget to PM me your email address so I can add you to the special mailing list. I'll use this mailing list to send out contact details like mobile phone numbers so you can get in touch with me in case of problems.

Whee! Tubing!

The last time I did this was about five years ago up in Salt River, AZ.

Would love to do this as soon as I get to CH!!

Exactly! Its awesome fun!

Anyone interested, please post here or send me a PM.

sounds like great fun. Keep me posted and I will pull togther some friends from Zurich.

Toobing?

Count me in.



Disclaimer - not an actual picture of me or anyone I know, just a river I've floated many times.

Arr, in pirate me matey!


Courtesy of http://www.syddware.com/cgi-bin/pirate.pl

Count me in!

I'm In! I also know a good spot near Lucerne to jump in the Reuss for starting.

Cheers!

Christian

Sounds awesome. I'm in!

So Reuss it is then! It will happen on the first nice weekend in August most probably.

I'll have to look on the map and do some exploration down the Reuss to see where should "Ye Olde Pirate Floaty Feast" hit land.

Sounds like a lot of fun. Mind if a random Baseler joins in? Is Pirate dress required?

I just had a look on the athleticum website, couldnt see any inflatible (spelling??) trampolines but they had some inflatible dingies (again, spelling??)....would this type do?

http://www.athleticum.ch/s06/content....asp?navid=302

Sounds cool, i just hope I dont see you guys go flying down the Reuss while I'm fishing on it Nearly hit a dinghi the other day.... oops

Yeah Salt River, is hella fun I would love to do this....but I'm out of Switzerland until August 6th, but if the weather works out maybe it won't matter. Great idea let me know when you decided to go.

Of course you're welcome. One is a pirate by heart, not by dress .

Those are cool, just make sure its big enough so you can move on it comfortably and your things don't fall out.

I did this loads as a kid and its by far the most fun your can have with an inflatable item (honestly)....

I might bring an inflatable doll, surely there are little pockets that will hold my spare change.

GAME ON, I AM THERE WILL BELLS ON.

Dang, I want me wanna them fancy trampolines !!!!!!!!


H

Aww. that was going to be half the fun.

I eagerly await details of this expedition and will keep the first weekend of August free.

Just bought my pirateship on ebay.

Let the battle commence!!!!

H






P.s. Is this what the trampolines looked like?

My god. Need a first mate for that monster?

Have already recruited "Seaman Stains", "Master Bates" and "Roger the Cabin Boy".

Obviously that beast is not gonna cut it, it needs about 8 electric fans to avoid going floppy. A bit like DanielL.

H