Going with the flow
Rivanna River Company will launch Charlottesville’s first outfitter
By Jessica Luck
editor@c-ville.com
When Gabe and Sonya Silver moved back to Charlottesville three years ago after various stints in other places working in the outdoor recreation field, they settled in the Woolen Mills neighborhood. The house they bought was a fixer-upper with no air conditioning, and to escape the summer heat after long bouts of renovation sessions they would drag inner tubes down to Riverview Park and float around the horseshoe bend in the Rivanna River.
“Every time we went down to the Rivanna it was just this escape, but it was right there,” Sonya says. “It really felt like this unique experience you could have right in your backyard.”
Soon, their friends were showing up at their house every weekend asking to borrow their inner tubes—their secret escape was out, and a new business idea was born.
The Silvers wanted to create a gathering place where Charlottesville citizens as well as visitors could rent kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, canoes and inner tubes and set out on their own adventures down the river or participate in a guided session to learn more about the river’s history and ecological system. They’re a two-person marketing team trumpeting a local resource of enjoyment and beauty that some citizens may not know about.
“Reconnecting Charlottesville with the river so we take more pride in it and take better care of it, both individually and as a town, is what we care about,” Gabe says. “We’re at home in nature, and a lot of times we’re our best selves there, we’re relaxed.”
The Rivanna River is 42 miles long, and is formed four miles northeast of Charlottesville by the confluence of two tributaries: the North Fork and the South Fork. The river flows southeast through Albemarle County, around the eastern edge of Charlottesville, by Monticello, and continues southeast through Fluvanna County until it enters the James River.
Not only known for recreational uses such as kayaking, birding, fishing and tubing, the river is Charlottesville’s main source of drinking water and has been the target of conservation efforts from various groups for decades.
In January, two of those river stewards, the Rivanna Conservation Society and StreamWatch, merged to form the Rivanna Conservation Alliance. The alliance’s mission is protecting our water and reaching out to the community to educate it on keeping the rivers clean, with a focus on education, recreation, restoration programs and scientific monitoring.
Robbi Savage, executive director of the alliance, says she receives calls throughout the year from people inquiring about rental equipment for river excursions and tour guides. The alliance leads two paddling sojourns down the river a year, but there was no local outfitter on the river Savage could point them to. Until now.
Savage says about a year ago, when the Silvers were conceptualizing their business plan for the Rivanna River Company, researching the area and exploring all their options, they reached out to her and other organizations to share their idea and see if there were any opportunities for collaboration. They “handled it just right,” Savage says, by making connections with like-minded folks and approaching the business from a holistic viewpoint of what’s best for the area. In fact, the Silvers assisted RCA with its April 24 sojourn from Crofton to Palmyra, by providing boats and helping with transportation.
“I see this business as a tremendous asset to the community and it’s a great help to RCA,” she says.
The search for land to house the Silvers’ business was one of the hardest parts. They approached several private land owners on the Rivanna, who said they supported the idea but were worried about liability issues. They talked with the county about setting up their outfitter at Darden Towe Park, but no monetary transactions can take place there. Finally, Gabe walked into Cosner Brothers Body Shop on East High Street one day and talked to Grant Cosner, who opened the business more than 50 years ago. Cosner said they could set up in the parking lot of his shop, which backs up to the Rivanna Trail and is located directly on the river, just downstream from Free Bridge. The space is intended to be temporary for this season, launching April 30 and running through October.
The Silvers bought a mini barn that will be moved to the site and serve as their headquarters, where they’ll have 20-plus kayaks, eight canoes, eight stand-up paddleboards and 25 inner tubes, plus a 14-passenger bus and two trailers. They recently completed a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise the last $15,000 needed to purchase all of their equipment—they raised $17,045, and donated half of the surplus amount to RCA. The 210 backers received river trip vouchers, T-shirts or hats for their contributions. Still in the works is an online reservation system. For now, their website will list set trip times, for single and group tours, as well as self-guided and instructional tours, but call ahead for reservations.
Another project is a joint venture between the Silvers, the city of Charlottesville and VDOT. The Silvers have volunteered to do a cost share and help buy the materials to create a kayak launch underneath Free Bridge. Chris Gensic, park and trail planner with the city, says VDOT is reviewing a second round of designs for the project, which would consist of railroad tie steps and natural landscape steps down to the river. Gensic says it’s likely an Eagle Scout could install the wooden steps as part of a project—the same way the staircase at Riverview Park was constructed.
Cosner also donated two acres of land he owns on the other side of Free Bridge, and Gensic says the plan is to put a picnic table and trash can on the land to serve as a rest stop for paddlers.
The Silvers want their startup business to become part of the framework of activities in Charlottesville; after someone visits Monticello or a winery, for instance, they hope the outdoor amenities in the area are next on their list. Or even for people who live here, they want the river to be a place of respite, where you can go after work, hop on a stand-up paddleboard and soak in the scenery.
“For families, people busy working a lot, they can get a breath, and I think it can really refresh you and change your perspective,” Gabe says. “It can also change your perspective on where you live.”