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White Water Rafting

Riverskier

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The best rafting in the North East is on the Kennebec, Dead, and Penobscot Rivers in Maine. The Penobscot being the most intense.
 

bigbog

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I know a few...
Those 3 rivers in Maine are terrific for rafting and I have been around Hudson's headwaters...very nice...as is the Deerfield River in MA. All of the good rafting sections of Maine's 3 rivers are up in the undeveloped woodlands(just some cutting in some areas)...so odds are you can see a good amount of wildlife as well.
 
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bigbog

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Any of you guys run white water in a canoe?
Yeah, but haven't done any ww in the last ~5yrs. Letting myself get old too quickly = more house/yahdwork and deep backcountry wildlife-sightseeing than anything....but I sold my last OC-1...was a little too quick for me so I sold it(kicking myself now..as often turns out = company/boat now gone..royalex becoming harder & harder to find)...and haven't gotten back into it...yet...;-), but love it.. Like most everything worthwhile..the more ww you paddle & better/more-relaxed you get..the more you want to do it... You've got a lot of terrific "creek style" streams/rivers in VT Huck... The whole darn state is either mountain or valley...
 
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thetrailboss

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Agree with the Kennebec, Dead, and Penobscot. Kennebec and Penobscot are dam controlled and you can raft them most of the year. The Dead River, IIRC, is only during high water. I've done the Kennebec three times and it is really fun. Went twice with Unicorn and once with another company.

A long time ago I also did a trip with PRO Rafters on the upper part of the Hudson. It was a low spring, but still fun.

Last, my (then new) wife and I did a section of a river in Northern Quebec not far from Quebec City on our honeymoon and it was really fun. It was on the Jacques Cartier River and this was the outfitter: http://www.expeditionsnouvellevague.com/en/

Inexpensive, nice gear, great guides, and they were one of a couple outfitters in the area so it was very intimate. One of the owners is a whitewater champ and she was there signing autographs, etc. Nice folks and beautiful country only 35 minutes from Quebec City.
Other than that, as said, sections of the Deerfield River are run in the spring by a couple outfitters (Crabapple being one). But it is pretty limited.
 

Huck_It_Baby

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Yeah, but haven't done any ww in the last ~5yrs. Letting myself get old too quickly....but I sold my last OC-1...was a little too quick for me so I sold it...and haven't gotten back into it...yet...;-), but love it.. Like most everything worthwhile..the more ww you paddle & better/more-relaxed you get..the more you want to do it... You've got a lot of terrific "creek style" streams/rivers in VT Huck... The whole darn state is either mountain or valley...

I bought a 17-18 foot Mohawk this past summer built from Royalex and am not sure if it's suited for white water or not. Bought it for canoe camping not WW. It's a pretty tough, can hold a lot of weight and I'm told royalex is rather indestructible so I am assuming hitting rocks here or there wouldn't be a huge issue?

I have no experience with WW...so I'm just probing here.
 

Savemeasammy

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I did a branch of the American River in Ca. IIRC a college roommate and I did it in an inflatable kayak. Dummies! Great time, though.

I'd love to try some whitewater kayaking. In a hard kayak!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

bigbog

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I bought a 17-18 foot Mohawk this past summer built from Royalex and am not sure if it's suited for white water or not. Bought it for canoe camping not WW. It's a pretty tough, can hold a lot of weight and I'm told royalex is rather indestructible so I am assuming hitting rocks here or there wouldn't be a huge issue?

I have no experience with WW...so I'm just probing here.

It won't be "at home" like a dedicated OC-2 for WW....but most any canoe with some rocker can be paddled "most" anywhere. Most of it depends on the stroke skills, amount of rocker, and roundness of edges, within extremes....ie lots of boats can make it given the humans don't screw it up!..;-).
Always thought Mohawk did a pretty good job of design...not the super inexpensive reacreational things geared for zero wind & chop.
Royalex is a good moving water/ww material....is heavy but there are helpful pads/yokes..and carts..etc which are great, and once in the density of water..can become pretty nimble without compromising stability..and most of all, can take more scratching on rocks yet perform like new. Thing is the stock seats are often pretty high, balance-wise. Lower them, use a comfortable foam pedestal...or something and you can really rock & roll while maintaining stability.
Fwiw....one dvd by the late Bill Mason "Path of the Paddle" series..done in mid-70s...has ~4 videos merged into 1 DVD....was, and will always be, great stuff for instruction...most probably some, if not all uploaded onto YouTube somewhere..y/n?
*Don't be afraid to leave it out in the winter or in the sun every year(except for the high exposure of mid July-August), moderate sun stiffens the material up a little...making it more responsive. Fact not opinion...
Rambling...lol.
 
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Huck_It_Baby

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It won't be "at home" like a dedicated OC-2 for WW....but most any canoe with some rocker can be paddled "most" anywhere. Most of it depends on the stroke skills, amount of rocker, and roundness of edges, within extremes....ie lots of boats can make it given the humans don't screw it up!..;-).
Always thought Mohawk did a pretty good job of design...not the super inexpensive reacreational things geared for zero wind & chop.
Royalex is a good moving water/ww material....is heavy but there are helpful pads/yokes..and carts..etc which are great, and once in the density of water..can become pretty nimble without compromising stability..and most of all, can take more scratching on rocks yet perform like new. Thing is the stock seats are often pretty high, balance-wise. Lower them, use a comfortable foam pedestal...or something and you can really rock & roll while maintaining stability.
Fwiw....one dvd by the late Bill Mason "Path of the Paddle" series..done in mid-70s...has ~4 videos merged into 1 DVD....was, and will always be, great stuff for instruction...most probably some, if not all uploaded onto YouTube somewhere..y/n?
*Don't be afraid to leave it out in the winter or in the sun every year(except for the high exposure of mid July-August), moderate sun stiffens the material up a little...making it more responsive. Fact not opinion...
Rambling...lol.

Thanks for all the info and advice! I'll have to search youtube for some of those videos before hitting any WW. My canoe is outside covered with snow now. I was worried about leaving it out there all winter but hopefully it will be OK.

Are you saying to lower the seats so your center of gravity is lower in the boat and thus more stabil?
 

bigbog

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Thanks for all the info and advice! I'll have to search youtube for some of those videos before hitting any WW. My canoe is outside covered with snow now. I was worried about leaving it out there all winter but hopefully it will be OK.

Are you saying to lower the seats so your center of gravity is lower in the boat and thus more stabil?

Yeah..exactly. Great thing about Royalex boats....material can take what motha' nature hands out....but remember not even Royalex(becoming scarce in manufacture!) is inpenetrable...stiffer but lighter and heavier hybrid materials are making up the industry.
If its gunwales are wood....good to unscrew/loosen/wrap a bit..if possible, OTHW...good to go.
 
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xwhaler

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Have rafted the Kennebec twice and the Dead once---Kennebec is fun in the first stretch but then is basically a lazy river float. Dead is intense all the way thru.
 

bigbog

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Most all the branches of rivers have their beginnings at dams, and they schedule releases at certain dates from spring to fall. That's when the companies raft and is best for kayaking/canoeing..but one can check the flows whenever (AW site).
Everyone in the paddling community, kayaks, OC(open ww canoes) or rafts, checks the paddling calendars.
American Whitewater's State/River Index link:

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/view/

*Under River Info tab you can goto any scheduled Release info.
 
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bigbog

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There's always some contracting/expanding of wood at the connection points...(twisting screws..possibly producing little cracks around the screw holes....which could enlarge). Doesn't always happen...
 

Huck_It_Baby

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There's always some contracting/expanding of wood at the connection points...(twisting screws..possibly producing little cracks around the screw holes....which could enlarge). Doesn't always happen...

You mean specifically when storing it outside in the winter, correct?
 

bigbog

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Yes....outside...and where the air temp will be almost to that of outside, like in unheated workshed... Just loosen the screws a bit.. AT least that's what I've heard/read from several owners of Royalex/Wood...that do quite a lot of work with repairing.
 
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