Boating
Me as a rafter
Rafting is an indescribably important part of my life. I
took guide training in June of 1994, and have been at it
ever since. For me, it is life. I can't imagine what my
life would be without it, but I'm sure that it would not be
a whole lot of fun. I am a class IV whitewater raft guide and oarsman. The difference is a
raft guide will call commands and works with a crew to
navigate the rapids, while an oarsman uses oars to move
the boat and may or may not have a crew. I used to boat
around 3 weekends a month before my son was born. Now it
has decreased to around once a month or so.
I've spent a few days on other craft as well, but I'm just
a beginner in most of them. Speaking of which, I have a
boat... A 14' blue SOTAR
Professional. I christened it on the Smith River over the
1996/7 New Year's holiday (during the floods). I put an oar
frame on it and rowed some. No flips, but a couple of close
calls.
Since then, I've gathered enough experience to be able to
teach others how to guide a raft down a class III or IV
river. I really enjoy watching people experience the river
community for the first time. So much so that I actually
ran the FOR
Basic Guide Training Program.
The picture above is from a New Years '99 on the Smith
River in Northwest California near Crescent City.
