Using a Throw Bag

Different sizes and styles of throw bags

The throw bag is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment that a paddler caries. You can use it as a throw rope to belay a swimmer out of a rapid, as a static line or in a Z-drag to pull a boat out of a pin, or to set up your dining fly or clothes line in camp. The bag that you choose depends on what you plan to do with it. Let’s look at some of the things to consider when choosing a throw bag:

Length of rope – for throwing, the length of the rope should be determined by the length that you can accurately throw. 50' is generally the minimum for a throw bag. 100' is better for setting up a pull, but may be too heavy and bulky to throw accurately. 75' is a happy medium

Setting safety below a drop

Diameter of rope – once again, the diameter of the rope will be influenced by its use.1/4" rope is light and easy to throw. 3/8" is stronger for pulls, but heavier to throw. 5/16" is a happy medium.

Type of rope – the rope should be colorful for visibility and float on the water to prevent snags and make it easy for the swimmer to grab. The material is usually Poly, Spectra or a combination of the two. Poly rope is soft, flexible and easy to grab and hold on to. Spectra is a high strength, low stretch that is stronger for pulling. Some higher end bags have a Spectra core for strength and a Poly wrap for comfort.

Bag – the bag itself is usually nylon, sometimes with a mesh section to facilitate drying. The bag should be colorful for visibility, with a large opening at the top to deploy and stuff easily, and durable enough for years of use. The bag will have a foam disk at the bottom for floatation, and a loop at both ends to attach a carabiner.

Additional paddler stabilizes the thrower

The "clean line principle" means designing a throw bag that is free of large loops and attachments that could snag on obstacles or people during a rescue. Following clean line principals makes the bag safer for throws, but less useful for pulls. If you have the room, it might be better for carry a smaller clean line bag for throwing, and a larger bag or static line for pulls.

Rescuing a swimmer with a throw bag takes practice. First you have to find the best place to perform the rescue. This should be downstream of the rapid with an unobstructed area for the throw and a safe place for the swimmer to land.

Pin kit for Z-drag

The thrower opens the bag and assumes the belaying position with the rope around the back and the throwing hand downstream. Before throwing get the swimmers attention by yelling “ROPE”. The throw can be underhand, overhand or side arm depending on the conditions. The throw should be when the swimmer is in front, and should slightly lead the swimmer so they float into it.

The swimmer will position the rope on the shoulder opposite the side that they are getting belayed into. Never wrap your hands around the rope. The swimmer also needs to be careful not to get wrapped up in the rope.

Once the swimmer is on the rope, the thrower needs to assume a stable position so they don’t get pulled down or into the water. In a static belay, the thrower stays in one place. For extra leverage, the thrower can sit down, or have other paddler hold on to their PFD from the back. In a dynamic bely, the thrower moves downstream to reduce the stress on the thrower and the swimmer until they reach easier water.

Attaching lines to the boat

The other principal use of the throw bag is pulling a boat out of a pin or off an obstruction. Like any other rescue skill, it’s essential that you practiced this before you need it. The easiest pull is a straight pull with a static line. The rope is attached to the boat, and everyone pulls. Often this is sufficient to get the boat free.

If more power is needed, you may need to set up a Z-drag, which provides a 3:1 mechanical advantage compared to a straight pull. To set up a Z-drag you will need a pin kit with throw rope, a prusik, two carabiners, two pulleys and a sling. Here is how to set up the pull.

Step 1: Build an anchor by wrapping the sling around a sturdy tree or rock. Clip a carabiner and pulley through the sling.

Straight line with a static pull

Step 2: Secure the bag end of your rope to the boat. Run the tail end through the anchor pulley.

Step 3: Wrap the prusik loop as far back down the rope toward the load as possible. Clip the second carabiner and pulley through the prusik.

Step 4: Run the tail end of the rope through the prusik pulley and back toward the anchor. Pull on the tail end of the rope in the same direction as the main line is pulling on the boat.

Links:
Choosing a throw bag
Setting up a Z-drag

Remembering the Family Farm - February 11, 2025

My father and grandparents in front
of the house in the 1930's

Today was bittersweet. We sold the family farm. My grandfather purchased the property in 1923 to start a chicken farm. At the time he was working as a supervisor in a factory somewhere in Providence. He made good money, but he really wanted to be a farmer.

Originally, the property was more than 40-acres running west along Winthrop Street/Route 44 past the plaza that is now Rehoboth House of Pizza, then south down Fuller's Brook to the Palmer River, then east along the Palmer River to Wilmarth Bridge Road, and then north up Wilmarth Bridge Road back to Route 44.

Family party in the living room
in the 1940's

Over the years most of the property got sold off. The house next to Rehoboth House of Pizza was originally Aunt Helen’s (Memi’s sister). Next door was Uncle Al’s house. Trim Street down by the river got sold off long before I was born. When I was growing up, the Beauvais lived next door on the other side of the field.

My grandfather built the family house in 1923. Uncle Al always talked about how much work it was to dig out the cellar by hand. They also built a large hen house (demolished in the 50’s and the lumber used it build the house in Franklin, NH), the barn with the shed in the back (still there) and the brooder coop for raising chicks (demolished in the 2000’s when the lot in the field was sold).

With my mother in the
driveway in 1962

The house got renovated in the 40’s to turn the front porch into a bedroom, extend the living room and add the columns and portico to the front door. My parents bought the property in 1958 when my grandparents moved to NH. They sold the Machado’s lot and used the money to remodel the kitchen in the early 60’s.

My father spent pretty much his whole life in this house except for a couple of years as newlyweds when my parents lived in the village, and the year that my father took a job in NH and the house got rented to Auntie Jane.

Holding Lady in 1967

When we came back from NH we got involved in 4-H and raised cows, pigs and sheep. My brother never lost the farming bug – just like my grandfather. The house was the gathering place for family parties like birthdays, holidays and summer cookouts.

With my mother’s passing, I haven’t paddled much for the past couple of months. Cleaning out the house to prepare it for sale was a huge task. What do you do with a 100-years’ worth of memories. It broke my heart to clean it all out.

One of many summer cook-outs

One thing that we did find were lots of pictures – like Memi’s album from the 1930’s when my father was small, my mother’s album from the 1950’s when they were first married, and lots of pictures of the cows and all those family gatherings. It's been fun to go through and organize them.

Today, we sold the final piece of the family farm (lot 1). Hopefully the new owners will cherish it as much as we did. The old saying is true – you don’t realize how important something is until you have to part with it.

Links:
My Pictures
Listing on Zillow

Androscoggin Weekend with my Father in 1995

With Dad at the Pontook put-in

I’ve been going through old pictures after cleaning out my parent’s house, and I found these from one of the early whitewater trips that I did with my father back in 1995. 

We did several Boston AMC trips on the Androscoggin in the early 1990’s. The trips were always on the 4th of July weekend. We would go up on Friday, do the Errol Rips and the 13-Mile Woods on Saturday and a couple of runs below the Pontook Dam on Sunday before heading home. By this time, my wife was home with 3 kids (5, 2 and 3 months), so this may have been my last trip. Thank you Maris Noble for sending my father these pictures.

Running the Errol Rips below the bridge

Links:

Maris' Pictures

Manville to Albion - January 19, 2025

It’s been a slow start to the paddling year for me. I got out for a couple of trips in December, but I also spent a lot of time with my mother getting ready for Christmas. Unfortunately, she fell in her house the weekend before Christmas, was admitted to the hospital, and passed away on Christmas night. Not the holiday we were hoping for. 

Since then, I have been busy with the final arrangements, cleaning out the family house and settling the estate. There is a lot to do, and it hasn’t left much time for paddling.

I was a presenter at the Introduction to Canoe Camping session put on by the NH/AMC yesterday. Working on my presentation was a nice distraction from everything else that was going on. The turn-out for the session was great, and it was fun to catch up with so many old friends and to meet so many new ones. It would be a great thing for RICKA to do and I think we would get a good turn out as well.

Talking about paddling is one thing, but I still wanted to get out to do some paddling, so today seemed like the day. With a snow storm predicted for tonight, it was cloudy and gray, but the temperatures were up in the 40’s. My first thought was to head to River Island Park, but the river was low. Instead, I decided to paddle below the Manville Dam.

I put in at Sycamore Landing, which is the headquarters for the Blackstone River Watershed Association/Friends of the Blackstone. Rather than paddling up to the Manville Dam, I decided to paddle down to the Albion Dam. My very first paddling trip was on this section of the river with my father back in 1989. This was also the first trip that I did after my father passed away in 2020. That day was cold and gray as well. Now, I miss them both…

Mom, Dad and Julie paddling on the Blackstone Canal in
Lonsdale at the first trip that I led for RICKA in 2006

Links:

My Pictures

Introduction to Canoe Camping – January 18, 2025

I was glad to be one of the presenters at the NH/AMC’s Introduction to Canoe Camping. The session was focused on paddlers interested in moving into wilderness tripping. Presentations included Trip Planning and Organization (Jonathan), Necessary Skills (Bob), Boats and Paddling Gear (me), Camping Gear (Deb), and Food and Cooking. In addition, several presenters did presentations on their favorite trips (I did the Connecticut River), and there was a Show and Tell table where folks could see and ask questions about gear. It was a great session, and very well received.

Introducing my favorite trip video on the Connecticut River

Links:

My Pictures

2024 Year End Review

Stokers on the Scantic

The year started with a strokes practice at the Manville Dam, and ended with a year-end camping trip at the Burlingame Canoe Campsites. In between, it was another great year for paddling.

My whitewater season started in January, and I got out on some old favorites and some new runs including the Salmon River (1) (2), Sugar/Croyden Brook, Scantic, White, Pemi – Woodstock, Deerfield - Fife Brook, Farmington – Tville (1) (2) (3), the West and the Pcat. Unfortunately, I missed a lot of trips in April dues to family obligations.

Point Judith Pond

I did a lot more paddling in my sea kayak this year including Providence, Fort Wetherill, Point Judith Pond, Slocum’s River, Bristol Ferry and Wallum Lake. I also got out for three great training sessions with the RICKA Sea Kayak group including Rocks and Rescues at Fort Wetherill, Level 3 Step-up at the URI Bay Campus and Incident Management at Fort Wetherill.

I went to Blackstone Valley Paddle Club trips at Pawtuxet - Hope and the Blackstone - Manville Dam. I led flatwater trips at Pawcatuck – Bradford to Potter Hill, Providence and Point Judith Pond. 

RICKA Picnic in Wickford

I did 54 trips including 19 flatwater, 15 whitewater, 18 sea kayak and 2 camping, which equals my 10-year average of 54 trips. I had four swims - Salmon, Scantic, Pawcatuck and the West. Bill and I received the Rubber Ducky Award for our swim at the Bradford Fish Weirs (see 0:20) on the Pawcatuck.

Here are some of my more significant trips:

• January - Blackstone Manville Dam, Salmon River (1) (2)
• February - Hunt River, Blackstone - Plummers Landing, Blackstone - Martin Street Bridge
• March - Quinebaug – Danielson to Plainville, Sugar/Croyden Brook, Really Upper Millers, Scantic
• April - White
• May - Blackstone - River Bend Farm, Pemi – Woodstock, Pawtuxet - Hope, Quinebaug – Danielson to Plainville
• June - Blackstone - River Island Park, Blackstone - Manville Dam (1) (2), Deerfield - Fife Brook, 
• Farmington – Tville, Blackstone – Central Falls Landing, Pawcatuck – Bradford to Potter Hill
• July - Providence, Meeting on the Water - Fort Wetherill, Point Judith Pond Rocks and Rescues – Fort Wetherill
• August - Level 3 Step-up - URI Bay Campus, Slocum’s River, Bristol Ferry, Rocks and Rescues – Fort Wetherill
• September - Pawcatuck - Potter Hill to Westerly, Lincoln Woods, Nashua – Peperrell to Nashua, Incident Management – Fort Wetherill, West River, Wickford Harbor
• October - Blackstone Gorge
• November - Pcat Drawdown, Wallum Lake, River Bend Farm, Tville
• December - Nashua - Leominster to Lancaster, Year-End Camping at Burlingame

Here is the video of some of my favorite trips of 2024.

 

I paddled almost every day of my summer vacation on Great Island including the RICKA Meeting on the Water and Point Judith Pond.

 

Hiking at Gardner Hill

I didn’t do much hiking this year – just one trip at Gardner Hill with Papa Joe. I also wasn't able to get out for any big camping trips this year. I did get out for a Bastille Day overnight and a Year-End overnight on the Pawcatuck. 

In terms of resolutions for 2024, I did OK on some, but not on others. I did get out in my sea kayak in rough water conditions, and I did quite a bit of whitewater paddling. Unfortunately, I didn’t do much camping, I didn’t get back to the Dead, and I didn’t practice rolling.

Bastille Day Camping

In terms of resolutions for 2025, they are just like 2024.

• Keep practicing with my new sea kayak – I need to get out on more level 3 trips.
• Do more camping – I’d like to get back to the Allagash, or maybe the St. Croix or the Bonaventure, or the Maine Island Trail in my kayak.
• Keep paddling whitewater - as long as my knee holds up.
• Get back to the Dead – always a great trip.
• Practice rolling – I’ll keep including it until I do it – maybe in the sea kayak.

There are still plenty of rivers to paddle, plenty of trails to hike, and plenty of places to go camping in 2025 - looking forward to it. Happy New Year everyone.

Paddle Map for 2024

Here is my year-end paddle map for 2024 - yellow is sea kayak (18), light blue is flatwater 19), dark blue is whitewater (15), red is hiking (1) and green is camping (2).  

I didn’t make it to ME this year. I did a few whitewater trips in NH and VT, but most of my paddling was local in RI, CT and MA.