It was a two-boat day – June 10, 2013

Pulling Chuck's boat free

The Paddle Across Rhode Island ended badly for everyone, but especially for Chuck whose boat got pinned below the Atlas Pallet Rapid.  With nothing to do but go back to work, I jumped at the opportunity to help Chuck get his boat unpinned on Monday morning. 

We met at 10:00 at the Burrillville Middle School and hiked up the trail to the Atlas Pallet Rapid.  Jim paddled his boat up, and was able to climb up on the pile of debris that Chuck’s boat was pinned against.  I threw him a rope, he tied it onto the boat, and we started to pull.  Within minutes we pulled the boat free.  All boats should come free that easy.

The second boat is unpinned

With the river at great level and Chuck's boat free, Paul and I decided to do run down the Branch River.  We put in at the new boat launch below the Stillwater Mill.  The river was at a nice level – around 4 feet, 600 cfs.

Just below the Oakland Dam we found another pinned canoe that we were able to release. A cell phone in an otter box attached to the thwart still worked, so Paul was able to track down the owners. It seems they put in just above the Oakland Dam and promptly swamped in the flooded river. The canoe went over the dam and got pinned against the trees where we found it – along with two life jackets. Fortunately, the owners were able to get to shore safely.

Glendale rapid was fun – ran it just left of center.  Atlas Pallet was nice as well – ran it nice down the middle.  Good time.  

Surfing at Atlas Pallet

Links:
Freeing Chuck's Boat
Running the Branch
Branch River Gage