Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

What To Do With a Wood Boat In Jackson?

Unfortunately, my wife and I have to take a month off of work to live and play in Driggs, ID from mid-July to mid-August. It's a real shame.  

Since we are from Denver, we don't know the area very well and I was thinking ya'll might have some suggestions for what to do with my newly completed boat while we are there.  I'm looking for suggestions for good float trips for sightseeing, good float trips for fishing, good float trips for practicing my oarsmanship in some whitewater (I've only floated the tame North Platte in Casper) and good overnight camping/float trips. I've done a bunch of research online, so I know about most of the usual spots, but some first-hand knowledge would be very helpful. Anything within two or three hours is fair game.  Also, we will probably only have one car, so if people know good shuttle services, be sure to include them.  Thanks for the help everyone!

In the meantime, here are a few pics of the finished project:



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Permalink Reply by mark hilbert on August 3, 2010 at 5:28am
Well she finally earned her name "Cat-O-Nine-Tails, and now has one tale to tell. Glad to hear everyone is ok and she lives to float another day, lesson learned. Enjoy the rest of your time up in God's Country, hope you stick a couple big trout while your up there.
Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on August 3, 2010 at 12:18pm
Brant,

Sorry to hear about your accident. Several driftboats suffer the same fate every year here in Jackson Hole. The story is always the same, "my friend, wife, brother,etc. was at the oars". Most of these accidents are avoidable with a little more understanding of the nature of running a boat, especially one that is heavily loaded as was yours. We help boaters all the time and safety is our main concern.

I live over the hill in Wilson and would love to see your boat. We can help you. Stop by some time with some cold PBR's and we can get talk about it.

Cheers,

AJ
Permalink Reply by twoblacklabs on August 3, 2010 at 6:26pm
Take him up on the offer. Good ties and times can be made like that.

As a long time hard boater and paramedic, I cringed when reading your story. All too common. Especially the "had pdf's but were not worn" stories. Truthfully, you will be hard pressed to find drift boats with people wearing the pdf's but it only takes a couple of seconds.

Long time mentor, Charlie Walbridge of American Whitewater maintains an ongoing database of moving water accidents. There are ALWAYS accounts of pdf's not being worn by private boaters. Granted this organization is primarily whitewater based, it includes accounts of every near and fatal drowning out on the wires.

Call Moosely Seconds in Moose WY. If still in business, they will have dry bags a little cheaper than any of the boating stores in Jackson. Most of my camping gear was purchased there and I still have it.
Permalink Reply by Brant Jaouen on August 3, 2010 at 7:01pm
Yes, I was reluctant to post my account because I knew it would invite a rash of posts about PFDs and inexperienced boaters on various rivers around here. Let's not turn this into a PFD debate, since I have clearly learned some important lessons and I'm sure most everyone on this board understands the risks or has had similar experiences. The reason I included it in my post was to give future readers a sense for the challenges of the South Fork and to give you guys an update on my summer. I've run into a litany of guides in the last week that have similar stories to mine, so I'm glad I'm not the only one that's had this kind of experience. We learned a lot and I'm hopeful that it won't happen again.

AJ, I'll come by next time I'm on your side of the pass. The boat isn't quite as cool as it once was, but I'm sure you'll find it interesting nonetheless. How much wisdom would a case of PBR buy?

Brant
Permalink Reply by Jesse Ronnow on August 5, 2010 at 6:57pm
Brant,

I am glad to hear you are alive and kicking, and still on the water. I am also glad to hear the account of running past the accident spot and learning for the whole ordeal. I have posted many times in discussions on this site about that river and that it is like a moving pond, which is true with respect to rapids... there are really on three sets to speak of (from the dam to Byington) and they are pretty tame. However there are some very tricky hydraulics and deceptive currents. I have found that the most important skill for reading that river is the ability to read water moving left to right, right to left and into or out of the banks. Because of the prevalence of the types of over hanging trees that you experienced, the current into and out of the banks can be exceptionally deceptive. The ability to quickly and accurately read these currents is of the utmost importance. Learn that lesson well.

Oh, make sure you take up AJ on his offer, you will not find anyone with more working knowledge of boat restoration and "fix-up" than AJ and the guys that work for him. Plus I am sure he has a wonderful shop with all kinds of great tool.

Tight lines,

Jesse
Permalink Reply by twoblacklabs on August 5, 2010 at 10:40pm
No debate. Just info. Don't take the wrong way. Not intended as inflammatory or insulting. Glad you are okay.

Now, please post some pictures of your adventures so those of us stuck in the Midwest can enjoy it also! :)
Permalink Reply by Brant Jaouen on August 8, 2010 at 5:43am
Pacific Creek to Deadman's Bar on the Snake in Teton National Park:

This is the girl who sunk my boat. Note the rope seat in the back. If anybody sees that floating in the South Fork, drop me a line. I liked it.


Here are a few from the South Fork (I'm going to get a shot of the tree that sunk us this week):


Permalink Reply by twoblacklabs on August 11, 2010 at 3:35pm
Very nice shots.
Permalink Reply by Brant Jaouen on July 25, 2011 at 7:07pm
Does anyone have any insights into how the Pacific Creek to Deadman's Bar section is floating this year (2011)?  I've heard that the high water has made this section more treacherous than last year.  I floated this section five or six times last summer without incident, but I want to make sure it isn't crazy to try it this week.  Specifically, we were pondering a family trip with two drift boats and three kids under 10. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Permalink Reply by Kevin C. on July 26, 2011 at 12:50pm
I would reccomend that you run this stretch  first before running it with a bunch of others and kids with a buddy or hang out at pac. cr. to talk to some guides that have been running it...lots of water this year and lots of change.All the upper park stretches are runable by an experienced oarsman but when you start fishing and paying attention to the fish lips instead of the oncoming obstacles things start to get a bit more interesting...I may run that this wed. (tomorrow) so I'll let you  know...
Permalink Reply by Kevin C. on July 26, 2011 at 8:20pm
Brant,just ran the pac.cr. to deadmans this afternoon and it was all very straight forward with no suprises if you stay in the main channel.water is clear from the launch for about 1/2 mile then it's all cloudy...have fun and beware the novice rower...
Permalink Reply by Brant Jaouen on July 26, 2011 at 8:25pm
Thanks Kevin.  We ended up running it as well with no problems.

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