# Grand Canyon..14' raft? Comments!



## mania (Oct 21, 2003)

I took a 14 with no problems whatsoever. Flow was between 9000 and 17000. I think I had a cooler, two plastic dryboxes, firepan, and one passenger for the first half and no passengers for the second half. I sat pretty much dead center and balanced the gear out around me.


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## sofia (Mar 17, 2008)

we took a 14' hyside down the GC a few years ago on a private trip. i think the high / lows were 16,000 to 8,000 and it was no problem at all. i rowed every raft on our trip...14', 16' and 18' and i prefered the 14'. the thing is you can miss most of the holes you hear about in the 14'....with a fully loaded 18' rig you just square it up and run it. don't worry about it...either way your going to have a blast! 

one bit of advice is to evenly load your raft front to back...maybe a little bit more weight in front for punching power for your big water days!

have fun!


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## boaterbri (Apr 20, 2007)

thats what i was wanting to hear. i thought sneaking the big hole would be easier with a smaller rig. thanks for the info.


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

Brian, 

You can borrow the mini-me if you want...

When is your trip?


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## Leland (Jan 25, 2004)

boaterbri said:


> So, i just got invited on a private grand trip and am planning on rowing my 14' raft through. i am quite nervous of the shortness of my rigg, i'd much rather take an 18 footer but can't afford to rent one. i have rowed big water, am an experinced boater, but never been in water this big! and everyone else i see is on at least a 16'. so i thought i'd ask for some opinions from people on this matter. what is peoples experience with sizes of rafts


I had almost no rowing experience before I took my 14' Otter down the Grand. We had 5K-10K flows, and I was super loaded down. I had no problems.

You'll have fun out there in it!

Leland


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## boaterbri (Apr 20, 2007)

thanks randaddy, that would be interesting. i have an extra thwart, i guess i could just sit my fat ass on it and hope for the best. or a paco, check out the vid below. Ha Ha... the trip is Aug 26th. there are some peps still on the fence. if anyone drops out i'll let you know. looks like i'm going to miss that Cat trip now. i can't really afford this one, but no way am i passing it up. thats what credit is for, right!!

YouTube - Lava on a paco


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

Have a blast! You'll be fine. Like others say, on some rapids you might want to look for the sneak routes, and with a smaller more maneuverable boat you'll have an easier time avoiding the "bus eating holes". 

We had a 14' boat on my recent trip, and they were fine. Actually, many passengers preferred riding on that boat because it was such a fun ride.

If you flip, the river shall have her way. Just dress properly for a swim in the big rapids, that water temp is the most dangerous.


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## raft3plus (Apr 24, 2004)

*You'll have more fun than anyone else!!*

Load yourself with gear to a weight that you feel comfortable with and square up with the biggest friggin' waves. Stick your oars in low as you can as you crest the bigguns and you'll do EXCELLENT! Run in the middle of the pack so you can get your yardsale cleaned up in case there is one. Chances are, after the third rapid you'll have it dialed.

Don't let the length of the rapids mess with you. Always scout multiple lines in the decision tree. This way when things don't work out, you still have the know-how to make it through regardless of change.

So you know, no one that I know can realistically afford a month off without pay and just fuck off on the river, however, the GC is always worth more than the actual costs and opportunity cost (money foregone by not working).

Miss Ranko lots, so FUCK Hance and run that bitchass left!! (I ran it on the right after him to clear out the damn voodoo) Much river love to all,

d


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## GreenTV (Mar 4, 2008)

what happening brian ... great question ... in fact, the same question was floating in my mind and Libby's ... is the 14 a bit small ... but based on the above we are going to have an amazing time on the grand ... can you believe we are going to run the grand!!!!! ... this is going to be amazing ... Libby and I still aren't really feeling the ground since we got the news ... it's hard to focus on anything but the adventure that lies in our very near future ... looking forward to meeting you in three weeks at the put in !!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## FLOWTORCH (Mar 5, 2004)

DirkaDirkaDirka, hey man sorry bout not callin you back about Gore, just got sidetracked. Good advice about the Grand, even though the old men in our group said they wanted 18's...i think they secretly loved the 14ft'ers with their skillz. 

If a spot comes up on next years GC roster you'll be the first in line buddy. Even if you cant afford it...who can, right? I know you and honeybear will be there.


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## boaterbri (Apr 20, 2007)

greeting, likewise we are looking forward to meeting you too. we had a great meeting last night, hashed out the menu details. in between fits of excitement and screaming do to the fact that WE ARE GOING TO RUN THE GRAND!!! its going to be great we should have the last few confirmed tonight, right now its only 4 boats, 1 yak. with a good poosiblity for 2 more boats. talk soon. B





GreenTV said:


> what happening brian ... great question ... in fact, the same question was floating in my mind and Libby's ... is the 14 a bit small ... but based on the above we are going to have an amazing time on the grand ... can you believe we are going to run the grand!!!!! ... this is going to be amazing ... Libby and I still aren't really feeling the ground since we got the news ... it's hard to focus on anything but the adventure that lies in our very near future ... looking forward to meeting you in three weeks at the put in !!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Aquaholict (Mar 3, 2008)

I took a 14 down twice, and could move across faster and easier than all the big boys, not to mention more fun. My hands down coice for a solo grand boat. However with a rider it is a little tite, not a problem if it's a lover. Remember, if not for the curage of the fearless crew, the minnow would be lost.


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## wayniac (Mar 31, 2007)

boaterbri said:


> So, i just got invited on a private grand trip and am planning on rowing my 14' raft through. i am quite nervous of the shortness of my rigg, i'd much rather take an 18 footer but can't afford to rent one. i have rowed big water, am an experinced boater, but never been in water this big! and everyone else i see is on at least a 16'. so i thought i'd ask for some opinions from people on this matter. what is peoples experience with sizes of rafts


 I've replied before on this one- I had a friend solo(!) the Grand in his 14'er. If you bring a 16'er and load it wrong you will still flip. You may still flip anyway- but that's for another post. Now this wasn't an ordinary boater- I think this was his 14th trip- but then again, not much room for error running alone...........
good luck
boat safe
wayne


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## David L (Feb 13, 2004)

boaterbri said:


> So, i just got invited on a private grand trip and am planning on rowing my 14' raft through. i am quite nervous of the shortness of my rigg, i'd much rather take an 18 footer but can't afford to rent one. i have rowed big water, am an experinced boater, but never been in water this big! and everyone else i see is on at least a 16'. so i thought i'd ask for some opinions from people on this matter. what is peoples experience with sizes of rafts


I've rowed a 14 and a 13-1/2 footer 10 times through GC and wouldn't have had it any other way. Great fun! You'll maneuver it anywhere you want to, can still run through big stuff, and will "feel" the water much more than a bigger boat. It's the Porsche of the water.


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## whip (Oct 23, 2003)

*Been down three times in my 14' Hyside SB*

On my first trip Al said to me," I didn't drive all the way down here to row around these rapids!" 

I run a slightly softer raft cause it cuts down on flips.

Remember all the rapids are class II's some of em are just bigger than others!

Sooo...I wouldn't worry about it.


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## wayniac (Mar 31, 2007)

boaterbri said:


> So, i just got invited on a private grand trip and am planning on rowing my 14' raft through. i am quite nervous of the shortness of my rigg, i'd much rather take an 18 footer but can't afford to rent one. i have rowed big water, am an experinced boater, but never been in water this big! and everyone else i see is on at least a 16'. so i thought i'd ask for some opinions from people on this matter. what is peoples experience with sizes of rafts


Forgot to add this. I have friends going in October. One boater who doesn't have to carry the gear is running it in an 11'6" hard cat (plastic) boat. He's already done the MiddleFork at 8+' in it. I told him this would be a cakewalk. He may still flip- but it will still be a cakewalk compared to that trip. Everything is relative.
The 14' will be a blast. I'm always a little annoyed at boaters who always feel they 'neede something bigger'. Usually only applies to one or two things in life anyway.
wayne


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## mitgreer (Oct 22, 2003)

boaterbri said:


> greeting, likewise we are looking forward to meeting you too. we had a great meeting last night, hashed out the menu details. in between fits of excitement and screaming do to the fact that WE ARE GOING TO RUN THE GRAND!!! its going to be great we should have the last few confirmed tonight, right now its only 4 boats, 1 yak. with a good poosiblity for 2 more boats. talk soon. B


Hey Brian

I just talked to Kelly and signed up for my first Grand trip. Super excited. See you in the next couple of days.

tim


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## tboe101 (May 10, 2005)

There were several 14 foot boats on my last Grand trip. There were low flows and high carnage. I've never seen more swims or flips ever--it was great! This was partially due to not having enough weight in the front of the boats and people taking sporty lines. I would take a 14 foot boat on the Grand. I would just make sure my guitar was on someone else's 16 or 18 foot boat.


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## original durangotang (Jul 11, 2008)

I went down the Grand Canyon with Talking Ted from Telinqua Texas in 1983.

The river was running between 35-45,000 cfs and Ted had a 12 foot boat. He did fine, no flips no nothing. Even ran right at Lava.

Most of the rapids in the Grand Canyon are straight forward. If you set up in the right spot, keep the boat straight with good momentum you should be fine.

On the other hand my next trip, at 25,000 cfs, the 14 ft boat flipped 3 times. (Grapevine, Granite, Lava) But they got good at it. When they flipped in Lava they had the boat upright before I could even get to them.

I suspect the bigger problem you will have is that you can't carry as much gear as you should.


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## yukonjack (May 22, 2005)

*14 fOOTER IS GREAT*

I just got off end of june took my 14' for the 2nd time good fun put 60% weight in front 40 back you center back. You'll have no prob.


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

You can also put 60% of your weight in back and row the big stuff stern first. Most people have much stronger pull strokes than push strokes. Momentum is your friend.


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