Sunk drift boat in Oregon

I live in mill city. They must not have been through there before. They are about 30 feet left of the only chute to use. They are very lucky for the low water which trapped the boat. People have died where they are. in higher water they couldn't have stopped. Their boat is still there.
 
I have driven that section on the highway many times and wouldn't attempt that stretch in a drift boat.
 
iggie said:
I live in mill city. They must not have been through there before. They are about 30 feet left of the only chute to use. They are very lucky for the low water which trapped the boat. People have died where they are. in higher water they couldn't have stopped. Their boat is still there.
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Looking at Google earth, is that right above 1st ave bridge?

If so, it looks like there isn't much leeway on the right either!
 
Paige said:
Looking at Google earth, is that right above 1st ave bridge?

If so, it looks like there isn't much leeway on the right either!
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Yes, that is First St Bridge. The angle in the picture makes it look narrower than it is. Even the runnable chute is just wide enough.
Evan B said:
I have driven that section on the highway many times and wouldn't attempt that stretch in a drift boat.
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That drift can be very intimidating. Spencer's Hole Still gives me butterflies even after 29 years here.
 
It's class 3 whitewater in that area. Iggie is correct about 30 feet left. People used to leave ribon on the bridge as a visual to help get in the right spot to run the falls. They are not the first to get in trouble there. Glad to hear they are ok. Thing can get out of hand very fast in moving water if you don't know what you're doing. Heck, even if you do know what you're doing mistakes can be deadly. Something to keep in mind. As fisherman (and women) we should know about river safety if we fish moving water.
 
fatbillybob said:
Is a raft inherently safer than a drift boat in situations like that?
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fatbillybob said:
100 percent. I've been rowing a drift boat for over 40 years, and there are times I just would rather be in a raft. Way less stressful. When I was younger, I did some stupid shit in a drift boat and got away with it. My 60 year old self has the ability to do the same, but I just don't like the stress. It's relatively easy to right a flipped raft. A flipped drift boat is going to the bottom.
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They removed the drift boat from the rocks yesterday. After several attempts this last month, they hired a crane to pull it out.
Glad I'm not footing that bill. The boat looked surprisingly damaged only a little.
 
We were on the Bear Ck section of the SolDuc last year. In one place the obvious main flow goes left with an inconspicuous trickle goes right. Well the trickle is the way to go otherwise it’s a nasty drop with no runnable line. Someone didn’t know that apparently. We saw the boat sometime later. It would have been a mess getting to shore. Boats gone now and I strongly suspect it’s just down stream debris.

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LBL said:
We were on the Bear Ck section of the SolDuc last year. In one place the obvious main flow goes left with an inconspicuous trickle goes right. Well the trickle is the way to go otherwise it’s a nasty drop with no runnable line. Someone didn’t know that apparently. We saw the boat sometime later. It would have been a mess getting to shore. Boats gone now and I strongly suspect it’s just down stream debris.

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I met three guys just below the Maxfield launch that somehow made it through that in a drift boat. They all looked like they’d shit their waders. One guy in particular was really pissed at the rower for taking a left.
I remember the first time floating that section with a friend. As we got through and the channels came back together, he told me to look back upstream. It was pretty obvious why we went right.
SF
 
Yeah that right channel gets skinny at times too. Been down it when there was branches and tree parts down with wood all through it and was tough for me to even get a good oar stroke. That left side gets a boat or two every year, gotta know the path down on that run, otherwise it's a bad day in most cases.
 
Mossback said:
Yeah that right channel gets skinny at times too. Been down it when there was branches and tree parts down with wood all through it and was tough for me to even get a good oar stroke. That left side gets a boat or two every year, gotta know the path down on that run, otherwise it's a bad day in most cases.
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In high water there will be some lines but lower flows no. The right line is getting more and more filled in. It’s usually a boat drag now. Last time I went down we had to drag kayaks, just no water. Still better than left.
 
was introduced to the NS by Rich Younger on a day off from his fly shop when we lived in West Salem, and would occasionally row my wife or a friend, putting the Clack in at the State Park launch downstream of the accident. Caught some nice bows as well as a few steelhead down lower, wasn't unusual to be the only DB on what really is a fine river.
 
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