MBNA donation helps Scouts fund rafting adventures

 

A scout group in Wrexham is enjoying life in the water after Chester-based MBNA supplied them with £1,000 towards new rafting and water-sport equipment.  Bishop’s Own Scout Group received a grant from the MBNA Foundation – the lender’s charitable giving arm – and used the money to purchase rafting barrels, water-sport helmets, paddles, life jackets and throw lines.  Louise Davies from MBNA’s Fraud department applied for the donation on behalf of the Scout Group, as part of a £90,000 investment into community projects from the MBNA Foundation in 2013/14.  She said: “My two boys are members of the Beaver and Cub sections at Bishop’s Own, and it’s great to be able to give something back through a grant that will really make a difference to all of the members.“  Adrian Bryan, Scout Leader at Bishop’s Own Scout Group, added: "On behalf of all the Scouts I’d like to ...more

Huge Whitewater Rafting on the Ottawa River

 

“The water is huge right now” our whitewater rafting guide KT said with a giddy smile. “I love hitting it big, so we’re going to try to catch every big rapid we can.”

 The Ottawa River is world renowned for it’s big white water. Guides from all four corners of the earth come to play in its rapids. It seems that wherever we’ve been in the world, one guide or another has been on the Ottawa River. For the next two days, we’ll be conquering rapids with OWL Rafting and we’re not afraid to admit, we’re a bit nervous!

Staying at Owl Rafting in one of their chalets was an excellent way to relax and unwind before hitting the waves. With Muskoka Chairs lined up on the lawn over looking the calm portion of the ...more

2014 Sourdough Raft Race

 

 The Dutch Rudder team use humour and a water sprayer in their quest to win the 55th annual Sourdough Raft Race along the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, Alta., on Sunday, July 13, 2014. The race runs...more

2014 Season starts with good weather and high flows

2014 look like a great one for River Rafting on the Androscoggin River.  Although the weather has been generally great it has been punctuated by very heavy thunderstorm over the 1046 square mile watershed which keeps the storage lakes near brimming. Since regulation keep Umbagog Lake levels at one height during Loon nesting season a lot of water is spilled into ...more

Firefighters respond to rafting incident

Bend firefighters were called to the Colorado Avenue dam on the Deschutes River on Saturday afternoon, after someone reported that a person on a raft washed over the dam. When the crew arrived, they saw that bystanders had helped the rafter ashore but two good Samaritans were still in the river. The Fire Department used a “ladder rescue technique that we have used and trained on several times” to rescue the two individuals from the river, according to a department press release.

The rafter sustained minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital. The Fire ...more

Eagle River Rafters Face Rough Waters, Rescued With No Injuries

 

Just after 4:30 p.m., emergency dispatchers sent out an alert for a water rescue near the Eagle River campgrounds. A swiftwater rescue team was deployed to the area, where a group of rafters were found trapped in their raft on the water, and another rafter trapped in a log jam nearby. Anchorage fire crews were also on hand at the scene.
After nearly 30 minutes, the man was freed from the log jam, and ...more

Deschutes River rafting: Boxcar or Oak Springs, which rapids is best?

 

 

Is it Boxcar, or is it Oak Springs?

In the 10-mile "splash and giggle" section of the Deschutes River, those rapids are the two biggies. Because of them, mostly, thousands of summer vacationers flock to the Deschutes River to join guided paddle raft outings.
They were there on Friday, by the hundreds. They will be there again most every day for the next six weeks, prime season for rafting the ...more