Throwing Boats

Oftentimes I wish that all being a river guide involved was just paddling. Unfortunately, we do a lot more work than take a few strokes here and there as a raft floats downriver. One of our responsibilities is throwing boats.

When a trip ends, the boats pull into an area called back beach. Early in the day, the boats are loaded onto the tops of buses to be driven upriver to the put-in and re-used. Later in the day, the boats are deflated and quite literally thrown onto trailers. It takes two people throw the boat, either popping it up or, if it's small enough, swinging it over. Two more people are required to catch the boat and position it atop the stack. The stacks of boats get so big, you have to climb up them in order to continue catching boats.

The work is exhausting, particularly after a full day of rafting, and few people enjoy it. Personally, I can barely do it. I can only lift so many boats so high above my head for so long, though I am a lot stronger than I used to be.

In any case, life in rafting land is not all work and no play. On Friday nights, there's a bluegrass singer at a local bar and raft guides flock there to drink and dance. I was there a few weeks ago, and I danced a few songs with a fellow guide. The songs were long, and the music required a substantial amount of quick-steps and spinning. I'll admit it was tiring. My friend felt the same. When we sat down, he leaned over and said, "Man, that was like throwing boats!"

I suppose I should be offended, but I really think it's a great line.