Re: DCHS 1-25

Yeah Rick, about a 100 feet of rope does make it across, pretty straight from side to side. That makes for 200 feet, 100 on each side of the raft for pulling from either side, then I like to have an extra 50 feet for each side, depending on whats available to tie off to, and when you paddle the raft to the north side of the big pool in the creek, it takes some extra rope to do that. I use lightweight nylon line which is pink and white which they sell at walmart ( about one quarter inch in diameter rope ). Its inexpensive and strong. One of the main things to be careful of when using the River Rat and ropes, is not to yank on the ropes which could tear the raft or the rope grommets.
At times people have tied a straight rope across from side to side, then they try and pull thierselves across on various rafts by holding on to the rope. When they do it this way, when the river is high, they end up fighting the constant current pushing them away from the rope downstream, which causes many of them to tip over. Doing the system the way I mentioned lets you work with the currents and eddies of the big pool in the creek, making the crossing quiet easy.