{"id":15352,"date":"2018-11-07T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=15352"},"modified":"2022-01-06T07:17:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T15:17:27","slug":"tracking-the-outlaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2018\/11\/07\/tracking-the-outlaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking the Outlaw"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scattered foliage of yellow and orange, languishing remnants of a subdued fall radiate from the gray forest like hot embers among old coals. Despite it being a cloudy, mid-November day, my buddy, Rob, and I are sweating as we haul gear and rafts to an access beach for the Chattooga River, located along the northern border of Georgia and South Carolina.<\/p>\n

Rob has been guiding on this river for years, but today he seems a little apprehensive as I help him rig a 12-foot raft with a frame and oars. Since paddle rafting is the preferred style in the southeast, this will be his first time rowing the Chattooga or anything smaller than the Grand Canyon, and he professes a fear of skewering himself with an oar. \u201cI don\u2019t want to become a Shish-Ka-Rob,\u201d he muses, emphasizing the pun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I laugh and give Rob some words of encouragement, though I too have the nervous excitement associated with trying a new boat. As I was leaving my summer job in Oregon last season, I dropped by the NRS headquarters in Idaho to pick up a demo 14-foot Outlaw raft for the winter. The Outlaw series is designed with the private boater in mind. They come in three different sizes: 12, 13, and 14-foot lengths, and cost about half as much as comparable commercial-grade rafts. Since arriving back in the Southeast, I have taken the Outlaw 140<\/a> on a couple of day trips and was impressed with its agility. However, after spending my summer rowing 16-foot gear boats on multiday trips, any empty 14-footer seems sporty. So this weekend will be the first true test for the raft, as I try to row it through technical rapids and steep class IV drops loaded with camping supplies.<\/p>\n

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But despite all the gear, rigging the Outlaw proves no problem due to thwarts that can be removed using the NRS BAT (Batten Attachment Thwart) system. This makes the Outlaw easy to transform from a paddle raft into an oar boat. The system is simple to use as long as you remember to soften the tubes and deflate the thwarts before trying to work the plastic batten in or out of the sleeves.<\/p>\n

Though fall can be a dry time of year for the southeast, the Chattooga received good rain over the summer. Rob and I are looking at a medium-low water level for the weekend, with the river running just over 500 cfs. This is the level when commercial rafting companies start switching to smaller rafts and lighter loads. Although some of the shoals will be a bit of a challenge, I\u2019m not worried about the river being too low. The Outlaw\u2019s 21-inch tubes keep the weight riding high, while giving it the floatation needed to take on much higher volume whitewater than we will see this weekend. And the tough rubber skid plates located on the bottom four corners of the floor provide it with extra protection from rocks.<\/p>\n