Al Pacino's voice from the film, "Any Given Sunday" was in my head this Sunday while underwater telling me we win by inches! Dove the Delaware River today at the Water Gap. River stage is 7.96 ft meaning:
6-8 feet: High. Not suited to open canoes. Waves up to 6 feet. Hydraulics (undercurrents) noticeable. Very swift river current, 3 mph. Higher skill level recommended for canoes/kayaks; rafts recommended for for less experienced paddlers. It is required that all boaters wear a PFD at all times when on the river.
> 8 feet. Very high +. Not recommended for recreational boating. Properly equipped rafts or closed boats only. Extreme danger, highest skill level necessary.
Water temp was 51 F. Visibility was 2 - 3 feet in FAST water. It took me 50 minutes to swim ... er ... move forward 100 yards by pulling along the bottom. Suitable hand holds were few and far between. I surfaced along the bank at the 50 minute mark to find I had traveled from the boat launch to the area Kittatiny Canoes uses to launch/recover canoes and kayaks. It took just a couple minutes to drift back to my starting point. Lost a double ender bolt snap while banging my float/flag spool off the bottom. I left it in place as a little handle for my dry gloves, but using my fingers to cling to whatever might keep me from being blown down river found it unclipping itself somewhere. Saw a nice catfish. A fisherman was cutting heads off fish somewhere upriver. Never had large fish heads roll past me before. Kind of weird. Took all my skill to create an enjoyable dive. At one point, I found myself in nothing but sand and rolling rocks losing ground as if I were a cat being moved along a tile floor toward a bath tub. Comical. Used the dive to treasure hunt. Didn't find anything except the Fountain of Middle Age through exercise.
6-8 feet: High. Not suited to open canoes. Waves up to 6 feet. Hydraulics (undercurrents) noticeable. Very swift river current, 3 mph. Higher skill level recommended for canoes/kayaks; rafts recommended for for less experienced paddlers. It is required that all boaters wear a PFD at all times when on the river.
> 8 feet. Very high +. Not recommended for recreational boating. Properly equipped rafts or closed boats only. Extreme danger, highest skill level necessary.
Water temp was 51 F. Visibility was 2 - 3 feet in FAST water. It took me 50 minutes to swim ... er ... move forward 100 yards by pulling along the bottom. Suitable hand holds were few and far between. I surfaced along the bank at the 50 minute mark to find I had traveled from the boat launch to the area Kittatiny Canoes uses to launch/recover canoes and kayaks. It took just a couple minutes to drift back to my starting point. Lost a double ender bolt snap while banging my float/flag spool off the bottom. I left it in place as a little handle for my dry gloves, but using my fingers to cling to whatever might keep me from being blown down river found it unclipping itself somewhere. Saw a nice catfish. A fisherman was cutting heads off fish somewhere upriver. Never had large fish heads roll past me before. Kind of weird. Took all my skill to create an enjoyable dive. At one point, I found myself in nothing but sand and rolling rocks losing ground as if I were a cat being moved along a tile floor toward a bath tub. Comical. Used the dive to treasure hunt. Didn't find anything except the Fountain of Middle Age through exercise.
