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Lost Oar Rig San Miguel

154K views 343 replies 107 participants last post by  BastrdSonOfElvis 
#1 ·
14' Sotar SB, yellow, w/ PRO frame lost in wrap incident in Norwood Gorge, off Cascabel Fishing Club (3 miles downstream of Hwy 145 bridge where it crosses from river left to river right). The rig broke free and descended down river at about midnight, Friday, June 10th ---upright or flipped is unknown. It was packed for a three night trip: Engle cooler, aluminum cook box, dry boxes, camp partner stove, loaded front hatch ---the works. It was rigged to flip. The bow chamber had been deflated to facilitate freeing it.

Our first and primary objective is to identifying the location and condition of the rig to prepare for salvage/extraction.

There is one small, unpainted ammo can that was strapped to the running board that contains important personal belongings of one (of the two) of us. To have that extracted and returned would be of great relief.

There were other items that were freed from the boat during self rescue: a blue river bag, day pack, rigging bag, etc. These were left on top of the boulder and washed away during the night.

We will remain in the Telluride/Norwood/Naturita area until midday Monday, June 13th, in an effort to retrieve and salvage the rig, or portions thereof.

I can be reached, via call or text, at 801-673-7230. Any relevant information would be greatly appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
The boat is still missing. Information from various parties suggests the boat probably descended down river from Norwood Canyon. If so, and considering current flows in both the San Miguel and Dolores rivers, the boat could be far down river by now.

We visited both Stateline Rapid and the diversion dam above it. No sign.
A party that ran 11 miles from the "ballpark" near Naturita on Sunday saw nothing.

At least two parties ran down through Norwood Canyon over the weekend, and did not see the boat.

Regulatory agencies have been notified up and down the drainage as far as Lake Powell.
 
#3 ·
We must have been just ahead of you on Friday June 10.
(Green 14' raft, 13' Yellow cat, 14' blue raft, red IK, purple IK.)
We launched from Lower Beaver around 1:00 and ran the 18 miles to Green Truss Bridge in about 2.75 hrs river time on around 1450 cfs.
Swift current the entire way, but no sign of any yellow rafts.

Saturday we did see a trailer with a smaller yellow raft and small 13' yellow cat headed towards Placerville. Our group did Placerville down to Beaver, and Lower Beaver when I botched the planned takeout in a 12' blue Baby-cat. Another group recovered their blue IK from the log jam at the private lawn.

San Miguel was rockin' for sure!
Good luck with finding your rig.
 
#4 ·
Update

It is with heavy heart I report that neither the rig, nor any of the substantial gear associated with it, have surfaced. A bright yellow, fully rigged 14’ raft vanishes without a trace on a little river.

I spoke with the head river ranger for the BLM on Monday afternoon. He had already reached the conclusion I was nearing. The boat is most likely hung up on one of the several man-made obstructions downriver of the Piñon Bridge, and upriver of the town of Naturita. I have focused my efforts on that reach. ---Particularly from the Nucla power plant down. A rancher who has two pallet fences across the river near town has reported back after inspecting them. No boat. The Public Works Director inspected the Naturita diversion dam less than a mile below the plant: nothing. Other parties, including the sheriff’s deputy, have looked around: nothing.

Several parties have run the Norwood Canyon stretch and have reported nothing.

I am currently contacting ranchers and landowners up river of the power plant appealing to them to check the river along their properties.

I have spoken with dozens of people. This thread has had over 800 views. So word is out.

I estimate the flow was near 1500 cfs, and rising, when the boat was lost. Now it is holding around 1000 cfs.

Perhaps the boat fell into the wrong hands and was absconded with. It’s hard for me to even go there. In nearly 40 years of running rivers, I’ve always known river folk to go to great lengths to restore lost gear to rightful owners.

Please keep an eye out. Thank you.
 
#6 ·
We boated Norwood canyon last Sunday. I'd seen your post and had my eye out for gear; the only thing we found was a backpack FULL of books. The books were trashed (a dry-bag can be used as a trash-bag but, a trash-bag can't be used as a dry-bag). If this was part of your wreck, I have some shoes, nalgene, and a backpack that I'll gladly return to you. Sorry to have so little consolation.:(
 
#7 ·
daairguy: Thanks for the sentiments. Its not just the monetary value of the loss, it is the time and care it took to put it all together, as you well know.

rtsideup: That would indeed be part of the wreck. I pulled the day pack off the rig after wrap in order to get to and off-load sleep kit and clothes bag, which I figured we'd need to survive the night. The pack was left on the rock and is presumed to have been washed off the rock by rising water during the night. I don't know why I always drag so many books along (poetry and classics) ---and in a garbage bag to boot! The pack, the shoes, etc., would be great to have back. I do expect to be back in the area soon. Maybe I can pick them up in person. Otherwise, I'll arrange shipment. No hurry. I'll send you a PM with info.

The nalgene bottle is an interesting find. We don't recall any in, or attached to the backpack. There were two floating free in the front bilge at the time of the incident. Perhaps the same current vectors placed them together downstream where you found them.

Thank you for watching out, for retrieving, and for following through.

I hope you had a great trip. We'd really like to have seen the rest of that canyon.

Kind regards.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I spoke with the head BLM river ranger out of Montrose. They ran a patrol last week from the confluence of The San Miguel and The Dolores down to Gateway. They saw nothing. They also did not see or talk to any trips running downriver from there toward Dewey Bridge.
I have not heard of, or from, any boaters in that stretch. One friend was in there last weekend, but took out before the missing rig would likely have shown ---if it went that far.

I would love to hear from someone boating in that area. It is still running near 1500 cfs.
 
#9 ·
I find it hard to believe that the entire rig "sunk". Even if it were hung up on something, it would be unlikely that it would be completely invisible to people on the lookout for it. My money is on someone having found it floating downriver, or hung up in an eddy or whatever, and "salvaged" it. Did you have name and contact info clearly labeled inside the boat? I'd watch CL postings for the next several months.

I guess maybe it's gotten down as far as past Gateway, but the further down you talk about it having gone without any eyes on it, the less likely I imagine it to still be ghost-boating.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I ran the Miguel from Deep Creek to the confluence last year. 89 miles. I would guess you boat is stuck in a low head dam above the power plant. Have you had anyone check that area? No one floats the Naturita section due to the fences the landowners have set. Nasty and dangerous obstacles along the way. When our small group came upon the low head we found a monster log stuck in the hydraulic. Ended up lining the boats through. Good luck!

Just curious...what oars are you running?
 
#12 ·
Greetings Dirty Hands:

I have a list of names and numbers of ranchers and land owners above the power plant. I am in the process of contacting them. What would you guess the water level was when you made your run? Do you remember how far below the bridge, or any other identifying landmarks for that weir?

Having not been sighted at all in over a week suggests one of two likely remaining scenarios:
1) Hung up between Pinon Bridge and Power Plant.
2) Stolen.

The oars are 9' Ash Gulls, with pitex (sp?) wrap under stops. The tips were fiberglassed (old school). I pulled both oars (untethered) up onto the rock during the wrap. I cracked one trying to lever the boat off the rock/log. I jettisoned it. The other was left on the rock with some other gear I detached from the rig and presumably washed off during the night. There were two spares. They were tied for quick release, and so would not likely stay fast in a violent situation, or with repeated agitation such as one would expect in a head dam. One oar was spotted the next day hair pinned directly into the tip of a log jam a couple hundred yards below the incident site.

I expect soon I will return to the area with an IK and search that troubled, untravelled stretch myself.

Thanks for the info.
 
#13 ·
My guess; your boat never made it past Naturita. "Sotar what? That's just a big pile of money that we can turn into meth!"
Sorry but Naturita isn't known for being a kind hippy river town, not that there aren't good people there.
I'll send what I found tomorrow and good luck.
 
#20 ·
If you know it came from the Brinks truck you should return it. Most bean farmers don't read Mountain Buzz. Someone might have it and not know who is looking for it.

When I find gear on the river I call the owner if the name and number is on it. If not, I check the buzz. If not on L&F it's mine.

Good luck finding your boat. I didn't mean to imply anything other than without a label on the raft it's hard to call it "theft". A $2 sharpie can save thousands...
 
#16 ·
Wayward Boatman. I was with Dirty on the miguel float last year. The riverwide lowhead dam is very clearly visible if you follow google maps satellite imagery. We even extracted GPS cooridinates before we ran last year so we could be prepared when we came across it, like he said it's a very nasty dam that we lined our boats through. I definitley could see that thing hanging on to a raft for a very long time, it was probably around the same level when we ran it as you're describing now.

If you like i could track down the coordinates on my GPS, or you could grab them yourself using google earth. Like i said if you follow the river corridor on sattelite imagery it's pretty easy to spot.

Good Luck.
 
#17 ·
Thanks jlamb17. I've got it. I have studied the satellite imagery, especially from the power plant down, as sources had said that was the reach with the most boat-stopping riff-raff. My focus became the dam operated by the city of Naturita. Somehow, I had missed this particular one above. It indicates it is county land there on both sides. I'll be looking into who this belongs to, and who has legal access to it. Thanks again.
 
#22 ·
^This. Randdaddy's suggestion that a raft and its cargo are somehow comparable to finding a small item on a suburban sidewalk is inaccurate and not healthy for our community. Yes, writing your name on your boat is helpful (and law in some places) but should not be the final line in the sand. The suggestion is especially egregious on a thread in which the OP is genuinely trying to seek out their hard earned gear after an unfortunate experience on the river. The OP is going through some herculean hurdles of private property ownership, man-made obstacles and miles of river to reclaim their property.

I wish the OP the best of luck and hold out hope that some one is doing the right thing in aiding them in the process.

Phillip
 
#24 ·
Missing Rig Located

The missing oar rig was spotted this morning from the air. I will refrain until later from revealing the location so as to avoid potential vultures.

I must say, I have been in contact with dozens of people from all walks of life, up and down the river and in nearby towns: ranchers, rangers, law enforcement, pilots, boaters, business owners ---you name it . Folks have been exceptionally helpful, decent, and responsive.

I'll post an update after the rig is extracted.

Thanks all.
 
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