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Timber rafting in Sweden?

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rafting
3K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  BilloutWest 
#1 ·
We leave for sweden in a couple of days and for part of our trip we have booked a float down the Klaralven river with a "timber rafting" commercial group. We're taking kids - youngest is 4 - so the thought was to have a pretty easy float but still be able to enjoy the outdoors. The first day is taken up with building the raft, right, out of timber (they supply). Then our creation is launched and we float the river.
Has anyone out there done this before? Best ways to put it together? Get it down the river? Any suggestions or tips would be totally appreciated!
 
#15 ·
They are just using you to get logs to the mill...don't do it.
Best business model ever!
Its actually second to Barnum & Bailey selling their animal manure as exotic fertilizer instead of having to pay dump fees. But still worthy.

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Don't build a square raft.

Give it a rear 'oar'. Call it a rudder on a sweep boat. That'll make it all better.
http://www.npshistory.com/publications/ozar/steering-sweeps.pdf

Don't look down on those poles as important equipment.
Set up with a path along either side to move on while working with the poles. Standing in one spot to power with a pole will be frustrating.

Better to use a tarp for a sail.
Poles could be part of the rigging for both the tarp on land, tarp over A-Frame on the boat or spinnaker on water.

Have you considered a water sock anchor for current assist against the wind?
 
#12 ·
Parameters?

How much latitude do they give you in building these rafts? Do you have to follow their model or are you able to just do what ever your Huck Finn mind can come up with?

First thing I would add is some oars to supplement those poles..... looks purty sweet other than that though.

Here is a good raft building site from some folks who built their own to float the Delaware River. Their oars look pretty easy to build.

Homemade Raft Plans

This sounds like a fun trip, please post some photos when you get back!


:cool:




(...and that timber company definitely has a sweet business model for log transport!)
 
#13 ·
Thank you thank you!

Yes Jim, we are standing in line for the plane right now with our Keens in the bags. That was an important point.

Boscoboater, thanks for the great link to the raft building site. We'll all read that for sure. I think we can just "huck fin" it, I guess we'll find out. Here's an interesting quote from their website - "one of the most exciting features of the trip is that there are no tour guides". We make it, we float it. This is kind of an interesting business model - how much would a u.s. guide service save if they didn't need to buy boats or pay for guides? Wow.
 
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