Hitting the Chi on May 5th

[chico]

My buddy and I are hitting the Chi this coming Thursday due to the water going too low to likely run later in the month. She is at 1.5m now and will likely hit 1.2m by Thursday. We ran it at that level June 1st last year without issue. Any lower and it likely would have rubbed a hole in the boat.

I have two boats to choose from. A Penobscot 171 royalex and a 169 Disco. I've used the Penobscot exclusively for the past few years on the Chi. It has skid guards as well. I'm just wondering what boat I should take? I'm leaning on the Disco as it's the 3'layer super polyethylene but no skid plates. What do you think friends?

We plan on getting to the Rangers camp Thursday. Spending Friday there for some
drinks and camp maintenance and then heading to Clearwater for the night Saturday.

[Jamie]

The disc 169's generally take on their fair share of water, not sure how the Penobscot performs but if it worked before you should be familiar with its pros and cons.
Going solo or tandum? If solo i'd go with the 169.

[chico]

May 2, 2016 18:36:54 GMT -5 Jamie said:

The disc 169's generally take on their fair share of water, not sure how the Penobscot performs but if it worked before you should be familiar with its pros and cons.
Going solo or tandum? If solo i'd go with the 169.

I'll be heading out tandem. The Penobscot has great secondary stability. The Disco is a bit more manouverable as the Penobscot has more keel to it. The Penobscot does handle white water better. I'm more concerned with durability due to the low water.

[Jamie]

Both materials will take similar abuse, guess it depends on which of the 2 you don't mind scratching up. Loaded up with 2 paddlers and gear you will most likely be bouncing off and sliding over your share of rocks. I'd go with the Disc 169 and save the royalex Penobscot for deeper waters.

[chico]

Thanks Jamie. With the bit of rain we got we are going to run the Penobscot. We'll be on the river at 1.5m so I'm not as worried now about grinding it down. It's going to be a cool wet launch tomorrow but the rest of the weekend looks promising. A little rain never hurt anyone and will help buffer the water levels a little for the rest of our trip. We'll warm up by the stove at Ranger Camp and enjoy the day there on Friday before heading to Clearwater for a night.

Cheers! A trip report will come next week.