Giant Raft Spotted on Susquehanna River
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — A group of friends are making waves on social media in northeastern Pennsylvania after being spotted floating down the Susquehanna River on a multi-level raft they built themselves.
The homemade floating platform was built with wooden pallets and 2x4s secured with barrels to keep it above water.
In 2018, a group of six friends decided to create their own tradition of sailing down the Susquehanna River each summer.
What started out as a typical make-shift raft soon grew over the years and is now three stories high over.
“Originally it was just like six pallets, it was like eight feet by twelve feet but now it’s a whole lot bigger than that whole like bigger,” said Cody Stang from Meshoppen.
The big question is, how does it sail?
“So ideally, two kayaks can pull it but it usually doesn’t work out that way usually, we’re just kinda at the mercy of the river, whichever way the current takes us, we go along with it. We just hope we don’t hit a bridge,” explained Stang.
“It’s surprising how stable it is like it seems like it going to collapse but it really doesn’t like it doesn’t even really shift we go over rapids, it’s built with like modular sections on the bottom, so we have put some thought into it to some degree, so they kinda shift with the waves so you don’t have the whole thing just cracking on one big wave so it can kinda take the ripple effect,” added Matthew O’Brien from Waymart.
This year the group is on a four-day journey, despite some stops along the way to pick someone up or drop them off, they stay with the raft the whole 96 hours.
“We usually dock, we have an anchor, and the kayaks will station on the side, and then we’ll sleep usually on board if it’s a decent beach with like a campfire, sometimes we’ll sleep over there but most of the time we will sleep on the raft though, on the pallets,” continued O’Brien.
The group has an annual raft party in January to plan out the trip, they decide when they are going to sail, how long, to where, and what they want to add.
In the end, the best part is getting to be with each other on this river adventure.
“The comradery is great, I mean we know each other very well, and we look forward to this time every year,” said Andrew Kazmierczak from Dalton.
The raft was seen floating down the Susquehanna River between Falls and West Pittston Tuesday as the group of friends had a good time fishing, kayaking, swimming and just enjoying the summer days.
Tomorrow is the final day of the group rafting trip, they hope to end it in Berwick.
https://www.wkbn.com/news/pennsylvania/susquehanna-river-raft-makes-waves-on-social-media/ Giant Raft Spotted on Susquehanna River