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Destinations A Guide to Grand Canyon Motor Rigs
Destinations A Guide to Grand Canyon Motor Rigs
| A Guide to Grand Canyon Motor Rigs |
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| Written by Roy Webb |
| Monday, 23 June 2008 10:52 |
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Head down the Grand Canyon and you can find guidebooks for just about every bird, bug and rock, but you'll never find a guide for the strangest wildlife you're most likely to encounter: motor rigs. Although the bane of many boaters, they are an inevitable part of almost any trip down the Canyon. If you draw a high-use permit (April 15-Sept. 15), you can count on tourist-filled motor rigs as constant companions, like it or not. Because of this, you might as well know a little about their history and how to identify them. Back in the 1950s, when pontoons were first introduced into the Canyon, it quickly became clear that running them with oars wasn't going to work. If you were smart, says one old-time guide, you just pulled in the oars at the top of a rapid and held on. Outboard motors were the obvious solution, so guides built transom frames and hung the motors off the back. These early models were called, naturally enough, "tail-draggers." It worked fine in the flats, but in rapids the motor would swamp, leaving the boat without power. It could also be dangerous. One of the early deaths in the Grand Canyon, that of Shorty Burton, was attributed to his lifejacket getting caught on the tail-dragger motor when he flipped in Upset Rapid in 1967. The tail-dragger had its advantages, too: it made the boat spin on a dime and give change, and the motor was easy to get to. Also, in those days pontoon boats had floors, so when they filled with water they were virtually unflippable. No one knows who first cut out the floor and suspended the frame and motor inside the pontoon, but by the 1970s it was a standard set-up. Soon after, someone developed the "jackass" motor mount, so the motor could be lifted up in shallow water. With few exceptions, this is the rig still in use today. Side tubes are another innovation still in use. At first outfitters just ran pontoons, but quickly learned that they were prone to rolling over, so they added snout tubes with upturned, pointed ends. This gave added lateral stability with very little loss of speed or power. Here's a quick guide to the types of motorized "creatures" you might run into in the Grand Canyon today: The S-Rig This is the most common motor rig, and consists of a 37-foot pontoon with two snout tubes used as outriggers reaching from the front of the pontoon to about three-quarters of the length back. Frames, foodboxes, gas tanks and motor-well are arranged in varying fashions on top of, or down inside, the main pontoon. S-rigs were originally designed by Rod and Jerry Sanderson; hence the name. Hatch, Grand Canyon Expeditions, Diamond, Moki-Mac, Wilderness and several other outfitters use the S-rig. Grand Canyon Motor Rigs The J-rig This is used exclusively by Western River Expeditions. Five snout tubes are lashed together to form a raft, with the food boxes, gear and passengers all on top. Legend has it the J-rig originated when Jack Curry, the original founder of the company, purchased sight-unseen a large quantity of surplus inflatable tubes. Thinking he had pontoons, like everyone else was using, he was dismayed to find that he had bought only snout tubes. One of his boatmen, Paul Thevinin, drawled "Don't worry Jack, we'll make a boat out of 'em." And so they did. Motorized Snout Rigs These are two snout tubes with a frame in between, an earlier and much heavier version of the popular cataraft. They are often rowed as well, but are beasts since they're so heavy. Many different companies, as well as the Park Service and scientists, use snout rigs for specialized trips. With a 25- or 30-hp motor, the same size motor used in the bigger boats, snouts are faster and more maneuverable; they are also a little less stable. Other Species A couple of Grand Canyon companies have their own designs, such as AzRA (Arizona Raft Adventures), Canyoneers and Tour West. AzRA's is basically an S-rig with the rounded stern of the pontoon cut away. Canyoneers' boats are some of the biggest on the river. They consist of a pontoon with snout tubes running the entire length of the boat. The stern of the pontoon is cut away, as in the AzRA rig. Tour West uses a standard pontoon-style boat, but sections of pontoon, or snout tubes without the snout, are used as outriggers, raised along the sides so only the pontoon is actually in the water. This makes the boat quick to turn but gives it less secondary stability. So the next time you're in the Canyon and a motor rig cruises by, give the driver a smile and a wave. As much as the controversy exists between motor rigs and paddle-powered craft, most of these guides have been running the Canyon for years and can provide fountains of information about camps, hikes and other Canyon tidbits when asked. And if you're friendly enough, you might just get some extra ice or cold drinks out of them. Originally Published, Paddler September-October 1998 |
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