Lots of good advice so far. I definitely agree that you really need some more help, in person on the water, if you wish to learn safely. There were a couple of points in your post that strongly hint that you got lucky on your first trip, it could have easily gone very badly. My personal recommendation would be that you don’t try floating any moving water with your boat without a much more knowledgeable partner. Keep in mind that the specs the boat companies list are about as optimistic as possible, in terms of weight capacity or what kinds of water it’s capable of handling. They wish to appeal to as broad a market as possible, but for an inexperienced person it’s best not to get anywhere near the top end. An expert who knows their stuff can make things work with all kinds of sub par equipment, but then again most of them wouldn’t typically wish to bother.
Not trying to sound negative, but there is a lot to learn and understand to safely float rivers in any craft. Take some time to research more on safety, take a class or two if possible, and try to find someone to mentor you. On a more positive note, all the effort is well worth it; this will open up lots of places to explore and fish, and there is no better way to travel than to float a river in my opinion.
JB
"Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am"
- unknown
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