I am currently planning to construct a wooden raft and taking a raft
trip on it. I wanted to just use about 12 logs to obtain all the
needed buoyancy for my comrade and myself and all of our gear, but I
figured that I might need to get some extra buoyancy so I was prepared
to use some 55 gallon drums if I had to. If anyone has any suggestions
about constriction of the raft or about the logistics of sailing for a
few days down the river I would greatly appreciate it. I was thinking
of building a shelter out of two by fours and a tarp to sleep under. I
would appreciate any advice on how to steer it, on how to propel it,
on how to make or find a battery powered anchor light, and how to go
about providing a waste management system for a non-discharge lake.
Thank you so much!

Not many people building log rafts any more I should think. River used to
be full of them here 150 years ago but those logs were on their way to
market. They weren't going to be discarded at the end of the trip which
shoulds like a waste of logs in our time.

I think you're pretty much on your own except there is lots of data on
weight of woods and power of sails you can use to do the calculations.
Rafts had oars to steer with and you'd need them to go where the wind and
current aren't. Don't forget wood soaks up water and sinks lower the
longer its immersed. You'd probably be better off with a raft made out of
plastic drums in a wooden frame, but that's gong to cost a bit of money
and I assume you want to do this for free.

For cooking they used to have an open fire in a box of sand or gravel. For
sleeping they used a tent. A 5 gallon plastic bucket with a lid (eg
driveway sealer) would serve as a holding tank but I don't think it would
be "approved".


Luke B. ) writes:
I am currently planning to construct a wooden raft and taking a raft
trip on it. I wanted to just use about 12 logs to obtain all the
needed buoyancy for my comrade and myself and all of our gear, but I
figured that I might need to get some extra buoyancy so I was prepared
to use some 55 gallon drums if I had to. If anyone has any suggestions
about constriction of the raft or about the logistics of sailing for a
few days down the river I would greatly appreciate it. I was thinking
of building a shelter out of two by fours and a tarp to sleep under. I
would appreciate any advice on how to steer it, on how to propel it,
on how to make or find a battery powered anchor light, and how to go
about providing a waste management system for a non-discharge lake.
Thank you so much!


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