Happy Hour on the Hooch! Club-provided-Inflatable-Boat Option

SPECIAL NOTE:  Sign up for this event option only if you are UNABLE to Bring Your Own Boat (kayak, canoe or inflatable).
  If you don't own a boat and can't conveniently borrow or rent one, we expect to have limited FREE space available in a few loaner inflatable boats (owned by Charlie and Bobby – along with paddles & lifejackets) and we'll launch them along with our other boats at the same Powers Island dock.
  If you CAN bring your own boat please click on that different AOC event title and sign up. 

OVERVIEW: It's fun to paddle the river together in a leisurely flotilla of our own kayaks, canoes and inflatables.  Our AOC "Happy Hours on the Hooch" in 2009 and 2010 were a blast, so by popular demand here's an encore after-work float down the popular section of the Chattahoochee from just upstream of I-285 at "Powers Island" to US-41.  Memorial Day through about the end of July is the perfect time for this, with max evening daylight and generally warm air temperatures.
  In this gorgeous section rocky "palisades" rise steeply on both sides of the river and there's a wilderness aura much like being in the mountains.  This is "where the action was" in the legendary "Ramblin' Raft Races" of the 1970s and 80s, and it's a perfect place to kick back and enjoy a few refreshments while running the Class I and easier rapids that are suitable for beginners.
  As usual we'll appreciate help in setting up our convenient shuttle system – see details below.  Prior to the float we'd like to leave as many empty vehicles as possible at the takeout—then after the float give rides back upstream (just a 10-minute drive) to our put-in for those whose cars are left there.
  We consider this a "rain-or-shine" event, and intend to go ahead with it unless there's perhaps a high likelihood of severe thunderstorms.

PADDLING PLAN:  We'll meet at 5:45 PM at the "Powers Island" parking lot of the Chattahoochee River Nat'l Recreation Area (CRNRA – see detailed directions below).  After introducing one another and checking to make sure we're all OK with our boats and gear, we'd like to launch by 6:15 PM from the large wooden dock on the far side of the island—about a 5-minute "carry" with our boats & gear from the parking lot.  After paddling under the I-285 bridge, we'll pass "Ray's on the River" and the old Riverbend apartment complex.  Our first Class I rapid will be on "river right" near Riverbend, then we'll bear left to shoot the thrilling Class-I "Devil's Race Course" rapid.  After another Class-I at a big rightward bend in the river we'll make an obligatory stop on the beach across from the famous "Jumping Rock," with optional swimming and leaping into the cool deep water from the rock.  After a very shoaly section and a couple more Class-I rapids we'll pass under the I-75 bridge and take out on river right at the convenient "Paces Mill" CRNRA concrete ramp, about a quarter-mile upstream of the US-41 bridge (target take-out time about 8:30 PM).

SHUTTLE SET-UP PLAN:  As mentioned above we request that all who can do so please meet early at 5:00 PM at our Powers Island "put-in" lot to help set up our shuttle.  After unloading our gear we'll drive as many vehicles as possible (plus Bobby's big steel boat trailer) to the Paces Mill take-out lot – just a 10-minute drive – while one or two paddlers stay at Powers Island to watch our boats and gear.  At least one volunteer driver will then return those drivers back to Powers Island (ideally arriving back there between 5:45 and 6:00 PM).
  After the float this makes it possible for you to depart immediately with your boat and gear if you participated in the early setup.  Some of us can give rides back to the put-in lot for any who may need it, and Bobby can also haul a few boats back to the put-in lot if necessary on his boat trailer.