How Dis Mek: RIVER RAFTS

RIVER rafting is one of Jamaica’s popular vacation activities for locals and visitors alike but have you ever considered the mechanics behind the making of the rafts? Claude Johnson, raft captain #102 at Rafting on the Martha Brae, explained to the Jamaica Observer’s How Dis Mek the process behind the making of rafts during an interview on the banks of the Martha Brae river in the hills of Trelawny, where dozens of his coworkers’ rafts were docked. Bamboo, Johnson explained, is ideal for raft creation because each joint on a stalk is essentially an air-filled sealed vacuum, allowing the stalks to float extremely well.

Raft captains Claude Johnson (right) and Richardo Geinues work with a ratcheting strap to secure bamboo during the making of a raft. Gavin Jones “The reason why we choose bamboo is because it’s air-packed, so as the joints don’t burst, everything is okay. The bamboo can take [withstand] up to a thousand [pounds] on it.

You see the more length you have, the more weight you can take on top of it. You can build it 28 feet, 29 feet — those lengths are the good lengths,” said Johnson. He explained that even if some of the bamboo joints pop open, due to age or sun damage, as long as the others remain sealed the integrity of the raft is maintained.

The use of rafts in Trelawny is well documented. Initially, rafts were used to ferry goods from rural Trelawny to the parish capital of Falmouth. Recreational rafting began in the 1970s under the Jamaica Tourist Board and has been operated by River Raft Limited since 1985.

Dozens of bamboo rafts lie on the banks of the Martha Brae river for ease of access by captains. Gavin Jones Raft captains must be fully trained and certified before they can operate, with lessons in controlling the raft and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification compulsory. Once licensed, the captains are responsible for the creation of their own rafts.

To create the raft, captains need what they refer to as a “dozen stalks of bamboo”. “If you don’t have any and you can’t go into the field to cut it, you have some people cut it and sell it for $10,000 for a dozen, [but] when we say dozen we mean 14 bamboo to make a raft,” Johnson explained. Rafts being transported by a specialised vehicle from the end of the tour — a landing point on the banks of the Martha Brae — back to the start of the tour at the Rafting on the Martha Bra…