Pennsylvania friends float giant, manmade raft down Susquehanna River

Every summer, for about the last five years, a growing group of young men shove off from the banks of the Susquehanna River to live like modern-day Huckleberry Finns.

They flow downriver for up to 50 miles at nature’s pace on a raft that’s grown bigger and taller every year thanks to a whopping 32 wooden pallets and 64 plastic, 55-gallon drums for buoyancy.

“That pace is usually about one mile per hour, maybe two,” said Seth Kashuba, 22, one of the original rafters.

The trip began in 2018, Kashuba said, after his group of friends aged out of the summer camp where they’d met and bonded. Cody Stang, the group’s “captain,” came up with the idea for a rafting trip down the Susquehanna, one of Pennsylvania’s longest rivers.

“It started off just two pallets by three pallets all together, real small. Just every year we made it bigger and better, and now it’s triple-decker,” Stang, from Meshoppen, Wyoming County, told WNEP-TV of Scranton.

This year’s trip started in Falls, Wyoming County, and ended south in Berwick, Columbia County, about 45 miles later. The river starts to get rockier and more dangerous farther south.

The Forbahead II (named after a friend) doesn’t have a sail, and using a motor would classify it as a boat. It’s guided by the water’s flow and some occasional towing by kayaks. July’s heavy rains made the trip easier this year, Kashuba said, because there was ample water flow. In some years, with little rainfall, they’ve had to push the Forbahead II through shallow water.

“That definitely wasn’t fun,” he said.

Kashuba, of Blakely, Lackawanna County, said a total of 13 friends made their way onto this year’s rafting trip, ranging in age from 18 to 23. Some had to leave to get to work. One was planning a wedding. Each night, they guided the raft ashore to camp on the riverbank.

“Now that we’re getting older, we all have a lot more responsibilities,” he said.

This year’s version of the raft even had an observation tower, about 19 feet tall, but Kashuba said it never felt scary up there. The crew, many of whom attended Liberty University in Virginia, doesn’t drink and never intended to garner social media likes.

‘We don’t need alcohol to have a good time,” he said. “We’re out to create memories and have some good, wholesome fun. You don’t really see guys our age having this kind of fun.”

Kashuba said anyone wanting to create a raft of their own should review regulations and be sure to have life jackets aboard for everyone. The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission told The Citizens’ Voice, of Wilkes-Barre, that unpowered rafts aren’t regulated by the agency and are, therefore, legal.

“It’s basically like we’re tubing,” Kashuba said.

Kashuba also recommended a short trip, maybe a mile, for the maiden voyage, along with some bug spray.

“This year wasn’t too bad but there have been years where there’s bugs flying in your nose and ears,” he said.

Kashuba said there were a few run-ins with dobsonflies, which look terrifying, but are actually harmless.

“They’re like the size of a small bird,” he said.

Next year’s raft probably won’t be bigger, Kashuba said, because the construction and dismantling process take up too much time. They might bring more musical instruments, he said, including a piano.

“Oh yeah, it will be fine,” he said. “We could park a car on this thing.”