As always, we ask members to put safety first on the river. Here are some reminders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please be extra careful on the water, keeping an eye out for other boats,
buoys, trees, rocks, sandbars and bridges near and behind you.
Please stay on the appropriate side of the river while rowing:
Going upstream – stay toward the Hadley side of the river.
Going downstream – stay toward the Northampton\/Hatfield side of the river.
Be extra careful when rowing under the bridges as it can be hard to see boats behind you there, and cross-currents and eddies can make rowing there difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are no simple guidelines to determine when it is (relatively) safe to row.
River flow speed and level, wind speed and wind direction, water and air temperature,
precipitation and visibility conditions, the particular boat being rowed,
and, of course, rower experience and skill, are all relevant factors.
That said, by way of some general guidelines, we recommend that rowers
check the river conditions regularly at the National Weather Service Montague gauge,
and we ask that club members not row in club boats when the flow speed measurement
at the National Weather Service Montague gauge is above 21 kcfs
(i.e., 21 thousand cubic feet per second).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can look at the recent Montague gauge measurements HERE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n (The flow speed numbers are along the right hand side of the graph. Another helpful site with related information, including measurements for
The blue line on the left half of the graph is the observed flow over
the past three days, and the maroon line on the right half of the
graph is the forecast flow for the next three days.
The accuracy of the forecasts can vary considerably.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the past 120 days and historical averages is HERE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n