Guides open river to exploration

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.comFeatures Writer

Gliding down the Susquehanna on a recent Friday, 14-year-old Savannah Kratz of felt a tug on a fishing line that trailed her kayak.

boaters gather in the middle of the river as they set for the 2nd leg of the trip down the river at Nesbitt Park ----- photo by Fred Adams 6-17-06

fred adams

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As she reeled in her catch, she called to her dad, who paddled over in his own kayak and removed the smallmouth bass from the hook.

The moment could have been a highlight from any father/daughter vacation, but it took place during Frank Kratz’s seasonal job, the one he works nights and weekends, spring through fall.

No offense to the Kingston Post Office, where Kratz’s regular job is in maintenance, but when he’s guiding trips for his Wilkes-Barre-based business, Susquehanna River Adventures, it’s … well … more of an adventure.

“One night we saw otters,” nature-loving Kratz, 47, recalled with delight. “They’ll come right up to the boat if you’re quiet. But as soon as you open your mouth to say something, they’ll slap their tails and take off.”

Another time, Kratz said, he watched a deer plunge into the river and swim.

Herons, egrets and even bald eagles are more common sights, and Kratz is eager to share the experience of seeing them with people who want to explore the river.

A recent 11-mile expedition that launched from Wilkes-Barre’s Nesbitt Park attracted eight clients along with Savannah and her fishing pole, Kratz’s assistant Bob Surridge and a reporter. “She’s going to be a great guide someday,” Frank said of Savannah. “She took to it like a duck.”

That meant Kratz had 11 people besides himself to watch as they paddled downriver, sometimes chatting two or three abreast, sometimes stopping to shoot a photo or admire the tree-lined riverbanks, or just take an extra-deep breath of air that smelled as fresh as a forest.

“We’re close to the city, but see how beautiful and natural it is,” said Kratz, who considers it a personal mission to spread the word the Susquehanna is cleaner and more scenic than many imagine.

The newly renovated River Common is helping to increase interest in the Susquehanna, he said, and he envisions a future in which he’ll guide people down the river’s entire 444-mile length.

For now, most of his trips are two or three-hour segments between Harding and Wyoming, Wyoming and Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes-Barre and Hunlock Creek or Hunlock Creek and Shickshinny. For the most part, all these sections of river are so calm, you’d almost think you’re paddling in a lake.

But on the recent excursion, a spot known as the “Nanticoke Narrows” added some excitement.

The Narrows is an area near Nanticoke where the river contours change. “It’s a natural choke point,” Kratz explained. “If you could visualize it without the water, you’d see a steep incline and a rocky bottom.”

That incline makes the water flow faster and the rocky bottom makes it turn choppy. On this trip, it offered paddlers a heart-pumping minute or so of hard paddling.

Kratz told the group to follow him, single-file, two kayak-lengths apart. He led the way through the waves, then turned and counted the boats.

… Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven.

Number 12 was Surridge, coming in the last position to serve as the “sweep,” ready to help if anyone was in trouble.

But, everyone made it through without tipping. Whew.

“That was like a roller-coaster ride,” one woman said, sounding pleased.

Is Kratz nervous about taking groups through rougher water?

“I’m never nervous,” he said. “Most of the time we go through rapids without incident, as long as everyone is positioned properly.”

Of course, it’s possible to tip, and a few paddlers have toppled into the water since Susquehanna River Adventures was established in 2004. But, no one has been hurt. “We have a perfect safety record,” Kratz said proudly.

In pre-expedition safety talks, Kratz explains that if you fall out of your kayak, you should face downstream and float with your feet in front and knees bent. Your life vest will help you keep your head above water until someone comes to your aid.

Parts of his safety speech – notably, the part about not putting your foot down because it could get caught - can be intimidating, he admits. But his military training taught him that people should be thoroughly prepared so they can react to problems without panic.

Kratz joined the Army after graduating from Wilkes-Barre’s Meyers High School in 1979 and served in Desert Storm as an Airborne Infantry Rifle Squad Leader and master-rated parachutist.

Back in the States, he studied riverine rescue techniques in Alaska and later became an Army Ranger Instructor at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where he remembers boating in alligator-infested water with lightning striking “so close you could smell the air burning.”

The Susquehanna, in contrast, is a peacefully flowing nature trail he finds fascinating, as does his family of water lovers, which includes his wife, Maria; 24-year-old twins Amanda and Frank, 14-year-old Savannah, 12-year-old Taylor and 8-year-old Mikayla.

“She’s going to be a great guide someday,” he said of Savannah. “She took to it like a duck.”

Even their pets join in the fun. On one excursion, when just the family went paddling, they stopped at an unnamed river island and let their labrador and bichon frise run loose, prompting young Mikayla to call the place “Free Dog Island.”

The recent, three-hour Friday trip with 12 people and no pets ended with tired-but-satisfied paddlers clambering out of their rented crafts at a boat launch near Hunlock Creek and helping to carry them to a waiting trailer.

While Surridge drove those who needed rides back to the starting point, Kratz prepared to set out on another trip – this one in the dark, with four customers who were waiting to paddle from Hunlock Creek to Shickshinny.

Kratz’s wife would be the “sweep” for this trip, which she considered a welcome respite from her job as an oncology nurse.

As the group waited for an almost-full moon to appear, they attached flashlights to their life vests to help brighten the way.

Maria Kratz would also have a flashing strobe light on her boat, the better to help her husband account for everyone.

On moonlight trips, Frank said, “We stay closer together and have a smaller guide-to-customer ratio.” Experiencing the river after dark is something you won’t forget, he added.

“It’s just surreal.”

To contact Susquehanna River Adventures, see www.susqpaddle.org or call 570-328-4001.