High water levels may have drenched their second attempt, but that won’t stop a group of fearless paddlers from their goal to be the first to run all the rapids of the Lower Terra Nova River in canoe.

Richard Alexander, Corey Locke, Darren McDonald and Coady Neil made their first attempt five years ago, but their efforts were cut short when both of their canoes went for a gnarly swim, before completing the final stretch.

They filmed the first attempt, a film that went on to win awards at various film festivals, and inspired them to try again on May 15.

Richard Alexander says a few years before their first attempt, their good friend and mentor, Jim Price, passed away unexpectedly. The trip was a homage to Price.

However, the canoeing these five do on rivers isn’t generally what people think of. The canoes are outfitted with airbags and side straps to keep the paddlers in the boat, along with a spray deck on the top to enable the canoe to fight through the rough and rocky rivers.

Alexander says to do the Lower Terra Nova River and be successful, the water levels need to be perfect. If it’s too high, the conditions simply become too dangerous, and too low, too many rocks are exposed.

According to Alexander, when they arrived, the river had popped.

He says there was rain in the watershed, which led to 33 per cent more water than they wanted, and it became a bit of a “suffer fest” as they were unable to complete the major rapids.

Regardless, Alexander describes the experience as a good one. He calls it an adrenaline rush, but acknowledges that there can be significant consequences if the canoe capsizes.

He says they did capsize on one of the rapids that didn’t even have a name due to the high water levels, and almost lost the canoe.

However, don’t expect the group of passionate paddlers to give up anytime soon.

Alexander admits that they’re a little beat up—so they’ll take another shot at it next year.