[Paddlewise] Fwd: Near Miss Report 1997

This was forwarded to me and I thought it might be of interest to the group,
especially those of us that paddle whitewater also.

Alice


> >Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 11:31:43 -0500
> >From: CHARLIE WALBRIDGE <cwal_at_compuserve.com>
> >Subject: Near Miss Report 1997
> >Close Calls 1997
> >
> >Near misses have a lot to teach paddlers because they serve as an early
> >warning system for future accidents. They also show how ordinary paddlers
> >work successfully under pressure, ideas which can help you if you face a
> >similar problem yourself.  they also help us develop new skills for
> >avoiding and dealing with trouble. Although many close calls are never
> >reported outside of the small groups that regularly paddle together, those
> >which are sent to us are always interesting. I received ten reports in
> >1997. I’d like to thank those who sent them in for their generosity, and to
> >encourage anyone who survives such an experience (or hears about one) to
> >share it with the readers of American Whitewater.
> >
> >Slim Ray forwarded a near-miss report from the AKC website
> >(www.alpine-kayak-club.org) that occurred on the Amahac River in Mexico.
> >Rip Harwood was with a group running the river when he was shoved to the
> >right side of a drop. The boulder was undercut, and he and his rodeo boat
> >were shoved under the rock. His kayak pinned, he bailed out, and he was
> >carried still further down. He opened his eyes, swam for the light, and
> >popped out in the pool below. He was under water about 30 seconds. His boat
> >and paddle never reappeared, although a pair of sandals which were not tied
> >in washed through.
> >
> >Bill Robertson and Michael Stein from the Three Rivers Paddling Club of
> >Pittsburgh were entering River’s End Rapid on the Lower Yough on July 18th
> >when he noticed two people on the shore gesturing for help. It turned out
> >that a woman on a self-guided raft trip with friends had  fallen out of her
> >raft at the top of the rapid and become wedged at the hips, head
> >downstream, between Snaggletooth and the adjoining rock. She fought to keep
> >her head above water but was rapidly becoming exhausted  Her friends were
> >in the downstream eddy but they could not get close enough to help.
> >
> >Bill and Michael eddied out below. Bill exited his kayak, grabbed his throw
> >bag, and started to work his way across the rocks. As Michael shouted
> >continuous encouragement to the trapped rafter, Bill scrambled to the top
> >of a huge boulder above the accident site. Once he slipped and dropped his
> >throw bag, but Michael snagged it and tossed it back to him. Bill could not
> >see his target from the top of the rock, so he threw the rope in upstream
> >so it could drift to the target drift to where it was needed. The rope
> >allowed the woman to pull herself free. Thanks to their alert action she
> >was able to continue the trip after a brief rest.
> >
> >On July 20th there was a near-miss on the Limestone Run of California’s
> >Kern River. Four kayakers, two using older small-cockpit kayaks and two
> >using sit-on-tops, were attempting this Class IV run at 920 cfs, a very low
> >level. At Joe’s Diner one of the boaters pinned end-to-end at the bottom,
> >between a mid-stream rock and the right shore. After several minutes he
> >flipped and tried to extricate himself, but he was quite tall (6’2) and
> >cold not do so. He was under water for 1-2 minutes before other members of
> >the group could get to him. Dan Mulvahill, who submitted this report,
> >arrived at the scene just after the victim was revived with CPR! The victim
> >is doing fine, with no problems except some residual pain in his legs from
> >a too-small cockpit.
> >
> >Eric Hendrickson dropped me a line about a close call at Coliseum Rapid on
> >West Virginia’s Cheat River. With the Albright Gauge reading 3.0’ a woman,
> >paddling second to last, missed the narrow right hand line and pinned under
> >a huge log pinned against a giant rock on the left shore. Radwan Hallaba,
> >the sweep boater landed on river left and quickly climbed out onto the log.
> >He held the woman’s head above water until reinforcements arrived from
> >downstream. With the additional manpower they were able to release the
> >boat. The woman was shaken, but able to paddle out.
> >
> >A single-person oar raft missed an eddy and was flipped by a river-wide
> >strainer on Tumwater Canyon of Washington’s Wenachee River on August 30th.
> >This steep, class V run was carrying 1250 cfs, a low but prudent level. As
> >the boat went over the rafter’s legs became entangled. When the raft hung
> >up under the log it left him hanging in the current with his head barely
> >above the surface. His friends supported his body and took over 15 minutes
> >to free him. He was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released.
> >The raft was released from the strainer the next day.
> >A channel cut below the powerhouse at Thunder Rock carries water to the
> >Lower Ocoee River in Tennessee Crede Calhoun reported to rec.boats.paddle
> >that a very nasty hole is created when water from the Upper Ocoee drops
> >into this channel. He witnessed a female boater get trashed and
> >recirculated there. A companion made a daring boat rescue and plucked her
> >from the hole. An article in the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club Newsletter
> >reports a similar incident in which throw ropes were required to get the
> >paddler out. Several rafts also got stuck here and needed ropes to escape
> >also.
> >A New Hampshire man almost drowned after falling out of a commercial raft
> >at Little Poplar Hill Falls on the Dead River in Maine. This is one of the
> >fall high-water weekends when 5500 cfs is let go, turning the Dead into a
> >wild big-water roller coaster.  He was one of four paddlers who fell out of
> >the boat. Three were plucked from the river by their guide, but David
> >Thompson, 31, was recirculated in a hole. Guides from another company
> >pulled him from the river and began rescue breathing. An ambulance was
> >called; Thompson was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and
> >released.
> >Rescue Magazine reported that on the afternoon of October 6 three
> >individuals, paddling a tandem canoe and a kayak, accidentally ran the 30’
> >Sandstone Falls on the New River downstream of Hinton, WV. Two managed to
> >swim to shore, but a third was trapped at on a rock in a narrow chute at
> >the base of the falls. For nine hours NPS Rangers, rescue squad personnel,
> >and a Coast Guard helicopter attempted to reach him. The rescue was only
> >completed after the corps of engineers closed all the gates at Bluestone
> >Dam, lowering the water level enough that a park ranger could reach him by
> >boat.
> >
> >American Whitewater’s Steve Taylor, who serves as a liaison between the
> >paddling community and law enforcement authorities on the Lower Potomac
> >near Washington from Great Falls to Tidewater, reported a very unsettling
> >incident. The river rose sharply following heavy rains, then dropped to 6’
> >on November 11th, veteran’s day. A kayaker, wearing only light polypro and
> >no paddle jacket, flipped and swam the entire S-Turn and Mather Gorge from
> >the Observation Deck put-in below Great Falls, a distance of several miles.
> >The gorge is sheer-walled and the rapids, though not difficult, are fast
> >and squirrelly at these flows. His buddy was unable to rescue him and ended
> >up swimming also! The first swimmer ended up at the old George Washington
> >Canal cut where a climber found him barely able to move.
> >
> >The climber ran to the ticket booth and reported that he had found a
> >kayaker who was so cold he was delirious that he could not stand! The park
> >rangers called 911. This brings out a number of different rescue squads,
> >not to mention the newspapers! The rescue squads found the paddler’s
> >kayaks; the boaters themselves walked out under their own power and refused
> >assistance. But some very negative stories were published in the local
> >papers and heard on the radio the next day.
> >
> >Taylor writes, “Even the best of us occasionally swim. However, turning a
> >simple swim into a 911 incident by failing to wear cold weather gear has
> >consequences far beyond the immediate technical and medical ones. Just as a
> >wilderness river poses added risks due to its isolation, a river near a
> >large city has added problems due to its visibility. In this case, these
> >consequences included having to deal with the authorities, reporters, and
> >the general public who may think this sort of problem is typical. We must
> >therefore always be on the lookout for, and advise aggressively, any
> >inexperienced boater who appears to be headed for trouble.”
> >
> >Will Reeves from Clemson University forwarded a report of a rescue made by
> >a group of friends while making a low water (1.2) run of  Section IV of the
> >Chatooga River. This river forms the northern border between Georgia and
> >South Carolina. It is known for its bizarre rock formations. At the end of
> >Jawbone Rapid there is a large rock with a hole through it. Many people
> >have swum through “Hydroelectric Rock”, but there’s always a concern that
> >it could become blocked with debris. Tricky currents just upstream and
> >bigger drops farther above make the drop difficult.
> >
> >Reeve’s friends had just run the rapid after setting throw ropes at the
> >bottom. They were getting ready to leave when they heard a call for help.
> >Running upriver, they saw a woman pinned against Hydro. Her kayak was
> >jammed in the hole stern-first! She was stable for the time being, but it
> >was a precarious situation. The group was worried that she could slip
> >farther back into the hole. One person threw a rope right to her, and while
> >another person downstream got out of his boat and set up a rope to act as
> >safety backup. By this time others had arrived. It took four people to pull
> >her upstream, out of the hole. They ferried her boat to one side and
> >lowered her into a side chute so she could complete the drop.  Their fast
> >actions kept a dangerous situation from getting out of control.
> >
> >Help us learn from your experiences. Send your accounts of near-misses to
> >Charlie Walbridge, American Whitewater Safety Committee, 230 Penllyn Pike,
> >Blue Bell, PA 19422 phone 215-646-0157; fax 215-643-0668; email: Cwal_at_
> >Compuserve.com. If they are well written, send them directly to the editor
> >of American Whitewater.

attached mail follows:

Jackie,

This was forwarded to the CanoeTX list and I thought it had some learning value
for those of us that also imbibe in white water.  If you think it is of value to
paddlewise, please forward it.  If not, well, it's interesting reading.

Alice

> >Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 11:31:43 -0500
> >From: CHARLIE WALBRIDGE <cwal_at_compuserve.com>
> >Subject: Near Miss Report 1997
> >Sender: CHARLIE WALBRIDGE <cwal_at_compuserve.com>
> >To: Lee Belknap <RiverGypsy_at_sprintmail.com>
> >Cc: Joe Pulliam <72002.305_at_compuserve.com>,
> > Slim Ray <76450.3264_at_compuserve.com>, Dave Reichert <reichert_at_uthscsa.edu>
> >
> >Close Calls 1997
> >
> >Near misses have a lot to teach paddlers because they serve as an early
> >warning system for future accidents. They also show how ordinary paddlers
> >work successfully under pressure, ideas which can help you if you face a
> >similar problem yourself.  they also help us develop new skills for
> >avoiding and dealing with trouble. Although many close calls are never
> >reported outside of the small groups that regularly paddle together, those
> >which are sent to us are always interesting. I received ten reports in
> >1997. I’d like to thank those who sent them in for their generosity, and to
> >encourage anyone who survives such an experience (or hears about one) to
> >share it with the readers of American Whitewater.
> >
> >Slim Ray forwarded a near-miss report from the AKC website
> >(www.alpine-kayak-club.org) that occurred on the Amahac River in Mexico.
> >Rip Harwood was with a group running the river when he was shoved to the
> >right side of a drop. The boulder was undercut, and he and his rodeo boat
> >were shoved under the rock. His kayak pinned, he bailed out, and he was
> >carried still further down. He opened his eyes, swam for the light, and
> >popped out in the pool below. He was under water about 30 seconds. His boat
> >and paddle never reappeared, although a pair of sandals which were not tied
> >in washed through.
> >
> >Bill Robertson and Michael Stein from the Three Rivers Paddling Club of
> >Pittsburgh were entering River’s End Rapid on the Lower Yough on July 18th
> >when he noticed two people on the shore gesturing for help. It turned out
> >that a woman on a self-guided raft trip with friends had  fallen out of her
> >raft at the top of the rapid and become wedged at the hips, head
> >downstream, between Snaggletooth and the adjoining rock. She fought to keep
> >her head above water but was rapidly becoming exhausted  Her friends were
> >in the downstream eddy but they could not get close enough to help.
> >
> >Bill and Michael eddied out below. Bill exited his kayak, grabbed his throw
> >bag, and started to work his way across the rocks. As Michael shouted
> >continuous encouragement to the trapped rafter, Bill scrambled to the top
> >of a huge boulder above the accident site. Once he slipped and dropped his
> >throw bag, but Michael snagged it and tossed it back to him. Bill could not
> >see his target from the top of the rock, so he threw the rope in upstream
> >so it could drift to the target drift to where it was needed. The rope
> >allowed the woman to pull herself free. Thanks to their alert action she
> >was able to continue the trip after a brief rest.
> >
> >On July 20th there was a near-miss on the Limestone Run of California’s
> >Kern River. Four kayakers, two using older small-cockpit kayaks and two
> >using sit-on-tops, were attempting this Class IV run at 920 cfs, a very low
> >level. At Joe’s Diner one of the boaters pinned end-to-end at the bottom,
> >between a mid-stream rock and the right shore. After several minutes he
> >flipped and tried to extricate himself, but he was quite tall (6’2) and
> >cold not do so. He was under water for 1-2 minutes before other members of
> >the group could get to him. Dan Mulvahill, who submitted this report,
> >arrived at the scene just after the victim was revived with CPR! The victim
> >is doing fine, with no problems except some residual pain in his legs from
> >a too-small cockpit.
> >
> >Eric Hendrickson dropped me a line about a close call at Coliseum Rapid on
> >West Virginia’s Cheat River. With the Albright Gauge reading 3.0’ a woman,
> >paddling second to last, missed the narrow right hand line and pinned under
> >a huge log pinned against a giant rock on the left shore. Radwan Hallaba,
> >the sweep boater landed on river left and quickly climbed out onto the log.
> >He held the woman’s head above water until reinforcements arrived from
> >downstream. With the additional manpower they were able to release the
> >boat. The woman was shaken, but able to paddle out.
> >
> >A single-person oar raft missed an eddy and was flipped by a river-wide
> >strainer on Tumwater Canyon of Washington’s Wenachee River on August 30th.
> >This steep, class V run was carrying 1250 cfs, a low but prudent level. As
> >the boat went over the rafter’s legs became entangled. When the raft hung
> >up under the log it left him hanging in the current with his head barely
> >above the surface. His friends supported his body and took over 15 minutes
> >to free him. He was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released.
> >The raft was released from the strainer the next day.
> >A channel cut below the powerhouse at Thunder Rock carries water to the
> >Lower Ocoee River in Tennessee Crede Calhoun reported to rec.boats.paddle
> >that a very nasty hole is created when water from the Upper Ocoee drops
> >into this channel. He witnessed a female boater get trashed and
> >recirculated there. A companion made a daring boat rescue and plucked her
> >from the hole. An article in the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club Newsletter
> >reports a similar incident in which throw ropes were required to get the
> >paddler out. Several rafts also got stuck here and needed ropes to escape
> >also.
> >A New Hampshire man almost drowned after falling out of a commercial raft
> >at Little Poplar Hill Falls on the Dead River in Maine. This is one of the
> >fall high-water weekends when 5500 cfs is let go, turning the Dead into a
> >wild big-water roller coaster.  He was one of four paddlers who fell out of
> >the boat. Three were plucked from the river by their guide, but David
> >Thompson, 31, was recirculated in a hole. Guides from another company
> >pulled him from the river and began rescue breathing. An ambulance was
> >called; Thompson was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and
> >released.
> >Rescue Magazine reported that on the afternoon of October 6 three
> >individuals, paddling a tandem canoe and a kayak, accidentally ran the 30’
> >Sandstone Falls on the New River downstream of Hinton, WV. Two managed to
> >swim to shore, but a third was trapped at on a rock in a narrow chute at
> >the base of the falls. For nine hours NPS Rangers, rescue squad personnel,
> >and a Coast Guard helicopter attempted to reach him. The rescue was only
> >completed after the corps of engineers closed all the gates at Bluestone
> >Dam, lowering the water level enough that a park ranger could reach him by
> >boat.
> >
> >American Whitewater’s Steve Taylor, who serves as a liaison between the
> >paddling community and law enforcement authorities on the Lower Potomac
> >near Washington from Great Falls to Tidewater, reported a very unsettling
> >incident. The river rose sharply following heavy rains, then dropped to 6’
> >on November 11th, veteran’s day. A kayaker, wearing only light polypro and
> >no paddle jacket, flipped and swam the entire S-Turn and Mather Gorge from
> >the Observation Deck put-in below Great Falls, a distance of several miles.
> >The gorge is sheer-walled and the rapids, though not difficult, are fast
> >and squirrelly at these flows. His buddy was unable to rescue him and ended
> >up swimming also! The first swimmer ended up at the old George Washington
> >Canal cut where a climber found him barely able to move.
> >
> >The climber ran to the ticket booth and reported that he had found a
> >kayaker who was so cold he was delirious that he could not stand! The park
> >rangers called 911. This brings out a number of different rescue squads,
> >not to mention the newspapers! The rescue squads found the paddler’s
> >kayaks; the boaters themselves walked out under their own power and refused
> >assistance. But some very negative stories were published in the local
> >papers and heard on the radio the next day.
> >
> >Taylor writes, “Even the best of us occasionally swim. However, turning a
> >simple swim into a 911 incident by failing to wear cold weather gear has
> >consequences far beyond the immediate technical and medical ones. Just as a
> >wilderness river poses added risks due to its isolation, a river near a
> >large city has added problems due to its visibility. In this case, these
> >consequences included having to deal with the authorities, reporters, and
> >the general public who may think this sort of problem is typical. We must
> >therefore always be on the lookout for, and advise aggressively, any
> >inexperienced boater who appears to be headed for trouble.”
> >
> >Will Reeves from Clemson University forwarded a report of a rescue made by
> >a group of friends while making a low water (1.2) run of  Section IV of the
> >Chatooga River. This river forms the northern border between Georgia and
> >South Carolina. It is known for its bizarre rock formations. At the end of
> >Jawbone Rapid there is a large rock with a hole through it. Many people
> >have swum through “Hydroelectric Rock”, but there’s always a concern that
> >it could become blocked with debris. Tricky currents just upstream and
> >bigger drops farther above make the drop difficult.
> >
> >Reeve’s friends had just run the rapid after setting throw ropes at the
> >bottom. They were getting ready to leave when they heard a call for help.
> >Running upriver, they saw a woman pinned against Hydro. Her kayak was
> >jammed in the hole stern-first! She was stable for the time being, but it
> >was a precarious situation. The group was worried that she could slip
> >farther back into the hole. One person threw a rope right to her, and while
> >another person downstream got out of his boat and set up a rope to act as
> >safety backup. By this time others had arrived. It took four people to pull
> >her upstream, out of the hole. They ferried her boat to one side and
> >lowered her into a side chute so she could complete the drop.  Their fast
> >actions kept a dangerous situation from getting out of control.
> >
> >Help us learn from your experiences. Send your accounts of near-misses to
> >Charlie Walbridge, American Whitewater Safety Committee, 230 Penllyn Pike,
> >Blue Bell, PA 19422 phone 215-646-0157; fax 215-643-0668; email: Cwal_at_
> >Compuserve.com. If they are well written, send them directly to the editor
> >of American Whitewater.

attached mail follows:

>Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 11:31:43 -0500
>From: CHARLIE WALBRIDGE <cwal_at_compuserve.com>
>Subject: Near Miss Report 1997
>Sender: CHARLIE WALBRIDGE <cwal_at_compuserve.com>
>To: Lee Belknap <RiverGypsy_at_sprintmail.com>
>Cc: Joe Pulliam <72002.305_at_compuserve.com>,
> Slim Ray <76450.3264_at_compuserve.com>, Dave Reichert <reichert_at_uthscsa.edu>
>
>Close Calls 1997 
>
>Near misses have a lot to teach paddlers because they serve as an early
>warning system for future accidents. They also show how ordinary paddlers
>work successfully under pressure, ideas which can help you if you face a
>similar problem yourself.  they also help us develop new skills for
>avoiding and dealing with trouble. Although many close calls are never
>reported outside of the small groups that regularly paddle together, those
>which are sent to us are always interesting. I received ten reports in
>1997. I’d like to thank those who sent them in for their generosity, and to
>encourage anyone who survives such an experience (or hears about one) to
>share it with the readers of American Whitewater.
>
>Slim Ray forwarded a near-miss report from the AKC website
>(www.alpine-kayak-club.org) that occurred on the Amahac River in Mexico.
>Rip Harwood was with a group running the river when he was shoved to the
>right side of a drop. The boulder was undercut, and he and his rodeo boat
>were shoved under the rock. His kayak pinned, he bailed out, and he was
>carried still further down. He opened his eyes, swam for the light, and
>popped out in the pool below. He was under water about 30 seconds. His boat
>and paddle never reappeared, although a pair of sandals which were not tied
>in washed through. 
>
>Bill Robertson and Michael Stein from the Three Rivers Paddling Club of
>Pittsburgh were entering River’s End Rapid on the Lower Yough on July 18th
>when he noticed two people on the shore gesturing for help. It turned out
>that a woman on a self-guided raft trip with friends had  fallen out of her
>raft at the top of the rapid and become wedged at the hips, head
>downstream, between Snaggletooth and the adjoining rock. She fought to keep
>her head above water but was rapidly becoming exhausted  Her friends were
>in the downstream eddy but they could not get close enough to help. 
>
>Bill and Michael eddied out below. Bill exited his kayak, grabbed his throw
>bag, and started to work his way across the rocks. As Michael shouted
>continuous encouragement to the trapped rafter, Bill scrambled to the top
>of a huge boulder above the accident site. Once he slipped and dropped his
>throw bag, but Michael snagged it and tossed it back to him. Bill could not
>see his target from the top of the rock, so he threw the rope in upstream
>so it could drift to the target drift to where it was needed. The rope
>allowed the woman to pull herself free. Thanks to their alert action she
>was able to continue the trip after a brief rest.
>
>On July 20th there was a near-miss on the Limestone Run of California’s
>Kern River. Four kayakers, two using older small-cockpit kayaks and two
>using sit-on-tops, were attempting this Class IV run at 920 cfs, a very low
>level. At Joe’s Diner one of the boaters pinned end-to-end at the bottom,
>between a mid-stream rock and the right shore. After several minutes he
>flipped and tried to extricate himself, but he was quite tall (6’2) and
>cold not do so. He was under water for 1-2 minutes before other members of
>the group could get to him. Dan Mulvahill, who submitted this report,
>arrived at the scene just after the victim was revived with CPR! The victim
>is doing fine, with no problems except some residual pain in his legs from
>a too-small cockpit.
>
>Eric Hendrickson dropped me a line about a close call at Coliseum Rapid on
>West Virginia’s Cheat River. With the Albright Gauge reading 3.0’ a woman,
>paddling second to last, missed the narrow right hand line and pinned under
>a huge log pinned against a giant rock on the left shore. Radwan Hallaba,
>the sweep boater landed on river left and quickly climbed out onto the log.
>He held the woman’s head above water until reinforcements arrived from
>downstream. With the additional manpower they were able to release the
>boat. The woman was shaken, but able to paddle out.
>
>A single-person oar raft missed an eddy and was flipped by a river-wide
>strainer on Tumwater Canyon of Washington’s Wenachee River on August 30th.
>This steep, class V run was carrying 1250 cfs, a low but prudent level. As
>the boat went over the rafter’s legs became entangled. When the raft hung
>up under the log it left him hanging in the current with his head barely
>above the surface. His friends supported his body and took over 15 minutes
>to free him. He was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released.
>The raft was released from the strainer the next day.
>A channel cut below the powerhouse at Thunder Rock carries water to the
>Lower Ocoee River in Tennessee Crede Calhoun reported to rec.boats.paddle
>that a very nasty hole is created when water from the Upper Ocoee drops
>into this channel. He witnessed a female boater get trashed and
>recirculated there. A companion made a daring boat rescue and plucked her
>from the hole. An article in the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club Newsletter
>reports a similar incident in which throw ropes were required to get the
>paddler out. Several rafts also got stuck here and needed ropes to escape
>also.
>A New Hampshire man almost drowned after falling out of a commercial raft
>at Little Poplar Hill Falls on the Dead River in Maine. This is one of the
>fall high-water weekends when 5500 cfs is let go, turning the Dead into a
>wild big-water roller coaster.  He was one of four paddlers who fell out of
>the boat. Three were plucked from the river by their guide, but David
>Thompson, 31, was recirculated in a hole. Guides from another company
>pulled him from the river and began rescue breathing. An ambulance was
>called; Thompson was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and
>released. 
>Rescue Magazine reported that on the afternoon of October 6 three
>individuals, paddling a tandem canoe and a kayak, accidentally ran the 30’
>Sandstone Falls on the New River downstream of Hinton, WV. Two managed to
>swim to shore, but a third was trapped at on a rock in a narrow chute at
>the base of the falls. For nine hours NPS Rangers, rescue squad personnel,
>and a Coast Guard helicopter attempted to reach him. The rescue was only
>completed after the corps of engineers closed all the gates at Bluestone
>Dam, lowering the water level enough that a park ranger could reach him by
>boat.
>
>American Whitewater’s Steve Taylor, who serves as a liaison between the
>paddling community and law enforcement authorities on the Lower Potomac
>near Washington from Great Falls to Tidewater, reported a very unsettling
>incident. The river rose sharply following heavy rains, then dropped to 6’
>on November 11th, veteran’s day. A kayaker, wearing only light polypro and
>no paddle jacket, flipped and swam the entire S-Turn and Mather Gorge from
>the Observation Deck put-in below Great Falls, a distance of several miles.
>The gorge is sheer-walled and the rapids, though not difficult, are fast
>and squirrelly at these flows. His buddy was unable to rescue him and ended
>up swimming also! The first swimmer ended up at the old George Washington
>Canal cut where a climber found him barely able to move. 
>
>The climber ran to the ticket booth and reported that he had found a
>kayaker who was so cold he was delirious that he could not stand! The park
>rangers called 911. This brings out a number of different rescue squads,
>not to mention the newspapers! The rescue squads found the paddler’s
>kayaks; the boaters themselves walked out under their own power and refused
>assistance. But some very negative stories were published in the local
>papers and heard on the radio the next day. 
>
>Taylor writes, “Even the best of us occasionally swim. However, turning a
>simple swim into a 911 incident by failing to wear cold weather gear has
>consequences far beyond the immediate technical and medical ones. Just as a
>wilderness river poses added risks due to its isolation, a river near a
>large city has added problems due to its visibility. In this case, these
>consequences included having to deal with the authorities, reporters, and
>the general public who may think this sort of problem is typical. We must
>therefore always be on the lookout for, and advise aggressively, any
>inexperienced boater who appears to be headed for trouble.”  
>
>Will Reeves from Clemson University forwarded a report of a rescue made by
>a group of friends while making a low water (1.2) run of  Section IV of the
>Chatooga River. This river forms the northern border between Georgia and
>South Carolina. It is known for its bizarre rock formations. At the end of
>Jawbone Rapid there is a large rock with a hole through it. Many people
>have swum through “Hydroelectric Rock”, but there’s always a concern that
>it could become blocked with debris. Tricky currents just upstream and
>bigger drops farther above make the drop difficult.
>
>Reeve’s friends had just run the rapid after setting throw ropes at the
>bottom. They were getting ready to leave when they heard a call for help. 
>Running upriver, they saw a woman pinned against Hydro. Her kayak was
>jammed in the hole stern-first! She was stable for the time being, but it
>was a precarious situation. The group was worried that she could slip
>farther back into the hole. One person threw a rope right to her, and while
>another person downstream got out of his boat and set up a rope to act as
>safety backup. By this time others had arrived. It took four people to pull
>her upstream, out of the hole. They ferried her boat to one side and
>lowered her into a side chute so she could complete the drop.  Their fast
>actions kept a dangerous situation from getting out of control.
>
>Help us learn from your experiences. Send your accounts of near-misses to
>Charlie Walbridge, American Whitewater Safety Committee, 230 Penllyn Pike,
>Blue Bell, PA 19422 phone 215-646-0157; fax 215-643-0668; email: Cwal_at_
>Compuserve.com. If they are well written, send them directly to the editor
>of American Whitewater.
>
>
>
David Reichert
Student Services
The University of  Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio



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