Michael R Noyes wrote: > The conversation took a > down turn when one > of the other customers told us that the previous day a new > kayaker had died less > than 50 miles from us. He was out alone on a river near > flood stage. The > reports I read indicate that he got caught in a strainer and > didn't know how to > wet exit. Not knowing any more of the details than what Michael wrote above I still thought that the subject was worth opening up. Doing a wet exit (ie abandoning ship) when caught in a strainer (downed tree in the water) can be akin to signing your own death certificate. One of the things I learned as a beginning whitewater paddler was that if caught on a rock, deadhead, strainer, etc to LEAN INTO IT. The rock is your friend - lean into it and you won't capsize - lean away and it's tadpole time! And that's a BAD position to be in. Strainers can be deadly, but if you can lean into them (keeping your hull upstream of your body) you at least stand a fighting chance of either being able to work your way out of the predicament or possibly even being able to climb up onto it (the strainer). If you ever have a chance to take a whitewater rescue course that includes self-rescue techniques it would be well worth while for any river paddler. During my first WW rescue class we were given the opportunity to learn how to deal with a swimming encounter with a surface level deadhead (log at surface level) in a class II rapid. My first attempt (classic ww swim position - feet first) ended with my helmeted cranium leaving bits of plastic on the rocky bottom. Subsequent tries showed that the best way to deal with such an obstacle was to attack it with an agressive front-crawl approach and to LAUNCH one's upper body onto (or over) the log. Any other tactic and the current would win the battle. The best tactic is avoidance. Always better to stay out of trouble than to have to figure out how to get out of it. Dave Seng Juneau, Alaska *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
One of the things I learned as >a beginning whitewater paddler was that if caught on a rock, deadhead, >strainer, etc to LEAN INTO IT. The rock is your friend - lean into it and >you won't capsize - lean away and it's tadpole time! And that's a BAD >position to be in. > I've never whitewater kayaked, so here's a question... I've heard of people being crushed by their boats when they get wedged between the boats and immoveable objects-- I can understand why you wouldn't want to be underwater at this point, but what keeps you from being hurt by your own boat in this situation? Allison, who apparently isn't getting much work done today.... *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Allison Corning wrote: > I've never whitewater kayaked, so here's a question... I've > heard of people > being crushed by their boats when they get wedged between the > boats and > immoveable objects-- I can understand why you wouldn't want > to be underwater > at this point, but what keeps you from being hurt by your own > boat in this > situation? > I don't paddle a whitewater kayak either. It's an OC-1 (single person whitewater open canoe) - a Dagger Encore. Having the advantage of two blades would be unfair <very big grin>. Fortunately the laws of physics apply to both hull types. If you lean _into_ the obstacle you turn your hull (boat and body leaned together!) so that the water slides under it rather than catching the edge and either dumping you or possibly pinning your boat. The forces that even a moderate current can generate on a broached canoe or kayak can be incredible! I think that most WW pins are actually cases where the paddler is pinned _in_ the boat against an immoveable object rather than _between_ the boat and object. I've been in situations where I couldn't easily move my boat fore or aft because of the force of the current pinning it against a rock, but I could "edge" (or lean) enough to stay upright until a solution could be worked out (usually a forceful change of center of gravity). Leaning away from the obstacle would have invariably resulted in a capsize and/or boat pin. Dave Seng Juneau, Alaska *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
"Seng, Dave" wrote: > > Allison Corning wrote: > > > I've never whitewater kayaked, so here's a question... I've > > heard of people > > being crushed by their boats when they get wedged between the > > boats and > > immoveable objects-- I can understand why you wouldn't want > > to be underwater > > at this point, but what keeps you from being hurt by your own > > boat in this > > situation? > > > I don't paddle a whitewater kayak either. I do. > If you lean _into_ the obstacle you turn your hull (boat and body leaned > together!) so that the water slides under it rather than catching the edge > and either dumping you or possibly pinning your boat. This is what is meant by leaning into/onto the rock. You are still in your boat, and the boat is against the rock; your body is above it. Leaning the boat is more important that leaning your body. As Dave says, get the upstream edge up so the water flows under it rather than catching it. > I think that most WW pins are actually cases where the paddler > is pinned _in_ the boat against an immoveable object rather than _between_ > the boat and object. > I've been in situations where I couldn't easily move my boat fore or aft > because of the force of the current pinning it against a rock, but I could > "edge" (or lean) enough to stay upright until a solution could be worked out > (usually a forceful change of center of gravity). Leaning away from the > obstacle would have invariably resulted in a capsize and/or boat pin. Allison may be thinking of the situation where you are out of your boat. In that case, GET UPSTREAM. Otherwise, you're between a rock and a hard [boat]. Unless you're in a folder, in which case you're between a rock and a hypalon bag full of 1000 pounds of water, which is not an improvement. Steve *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>One of the things I learned as >>a beginning whitewater paddler was that if caught on a rock, deadhead, >>strainer, etc to LEAN INTO IT. > >I've never whitewater kayaked, so here's a question... I've heard of people >being crushed by their boats when they get wedged between the boats and >immoveable objects-- I can understand why you wouldn't want to be underwater >at this point, but what keeps you from being hurt by your own boat in this >situation? It's because you're leaning the boat. Toward the rock. The downward water current slides Under the boat, effectively lifting it a little. You can generally hold yourself off the obstruction with little effort. Even if you do fall out, water is not immediately entering the boat so there won't be as much pinning force. If you lean upstream as you hit the rock the water current is hitting a downward tilted facet of the boat and will flip you immediately. And the boat will catch the water, become very heavy, and become a pinning engine. Also, if you look at the obstruction, there is often a little "pillow" of water rising where the water is hitting it. Often this is enough height for the boat to slide away from the rock.. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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