Dear friends, I am a lurker in this list. A friend in ND, knowing that I am a kayaker (of sorts), sent me the link to this article, which I thought was very interesting. This account was published in the Fargo ND newspaper In-Forum. It relates how a Choung Nget, a Cambodian immigrant, a small man physically, risked his life to rescue two 200+lb boaters from a sure death situation. The article, written by Joe Whetham, describes the details of the rescue. In the article, a kayaker from Moorhead, Matt Ahonen, calls this feat "remarkable". The article says in part : <<Ahonen, 30, a whitewater kayaker who has been canoeing the Red River for more than 20 years, marveled at how Nget risked his life to drag the brothers from treacherous waters below a low-head dam b an often misconceived and deadly water trap.>> The two boaters were in a canoe that capsized in the waters of a low-head dam. b They nickname (a low-head dam) the Maytag,b Ahonen said, referring to a washing machine. b It just keeps you in like a load of clothes. It circulates you, takes you down, crashes you against the rocks and brings you back up. You couldnbt get the top whitewater paddlers in the world to go into a low-head damn like that.b This is what Ahonen calls a "drowning machine", which also, he says "makes Ngetbs feat that much more incredible." The link to the article http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=100536§ion=News I never heard about this "low-head dam" situation, and I thought that may be other paddlers should know about it. Best regards, Hap Prado *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 29 Aug 2005 at 0:50, HapSailor1_at_aol.com wrote: > I never heard about this "low-head dam" situation, and I thought that > may be other paddlers should know about it. A low-head dam is a special case of a general situation where water pours over an obstacle and forms a recirculating flow downstream of the object. Any of these recirculating flows can trap you. However, what makes a low-head dam special is that the dam is usually fairly symmetric about the point where a paddler gets trapped. In that situation, there is nothing to push the paddler out and he stays there for a long time. With a smaller or unsymmetric object, the asymmetric flow will tend to cause the paddler to move one way or another away from the trap and allow him to escape. The danger for a rescuer is considerable, since if he gets into the same hole, he is potentially trapped too. One way out of this situation is to swim _down_. You try to get below the recirculating water and hope you are flushed out. If you're really getting maytagged, finding "down" can be tricky. Sometimes, grabbing your ankles and holding yourself in a tight fetal position can cause you to be flushed out of the hole, since the water has less friction on your body. If the momentum of your body swirling in a circle exceeds the forces of the water, you can break free. Not something I've ever had the pleasure of testing. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I never heard about this "low-head dam" situation, and I thought that may be other paddlers should know about it. Best regards, Hap Prado The "rust belt" is full of low head dams. Others have said what dangers they pose. But a little one on the DesPlaines River, near where I live (Chicago suburbs), is the closest play spot to my home. At high water the dam forms a perfect surfing wave. It is the only low head I've ever met that has no homicide in its spirit. Even at high water an adult would only be thigh deep standing in its backwash. At low water duck walk over it. The Ohio department of public safety, not sure of the official name, put out a movie many years ago called "The Drowning Machine" about these dams. Very scary. Jim Tibensky *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
If a low-head dam is so dangerous, then why are they made in the first place? Lucius Kahng, systems administrator (703)841-3206 W - (703)313-8146 M *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 29 Aug 2005 at 11:05, Kahng, Lucius wrote: > If a low-head dam is so dangerous, then why are they made in the first > place? They are made as dams, not playthings. They are only dangerous as playthings. They are very useful as dams. I used to live by a river that has low-head dams to keep the lamprey from migrating upstream and wiping out fish populations. The signs at the dams say to stay off. Those that obey the signs are safe. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:42 PDT