Re: [Paddlewise] Whirlpool advice on Paddling.Net

> Whirlpools are occasionally found on high-volume/flood-stage rivers  
> -- one
> of the more notable examples being the Niagara River below the  
> falls, where
> they're powerful enough to suck canoes/kayaks completely underwater.

Here is a story from my limited whitewater past. I took a weekend  
beginners WW training class with a group called CHOTA in Southern  
Tennessee USA. Last day we ran a six hour stretch of river which is a  
long time to stay folded up in a stubby lime green kayak. I entered  
an area where pretty much everybody was swimming which was common in  
our group of novices. I was about to find out why.  As I got closer I  
saw three small whirlpools perhaps a yard/meter across. The first one  
let me pass with a small brace. The second one swallowed my ten foot  
Necky Rip stern first and down I went. I mean jeez I couldn't even  
see daylight I sank so deep. Had I entered a wormhole? Where would I  
end up? I was  hoping maybe Fiji when it let me go.  Up I popped  
feeling relief and excitement twisted together into a noose around my  
neck. I braced and prepared to paddle when it grabbed me again. "Not  
good," I thought as the bow lifted and the stern sank. I waited to be  
released. I popped up, rolled and actively tried to escape. Again it  
took the stern down and the rest followed obediently. This time I  
squirmed and turned underwater trying to break the cycle. It worked.  
When I popped up I was a bit further down stream and out of reach. A  
very tough looking female paddler was sitting on the bank as I passed  
and said in a gruff voice, " Starting to worry 'bout you". I nodded,  
smiled and said, "Me too"!

Jim et al
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