Boating Safety
The following article was first
published in
"Waterlines" a publication of the Poudre Paddlers our local
paddling club referred to as the Canoe, Kayak, Rafting and Social Club. The real story follows...
Hey, Don't be a Dork!
(or Susan drags another butt out of Bridges)...a testimony by Dave Taylor
(or Susan drags another butt out of Bridges)...a testimony by Dave Taylor
Last summer I became tired of my regular existence on the Filter Plant run.
I'd been down it one too many times and I was ready for
adventure. Susan Graham agreed to escort me on my first run
of Bridges [section of the Poudre River ed.] and I was ready.
After all, I'd had my boat in the water twice already this
year and thought about taking safety-training classes
each of the last four years. I figured that was almost as
good as going to the class.
Susan led each stretch after giving sound advice and stern warnings. Then I talked to myself: "Okay Dave, keep the hips loose, paddle in the water, body upright, go, go, go". Scooted through everything just fine. Bypassed the deadly grip of Killer Bridge. A little adrenaline, some fun, and I will admit even some fear, but it never felt like the river was trying to kill me like it did the first year swimming through Screaming Left-hand Turn.
Susan led each stretch after giving sound advice and stern warnings. Then I talked to myself: "Okay Dave, keep the hips loose, paddle in the water, body upright, go, go, go". Scooted through everything just fine. Bypassed the deadly grip of Killer Bridge. A little adrenaline, some fun, and I will admit even some fear, but it never felt like the river was trying to kill me like it did the first year swimming through Screaming Left-hand Turn.
========================================================================================
So what is the point of this blow-by-blow? Susan
saved my butt. Go to every safety class you can ever get
to. Don't be a dork like me. -- Dave Taylor
========================================================================================
So what is the point of this blow-by-blow? Susan
saved my butt. Go to every safety class you can ever get
to. Don't be a dork like me. -- Dave Taylor
========================================================================================
We are off again. Susan
makes a clean run, pulls a perfect eddy and waits. I head
into the rapid almost confidently and confidently wipe out before the
rapid really gets started. All right, I've been here
before. Heads up, look for the boat, there it is, an easy
catch. BAMMMM: light explodes in my head. Two
seconds later another one goes off. I look up just in time to
catch a perfect toss from Susan who somehow managed to get out of and
anchor her boat, free up the rope, and make the pass. She
must have had all of five or six seconds to pull off a perfect rescue.
I swing into shore, crawl up onto the rocks and try not to freak out. Five minutes pass while waves of nausea sweep over me just like the river. If only I could toss my cookies I would feel better. My left knee feels like somebody hit it with a sledgehammer. My right hip feels like they hit there, too, and then finished off with some eighty-grit sandpaper. After maybe twenty minutes and plenty of study by my rescuer I can finally manage to get back in the boat and finish the five-minute run to the car.
So what is the point of this blow-by-blow? Susan saved my butt. Go to every safety class you can ever get to. Don't be a dork like me. Had the tables been reversed I wouldn't have been much good to Susan just because I didn't want to "screw up" a summer weekend taking a safety class.
White water is different from the other dangerous stuff I do. If I break a leg six miles off trail alone in the wilderness, I am pretty well prepared. And I have time. Gravity stops pulling on you eventually when you are on dry land. Rivers don't stop pulling. If you manage to knock yourself out on dry land, you are still going to breath. And while hypothermia may be a problem on dry land, in a river, it is a given. On land you've usually got more than ten seconds to think. Ten seconds may be all you have in a rapid. Go to those safety classes.
Just as an aside, here is what I did wrong after the wipe out. I tried to get to my boat. This has worked many times in the past when I wiped out in deep water. Grab the boat (a sit on top kayak), roll it over, and get back on. But in the shallow water of a rock-filled rapid this technique was a big mistake. If I had rolled to my back, got my feet down-river and my butt up, I would have only been about fifteen inches in the water and I would probably have flushed through with some minor scrapes. Instead I floated through while hanging vertically in the water. Now I was almost four feet in the water and my knees and hips were the shock absorbers, instead of my feet and legs.
Go to those classes and thank your lucky stars for folks like Susan. (Thanks Susan.) Maybe I will get smart and be prepared to return the favor someday.
I swing into shore, crawl up onto the rocks and try not to freak out. Five minutes pass while waves of nausea sweep over me just like the river. If only I could toss my cookies I would feel better. My left knee feels like somebody hit it with a sledgehammer. My right hip feels like they hit there, too, and then finished off with some eighty-grit sandpaper. After maybe twenty minutes and plenty of study by my rescuer I can finally manage to get back in the boat and finish the five-minute run to the car.
So what is the point of this blow-by-blow? Susan saved my butt. Go to every safety class you can ever get to. Don't be a dork like me. Had the tables been reversed I wouldn't have been much good to Susan just because I didn't want to "screw up" a summer weekend taking a safety class.
White water is different from the other dangerous stuff I do. If I break a leg six miles off trail alone in the wilderness, I am pretty well prepared. And I have time. Gravity stops pulling on you eventually when you are on dry land. Rivers don't stop pulling. If you manage to knock yourself out on dry land, you are still going to breath. And while hypothermia may be a problem on dry land, in a river, it is a given. On land you've usually got more than ten seconds to think. Ten seconds may be all you have in a rapid. Go to those safety classes.
Just as an aside, here is what I did wrong after the wipe out. I tried to get to my boat. This has worked many times in the past when I wiped out in deep water. Grab the boat (a sit on top kayak), roll it over, and get back on. But in the shallow water of a rock-filled rapid this technique was a big mistake. If I had rolled to my back, got my feet down-river and my butt up, I would have only been about fifteen inches in the water and I would probably have flushed through with some minor scrapes. Instead I floated through while hanging vertically in the water. Now I was almost four feet in the water and my knees and hips were the shock absorbers, instead of my feet and legs.
Go to those classes and thank your lucky stars for folks like Susan. (Thanks Susan.) Maybe I will get smart and be prepared to return the favor someday.
Dave
is not really a dork, and along with his
wife Lori and daughter Maria, is a long-time Poudre Paddlers member
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