The warm beautiful days of spring are here and the river looks inviting. Hell yeah!! It is inviting. There is a good flow of water and the float times are shorter than normal. Yesterday we floated from McIver to Carver in a little under three hours. Remember!!! 33% of all drownings occur because someone is trying to rescue some jerk who though he was cooler without a PFD. The water is cold and swift and the rapids are bigger than usual summer flows. These factors raise the danger level as unless you are in a bigger whitewater raft, flips and swims are more likely. Keep yourself safe, wear a good type 3 or type 5 PFD (mandatory in class 3 rapids-- which at this time of year the first rapid at McIver and the Minefield Rapid, in the middle of McIver Park, can both be considered class three). There are several class two to two plus rapids at this flow as well which also can cause swims and flips at these levels. You might ask why we are out there, bigger water, more danger, colder etc. We are out there because of our need for a river fix. Whether is for the white water thrill, the scenic beauty, wild life viewing (yesterday we spotted a matting pair of Bald Eagles and a beaver), we are out there because we love to be on the water. We have learned the skills necessary to insure reasonably safe trips and we like to share our passion with others. Here are some tips that will help you enjoy your time on the water. Make sure you are prepared with: a good boat helps A whistle A good type III OR type V PFD ( make sure it adjusted so someone could pull you back into the boat without the PFD BEING PULLED OVER YOUR HEADf.) An extra paddle or oar Drinking water Knowledge of the float times Proper clothing or protective gear Friends -- dont boat alone a Rescue Rope or Rescue throw bag (and having practiced enough with it to be able to get to it and use if needed)!! If you find yourself swimming in fast water, get on your back, feet downstream keeping your toes out of the water, use your arms in a back stroke to pull away from danger or into a calm spot at rivers edge. Relax, go with the flow and do not fight it except to get into a calm spot, or to stay away from a strainer. (see below). Breath between the waves and hold your breath/ or exhale as you go through a wave. So breath at the bottom spit at the top. This will help you as you float through the waves and are in the clear at the bottom or in through between waves. Before you float, find out what the conditions are like. As you get familiar with the flows, you can predict what the conditions of the river are before you float. You can check the flows at: waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/current/?type=flow Here is a practical way to translate river flow into usable data: CFS= Cubic Feet per Second Average summer flows on the Clackamas are in the range from about 1200cfs to 1800cfs. the flow for today, March 23rd is 3300cfs. a cubic foot of water is a little larger than the size of a basket ball, so lets use the basket ball for a frame of reference. If you were to draw a line across the river at 3300cfs there would be 3300 basketball sized chunks of water passing that line every second. imagine each basketball sized piece of water has an equal amount behind it repeated over and over etc. This extrapolates out to one hell of a lot of force on your body. This amount of force can flip your boat when you hit a rock, it can trap your foot, It will pull you under a log where a piece of clothing etc. can hook you and trap you. Also eddies become much stronger which mean eddy lines can turn in to eddy fences and the resultant boils and whirlpools much larger and stronger able to flip you and suck you down even with a PFD. 1. Foot entrapments happen when you try to stand in fast current and a foot or leg becomes pinned in boulders or ledges (both of which abound on the bottom of both all of our rivers). Rescue from a foot entrapment is difficult and often results in a broken bone or two. To avoid a foot entrapment get yourself into a good swift water swimming position which means on your back, toes downstream and out of the water. Use your arms back stroking to control your direction downstream. Use your fee to kick off the big rocks you will encounter. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO STAND UP IN SWIFT WATER THAT IS ABOVE YOUR KNEES. 2. A strainer is anything that allows water through, but can stop a human body. Example would be logs extending into the current, rood wads and even rock fences. Steer clear of strainers and if you find your accidently floating into one do your best to climb up on top of it so that you do not become trapped under it. If you are up against a strainer trying to hold onto it, it’s only a matter of time until you or your boat are pulled under it with the potential of becoming hung up while under water.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 19:18:07 +0000
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