Man, way to help a brother out. That’s some real tenacity and determination. Great illustration of a river rescue. Trying and failing and trying again. I was wondering whether he considered abandoning the raft would release it from the hydraulic… after progressively releasing the gear for collection downstream.
That's also why I carry a 5 gallon bucket and an extra throw bag. When your done surfing, throw the 5 gallon bucket attached to the raft with a throw rope and it will pull you out every time
I like the sea anchor idea. After we finally got ourselves together, Lou and I discussed that idea, but if I recall correctly, his best option for a sea anchor was himself, and he decided it was more helpful to stay in the raft in case it didn't work.
My pleasure. I usually like to include an analysis, but there was so much going on, that I didn't. I think I'm getting more good ideas from people's reactions and feedback after watching what we did.
My suggestions for training are: Practice releasable knots to attach the rope to the raft, so that the boatman has his hands free. Practice where to attach the rope so that the boat can be pulled in a streamlined manner. Generally this would be bow or stern and not at the oar mounts. (Tie to frame, but with guide biner at the bow or stern.) Boatmen should practice using an oar as a paddle at the bow or stern to move the raft across the wave hole. It looked to me that the raft was in the stickiest part on the river left side of the wave. Therefore throwing ropes from river left to pull further river left seemed a bad idea. Kudos to the kayaker being able to get out on the rock, but it looked like a useless location to me. If a kayaker caught the eddy close to the raft, they might have been able to help ferry a rope to the river right shore, maybe...but you could have at least communicated from there. Pulling from river right seemed a much better option, to me. Looked like a shorter rope throw from river right, as well. However, the pulling crew tried to pull the boat downstream, against the wave, rather than straight right across the trough. I think they would have found it a much easier pull directly right, pulling the boat across the trough to where the current was pushing through. Final thought: It looked like the boat was very close to coming out on its own at times. If the boatman had an oar in the water at the river right end of the boat, I think there was a good chance of pulling himself out.
I think I would have flipped the raft and just let it come out. Lots of ropes = entrapment issues with a person still on the boat. Glad you guys had all that gear though and some training.
Should have low sided and flipped it. To many ropes. I love surfing rafts. My buddy Ewok and myself surfed a hole on Wilson Creek in a raft for over an hour at a rapid called bathtub at plus 18 inches.
Man, way to help a brother out. That’s some real tenacity and determination. Great illustration of a river rescue. Trying and failing and trying again. I was wondering whether he considered abandoning the raft would release it from the hydraulic… after progressively releasing the gear for collection downstream.
That's also why I carry a 5 gallon bucket and an extra throw bag. When your done surfing, throw the 5 gallon bucket attached to the raft with a throw rope and it will pull you out every time
So many mistakes.
I like the sea anchor idea. After we finally got ourselves together, Lou and I discussed that idea, but if I recall correctly, his best option for a sea anchor was himself, and he decided it was more helpful to stay in the raft in case it didn't work.
Thank you for sharing this! Lots of lessons from it. Glad y’all are ok.
My pleasure. I usually like to include an analysis, but there was so much going on, that I didn't. I think I'm getting more good ideas from people's reactions and feedback after watching what we did.
My suggestions for training are: Practice releasable knots to attach the rope to the raft, so that the boatman has his hands free. Practice where to attach the rope so that the boat can be pulled in a streamlined manner. Generally this would be bow or stern and not at the oar mounts. (Tie to frame, but with guide biner at the bow or stern.) Boatmen should practice using an oar as a paddle at the bow or stern to move the raft across the wave hole. It looked to me that the raft was in the stickiest part on the river left side of the wave. Therefore throwing ropes from river left to pull further river left seemed a bad idea. Kudos to the kayaker being able to get out on the rock, but it looked like a useless location to me. If a kayaker caught the eddy close to the raft, they might have been able to help ferry a rope to the river right shore, maybe...but you could have at least communicated from there. Pulling from river right seemed a much better option, to me. Looked like a shorter rope throw from river right, as well. However, the pulling crew tried to pull the boat downstream, against the wave, rather than straight right across the trough. I think they would have found it a much easier pull directly right, pulling the boat across the trough to where the current was pushing through. Final thought: It looked like the boat was very close to coming out on its own at times. If the boatman had an oar in the water at the river right end of the boat, I think there was a good chance of pulling himself out.
After a few minutes, it was clear that the raft wasn't going to flush out. The boatman should have low-sided to make the raft flip and flush free.
I think I would have flipped the raft and just let it come out. Lots of ropes = entrapment issues with a person still on the boat. Glad you guys had all that gear though and some training.
This video is going to be famous in no time.
great team work!
Should have low sided and flipped it. To many ropes. I love surfing rafts. My buddy Ewok and myself surfed a hole on Wilson Creek in a raft for over an hour at a rapid called bathtub at plus 18 inches.
You guys are a hot mess 😂
You're not wrong.
MAYTAG!
Holy butts! Bet he slept well that night. And the next 6 day and nights after that