SWR on Lower Haw /Discussion
| River: | Haw |
| Skill: | All |
| Trip Date: | 11/15/2020 |
This was posted on CCC Facebook page for discussion and I am now re writing it and adding all the comments and advise taken from that discussion.
On November 15th, Myself, Steve Johnson, and Mark and Angela Wiseman paddled the Middle and Lower Haw river at around 5000 CFS. I would consider myself and Steve intermediates and we both paddled low volume play boats, Angela considers herself a novice however I would only consider her a novice in that she has not learned to roll yet, but she has plenty of experience on different rivers at different levels, she was paddling her Jackson Zen. Her husband Mark sounds like he has paddled plenty as well and paddles an inflatable kayak. We also ended up having 2 local paddlers join our group. One was very proficient in his playboat and came prepared with appropriate cold weather gear. The other was paddling an RPM and did not come prepared so he ended up borrowing a wetsuit type top. The air temp was in the 60’s and expected to get in the high 60’s/low 70’s so a couple of the paddlers ended up not wearing dry suits. I almost opted out of wearing my dry pants but have always remembered my awesome SWR instructors saying dress for the rescue, not the swim so I wore both top and pants. Our trip down the middle section was fun with no issues. Everyone was doing good and the only ones flipping were the ones playing but they were able to roll up with no issues until we reached Gabriel’s Bend. I was the first going down and eddy out in the middle to watch the rest of the group go down. There was a group of 3 playboaters, down at the surf wave which was expected due to at least 2 other groups running the lower section to our knowledge and I had seen them from the top of Gab’s. Steve followed me and ended up taking the large eddy just above the surf wave. Angela followed and at some point above the surf wave flipped and immediately wet exit. I held my position as I knew there were at least 4 competent boaters downstream from her and I still had 3 boaters from my group above me that I wanted to make sure made it to this point. Mark followed her, then the guy in the RPM and lastly the other playboater. Once I saw them all safely pass me I peeled out and headed downstream. At this point I saw that the RPM paddler has also swam at some point near the surf wave. After going through the surf wave I saw the RPM floating off to the left with 2 paddlers heading towards it. I then saw Angela who appeared to be just standing in the water up to waist level just above the far left line into Moosejaw rapid and then I saw the RPM paddler standing on a big rock above Moosejaw. Steve was in the middle of both swimmers talking to them so I paddled to Angela who appeared to be in the least stable position. I did not remember seeing Mark in the inflatable nor Angela’s boat at this time but Angela had her paddle. After getting to her she told me she was actually sitting on a rock so and doing ok so I looked around to assess what we had. Directly below her was the far left portion of Moosejaw which at lower flows usually has a small turn and a rock at the bottom to include it had recently had a log in the bottom but I could not see all the way down it, to the river right was the leading edges of Moosejaw and to the left was the maze. 
My first thought was to get Mark with the inflatable over to her and let her go down the maze with him but at that same time I saw Mark already half way down Moosejaw. From my point of view it looked like the best option was going to be to get her to the top of Maze so I stayed with her in my kayak and took her paddle and had her wade/then swim to the closest large rock. Once close I went to the rock and got out of my kayak to help her get to the rock. By time I got her to the rock I had one of the 3 playboaters below me and another upsteam from us with Steve. At some point the other swimmer had jumped in on his own and swam moosejaw. That swimmer was apparently barefoot as he was only wearing some sort of flip flops in his kayak and he obviously lost them. I would definitely not recommended what he did, especially without some sort of established downstream safety but I was not there for his decision and thankfully he made it through ok. At this point I decided to do something that is frowned upon in SWR and become a voluntary swimmer to assist Angela down the Maze. My decision at the time was based upon my assessment of her confidence moving from the rock in the middle to where we currently were. I did make an assessment of the rapids downstream and my abilities prior to making that decision and felt confidently that I could safely swim that section myself without putting anyone or myself at risk. I took my throw rope with me and swam in the direction that the 2 safety boaters said would be best route and took up ground just downstream on a good stable rock that I could use to retrieve Angela once she swam down the little drop. Once she got into the water she floated down through and I was able to rope her into the rock I was on while the 2 safety boaters were on both sides of her. From there were able to wade down next to one of the mostly submerged islands where my boat was currently with another paddler. I put my throw rope in the kayak with both our paddles and made the mistake of sending it down another rapid without me and this time it flipped yard selling all the gear. Luckily most of the boaters were just downstream of this rapid at this point and they were able to recover all that. I then sent Angela first on this last rapid and swam directly behind her and we then swam the last little wave train that ended in the backed up lake to another submerged island where all the boats and boaters eventually linked up with us and we got back into the boats for the paddle to the take out. I do not know how everything played out with the RPM paddler as I was on the other side of Moose jaw and could not see. The SWR was a success by all definitions as no one was hurt nor any equipment lost to my knowledge.
OK my self assessment first; I definitely understood the risks of becoming a swimmer to assist in the rescue and knew it was not a preferred method but once again made that decision based upon the following;
· I was confident I could swim the remaining rapids with very little risk to myself or others.
· After assessing the remaining rapids I believed that Angela could also safely swim from rock to rock with me downstream with a rope and 2 safety boaters.
· I had 2 experienced safety boaters just downstream on both sides to help assist in the routes to take
· I firmly believed at the time, and still do that Angela needed the hands on help at this point. She was by no means panicking or freaked out but she was hesitant to swim or wade on her own. I had not mentioned it in the above section but she was not wearing a dry top or pants, only neoprene and while she was not cold at the time and we were not far from takeout, I did not think it was in our best interest to extend the rescue any more than we needed too
· Having not paddled with the 2 safety boaters previously or knowing their methods and no way to decisively communicate a complete plan, I felt it was best to control the situation from my position as it was easier to just communicate what I was planning and to the credit of the two safety boaters, both who definitely have way more experience than me, they let me continue to control the situation even though it was unorthodox.
Self Assessment as to other things I may have done after the fact. The first swim between the boaters I should have stayed on the rock and let Angela swim first, then if needed I could jump in to help, and if she made it to the next eddy or rock on her own or with the assistance of the boaters I could have got back in my kayak and met up with them to do the same through the next set of rapids.
Recommendations and Ideas from fellow boaters on the CCC Facebook Page;
· Use a rope from the bottom of Gabriel’s Bend to pull her out and over to the river right bank. Also mentioned roping from the bank.
o I do not think either were possible from her position as she was below the horizontal line of the edge of Moose jaw and we only had 1 or 2 boaters above Moosejaw still in boats. Unknown if we would have had enough rope and at this level it would have to be from the surf wave rock all the way down to the leading edge of Moosejaw as there were no rocks between to use.
o Another comment was posted recommending extreme caution attempting to rope in a swimmer just above a ledge, such as Moosejaw as one slip of the rope or loss of grip and the swimmer is now going over the ledge.
· Have the swimmer ride on the back of a kayak down through the milder maze sections. I am assuming this is kind of a piggy back method where the swimmer crawls up on the stern of the pulling kayak and gets as much body on the boat as possible to protect the body as it goes down through the rapids.
o I do like the idea of this method and would like to attempt this in a set scenario to see what the practicality of it would be but during our SWR we had only low volume playboats available as the larger volume boats were the ones that flipped and the inflatable was already downstream.
· Climb over the large rock formation between Moosejaw/Maze and drop in the pool on the downstream side.
o This could have been a possibility but I did not have the line of sight to see if that avenue was clear nor did I have clear communication with anyone who could see that.
o Additionally from her position in the water we only had one chance to make a move, it was either right or left and we had to commit to that as the flow was high enough it would put more risk in the equation to end up moving back across the channel she was currently in.
· Move the swimmer to the “easier” line of the maze towards the river left side. There was some confusion on the FB discussion as to if this comment meant Harold’s Tombsone rapids but I believe the person posting was referring to the line that is most commonly run at lower levels and is more or less center of the river but is on the left side of the Maze and is usually a smoother line to go down but like most others ends up coming out below Moosejaw just after the island.
o I do not believe this was possible either as I don’t think we could have ferried her that far with the current at that level.
I think I covered the key points with the comments, Please feel free to comment if I have missed any.
When I was in the military there were numerous techniques and procedures that we used that I have found to work very well with this sport. This is one, in the military it is called an AAR or After Action Review and something I firmly believe we should do after each incident or SWR even if it is minor with no injuries. It gives everyone a chance to hear how the scenario played out, what went wrong, what went right, what could we do better. Hopefully all this information helps out some paddler in the future when they come across a situation that one of these techniques can be used and it allows them to successfully perform a rescue. With that being said the only way we can all learn is to talk about it and let your peers give suggestions and tips.
In closing, thank you again to all the great group of paddlers that were out there helping with this SWR to include the guys who were not even paddling with us, as stated in the FB comments, that is what makes this community so great, everyone is always willing to help out.
William Holman