When I left he house on Thursday morning it was raining and 44 degrees. The Buffalo River wasn’t flooded, but it was higher, and colder, than normal with the recent cold rains. Perfect swimming weather, right?
As fun as it DOESN’T sound, that’s exactly what I left the house to go do; spend a good part of the day in the frigid water. I wasn’t alone though; there were 17 other folks with equal apparent lack of sense.
Actually, I was taking part in a three-day swiftwater rescue training course. The course is designed to teach us to assist or rescue people who are find themselves in a bad situation after an overturned canoe, their car gets washed off a low water slab, or some other calamity that has put them in a torrent of water.
Day (Wednesday) one of the class was spent in the classroom learning about the dynamics of moving water, safety issues, rescue knots and rope techniques and more. Thursday and Friday were around and in the water.
The class was being put on by the National Park Service folks here at Buffalo National River. I sometimes help them out when there is a search, a rescue or other emergency in the park (read the next blog to see what I mean). Our main instructor was a gentleman named Rick Brown, a retired Park Ranger who now lives in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Rick will also be one of the main instructors on an upcoming High-Angle rescue course I will be taking in the Blue Ridge Parkway in a couple of weeks. I’ll be photographing that course for Outdoor Life Magazine.
Anyway, back to the class. The classroom instruction was great and really set the foundation for the water portion. Thursday found us just upstream of Erbie on the Buffalo River. The thermometer in my Jeep said 44 degrees, the wind was blowing and it was starting to rain. No worries, we all get into our wetsuits (some had dry suits), PFD’s (AKA “Life Jackets”), helmets and all the other sexy gear we needed and headed up to the training area.
We spent a good part of the day in the water learning to self-rescue, practicing our throw bag techniques, learning aggressive rescue swimming, learning to manage capsized boats and other swiftwater rescue staples. Between sessions and throughout the day, we also got to try out some cool new gadgets like the Mokai, a small kayak sized boat with a jet-propelled engine similar to those found on jet-ski’s. Check out their website at www.mokai.com. What a great little boat!
Swiftwater rescue is a very physically demanding discipline and the end of the first day found us worn out. It was great fun though, and some great instruction. We all went home, ready for warm food, a hot shower and a bed. We had to be back the next morning to do it again.
It had rained on us off and on throughout Thursday, and then had rained more overnight. By Friday, the river was noticeably fuller (meaning swifter, stronger, murkier, and colder). We arrived back at Erbie and began to get back into our wetsuits. Now, if you don’t know how a wetsuit works, I’ll explain. A wetsuit is so named because when you have them on you get WET, they do not keep you dry. They allow a small amount of water to come into the suit, where it is trapped and warmed by your body. In a few minutes, you are warm, even in frigid water. BUT, that first few minutes is a different story. Then, you show up the next day and put it back on while still on the shore and guess what…. It’s still wet inside and somewhat chilly.
Nonetheless, we all suit up and go at it again. Although Friday’s water conditions were colder and fuller, the day was muck more pleasant with sunny skies and warmer temps. Once you got that initial cold water shock out of the way, it was very nice, even occasionally a little too warm when out of the water and still in your gear.
Friday seemed more physical than Thursday had been, partially because it was, buy also because the water was colder, which drains your strength remarkably fast, and we were still somewhat drained from the day before. On Friday, we learned some more advanced rope techniques such as using “Z” drags using ropes, pulleys and other rescue gear to gain a mechanical advantage when working in the unbelievable force of moving water. We also learned to set up “Zip-Lines” to ferry people or boats across treacherous water, worked on freeing someone from a foot entrapment (more on that in a minute) and learned to free ourselves from and avoid “strainers” (hazards in the water that the current flows through such as downed trees, etc). The strength needed to do that is just about all one can muster. It is truly unbelievable until you try it. Oh, and DON’T try it unless you are in a controlled setting as we were, with a simulated strainer.
I mentioned foot entrapment a minute ago. A foot entrapment is one of the most common causes of drowning in many areas. What often happens is a boater ends up in moving water either from falling out or turning their boat over. Most folks immediately begin trying to stand up and gain their footing. In moving water this is the worst thing you can do! Victims will get their feet on the bottom and their foot will become lodged behind a rock. The power of the current will prevent them from being able to get their foot out and will push their upper body into the water. I don’t care if you are Mr. (or Ms) Muscle America, you can’t continue to fight the water, even a small amount is just too powerful. Less than a foot of fast moving water can wash a full-sized car or pickup downstream, so we don’t stand a chance.
So, if you remember one thing about swiftwater safety (well, lets go with two). If you suddenly find yourself in moving water DO NOT put your feet down!! Instead, roll onto your back (especially since you have on your life jacket), put your feet downstream and up to where you can see them and ride it out until safer water. Use your feet as bumpers to push off of rocks and other hazards and use your arms to steer clear of them or to get to a safer area.
The second thing to remember is to do all you can to avoid obstacles in the water such as trees, fences, rocks the water goes under, bridges or anything else that may trap you. You HAVE to respect the power of moving water. There is an old Chinese proverb that says “In the battle between the rock and the water, eventually the water will win.” But when you find yourself in a swiftwater situation, there is no “eventually” about it, you can get into a world of trouble in an instant.
Great post! Just wanted to let you know you have a new subscriber- me!