Kayaker pinned & rescued on the Payette
Printed From: ProfessorPaddle.com
Category: General
Forum Name: Whitewater Forum
Forum Discription: Open Discussion Forum. Whitewater related subjects only
URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=34
Printed Date: 30 Sep 2025 at 10:20am
Topic: Kayaker pinned & rescued on the Payette
Posted By: Ronin
Subject: Kayaker pinned & rescued on the Payette
Date Posted: 27 Nov 2006 at 9:28pm
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There's a video being shown on the local Seattle King(5)-Kong(6)-NWCN(2) TV of a kayaker and her kayak wrapped / pinned on the Payette. A couple of kayakers try to bump her kayak off with their kayaks but without success. Rafters try to paddle up to get to her but the currents were too strong. Finally, a rescuer in an inflatable kayak got close enough to jump on the rock and dislodge her. She's one very lucky person.
My heart was thumping when I saw the video because I knew what she was going through. I witnessed something very similar on the Sauk and I had a somewhat similar experience with a submerged log. It's scary as hell because it can happen so quickly. When your kayak gets wrapped, you can't hesitate and think you can "rock" it loose. You've got to pull your sprayskirt and get the hell out before it's too late. Oftentimes we don't want to "swim" so we stay too long with the kayak. Soon the pressure of the water on the kayak prevents you from bailing out. |
Replies:
Posted By: huckin harms
Date Posted: 27 Nov 2006 at 9:52pm
I searched and couldn't find the vid you were referring too.![]("http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/smileys/smiley3.gif")
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 27 Nov 2006 at 10:06pm
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On the king 5 website go to northwest news and go to Idaho news. No video of it on the website but the article explains things.
Not a place I would want to be...especially in super cold water! |
Posted By: Ronin
Date Posted: 27 Nov 2006 at 10:15pm
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I saw the video this afternoon on NWCN(2), but with the snow and ice making the top local news story, the video will probably not be shown again. The video was taken by a bystander so there's probably some limitation on its use, i.e., it can't be posted on the KING-KONG-NWCN website.
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Posted By: Weide
Date Posted: 27 Nov 2006 at 10:18pm
| Wow, scary stuff. Pinned for an hour. What a trooper! |
Posted By: arnobarno
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 12:19am
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http://www.ktvb.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=104165&catId=64&props=EMAG
------------- arn9schaeffer@gmail.com (remove 9 for my real email address) |
Posted By: Ronin
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 9:07am
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Here's a link to an article with a bit more detail. On the right side, there's a link for the video.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/61800.html |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 10:44am
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A good reminder to always carry a pin kit. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 11:34am
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Also a good reminder always to lean into the rock if you are going to pin... If she had been pinned facing upstream I doubt she would have had her head above water.
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Posted By: justin
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 11:57am
| the lady that was pinned was a fifty seven year old that has only been a river kayaker for four years. What the video doesn't show is that her bow was pinned under water against some submerged rocks. I just happened to be in the area when it happened and couldn't believe people were boating in such cold weather. I personally was very impressed with the bravery of the guy who jumped onto the rock and lifted her out of danger. |
Posted By: arnobarno
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 12:14pm
Actually, I think she had her kayak pin kit with her. ![]("smileys/smiley10.gif") I suspect she needed to have a kayak un-pin kit. ![]("smileys/smiley1.gif") (yes, I know, bad attempt at a bit of humor in a very serious situation)Now then, as a new boater, I had never heard of a pin kit or un-pin kit until tradguy posted his message. When I first found the PP forums, I noticed there was a discussion of a swiftwater rescue class last year. I don't know whether this happened but I'd be very interested in understanding any recommendations for such a class in the Seattle area. I suspect there are other new boaters that would be interested as well. ------------- arn9schaeffer@gmail.com (remove 9 for my real email address) |
Posted By: tradguy2
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 12:38pm
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A pin kit is nothing more than a rope (your throw rope will usually suffice), some cord for prussiks, a few carabiners and maybe a pulley or two. If you can attach the rope to the boat you can set up a Z-drag allowing you to gain a mechanical advantage which is often required to overcome the force of the water in a pin situation. In my opinion every boater should have one in their boat and know how to use it. At least once a year I like to practice setting up Z-drags and swimming. A very experinced boater once told me to practice swimming because your ability to swim effectively is just as important (if not more so) than your ability to boat because sooner or later we all swim and when it does happen, it is often in a serious situation.
By the way Arnobarno, I'm pretty inexperienced to so take my advice with a grain of salt. That being said, I'd be happy to spend a day with you and anyone else who is interested practicing safety on the river. ------------- ... preparing for a river beating! |
Posted By: Courtney
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 3:34pm
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I'd be up for practicing some safety. It's been about 6 years since my last swift water rescue class where I was training to be an swift water rescue instructor but ended up being the injured getting back boarded out instead. I know I need major brushing up on my z-drag skills. The last time I used one was 8 or 9 years ago. Another time I actually got my truck unstuck with one. Lucky the rope didn't break on me.
Courtney
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Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 4:10pm
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That's one thing I've already noticed about playboats: Planing hulls can really enjoy being postage stamps on the upstream faces of certain boulders. This happened to me on the E. Frk of the Lewis last winter. In that situation I was unable to "rock off" in one direction, but able to on the other. It's all case by case scenerios of course.
Tom-- I'd be down with getting in the river sometime and "playing safety".
It's also a good habit to just do whatever you can when ever there's "action" on the river. Being consistantly "johnny on the spot" goes a long way.
In my opinion, Pin kits--even just a throw bag and one caribiner-- should definitely be in every kayaker's boat. ------------- 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋 |
Posted By: arnobarno
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 4:37pm
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Tom, I am definitely up for safety practice anytime. I'm also happy to help out with logistics if necessary. Now then, I'd still be interested in hearing suggestions on any "professional" classes in the Seattle area. I don't mean classes for professionals but rather taught by professionals Not that I'm implying, Tom, that you aren't professional but rather, as a newbie, it would be good to go through a class. This summer, on a river trip, someone had recommended Julie Munger @ Sierra Rescue and I can now see on their website that they have a 3 day class on the Cedar River in early March (ACA-SWR). I'm not sure if this is overkill for my needs. I suppose you can never learn too much - on the other hand don't want to get overloaded either. Anybody have any experience with this group or others?? arn ------------- arn9schaeffer@gmail.com (remove 9 for my real email address) |
Posted By: Gabe
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2006 at 5:00pm
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I took the SRT class from Julie Munger on the Cedar last March. I highly recommend it. Great teacher and a great venue for practicing rescues, ropes, swimming logs, etc. I don't think this class would be overkill as far as information goes. It's the standard certification and contains pretty much the basics you need in order to be useful in rescuing yourself and others. It takes two days and an evening session because all the learning is hands-on, practice based, and gear-intensive (plus the days are short in March). I believe there are 1 or 2-day ACA swiftwater courses designed especially for kayakers that Wave Trek used to offer in Index. You might check their website to see if there are any upcoming. GS ------------- Pura Vida! |