It was only Cinco de Mayo, but it felt like El Niño – a little baby Christmas come early.
To a kayaker, there is arguably no better dryland sensation than unwrapping a new boat. The shimmering, virgin plastic, albeit orange, of the new Dagger Nomad in my garage rekindled that thrill last weekend.
It had been a few years since my previous new creek boat, and I eagerly examined the fresh features of the upgraded edition of the model that has treated me so well – a new seat design to better facilitate gear storage and a theoretically improved cockpit rim to keep me drier once the skirt was pulled tight.
There, alongside the foam outfitting pads inside the cockpit, I discovered another reminder of the season, perhaps not as titillating as the cold-water creek, but significant just the same.
The little yellow postcard titled “A Few Critical Safety Considerations” offered the following advice:
1. Always wear your United States Coast Guard Approved Personal Flotation Device. In other words, wear your life jacket.
2. Don’t combine alcohol or judgment-altering medicines with your kayaking and watersports activities.
3. Don’t paddle alone. It’s less fun, and it’s just not safe.
4. Select appropriate rivers, lakes, ocean paddling areas and weather conditions that do not exceed either your personal paddling skills or the capabilities of the kayaking products that you are using. Remember, a perfect day can quickly become dangerous if you push the limits of your abilities.
5. Dress for the conditions. Getting too cold or too hot is dangerous and no fun.
6. If you are not an experienced paddler, you should seek instruction from a qualified person.
Sound guidance, all of it. Although perhaps the best advice on the page is to take that last item a step further. Everyone on the river – kayakers, rafters, canoeists, float fishermen, even extreme inner-tubers – owes it to himself and his paddling partners to take a swiftwater safety class from a certified professional. Now is the time to do it.
While the American Canoe Association’s (ACA) National Safe Boating Week doesn’t officially kick off until May 19, the local waterways have started dishing out the beat-downs to early-season thrill seekers in the form of swims, pins and even lost boats. The prevailing rule of thumb among the experts is that there is no substitute for experience when it comes to river rescue.
It’s just that experience is difficult to come by.
“I don’t believe there is such a thing as a mistake in a rescue situation. Every situation is going to be different, and I honestly believe everyone does the best they can with what they have at the moment,” said Mike Mather, a 20-year whitewater rescue trainer who has trained the Navy SEALs in moving-water assault tactics. “But if there is one thing I’d like people to take away from one of my classes, it’s ‘know what you are getting into before you get into it.”‘
Mather, who has an ACA rescue and recovery class scheduled May 26-27 with Confluence Kayaks in Denver, stresses that rescue and safety are entirely different entities. If river users are safe, there is no need for rescue.
Should a rescue scenario develop, it is equally important to carry the necessary tools (whistle, rope, knife, carabiners and first-aid kit, among others) and have a plan of attack at your disposal. Mather’s very real rescue scenarios will help you figure that part out.
Like Mather – who has additional Colorado classes scheduled through www.matherrescue.com – Christian “Campy” Campton is hoping to help rafters beat the river.
“Many private boaters have never practiced how to flip a raft, or seen mechanical advantages in use, like a Z-drag or pig rig,” said Campton, co-owner of KODI Rafting in Frisco. In addition to its 13-day guide certification course, KODI is offering two raft-specific, four-day “Private Boater Awareness” courses on the Arkansas River, on weekends beginning May 12 and June 2. KODI (970-668-1548) is limiting each course to 14 participants, with a minimum of eight required.
“It is our hope that boaters will come out of the course with more knowledge about the river, boating techniques, issues that we are faced with on and off the river, and above all, safety and rescue tactics,” he said.
Season’s greetings.
Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
