@SeaDart said:
Who knows, the wife is quoted in this article saying a ACA level 2 is the second highest coaching level. Last time I did ACA , Level 5 was the highest level. Level 2 was basically an introduction to flat water kayaking.
Also wasn’t clear if he took the class, or was an instructor - big difference.
@Guideboatguy said:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3710767,-92.980107,652m/data=!3m1!1e3
Holy crap - why would you ever paddle anywhere near that. We have lots of dams around here, but nothing that big.
@Guideboatguy Am I missing something or are there just three buoys clustered what I would call dangerously close to the outflow on the upstream side? I see some others on the NE shore, but seeing the crane I would tend to read them as being more about the construction site than a dangerous water flow.
Unclear to me from the article whether these two paddlers knew that area.
ACA Level II:
The Level II course looks like a very basic kayak course.
I’m inclined to believe that neither paddler were very experienced, or skilled paddlers.
Seriously doubt either were instructors.
Both certainly made poor decisions.
Getting too close to dams, either upstream or downstream is just asking for trouble, in my opinion.
BOB
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign…
Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind…
Do this, don’t do that; can’t you read the sign???
So… The post mortem is to please heed the signs and stay away from dams… No matter your paddling skills and rated ACA level.
sing
Kevin Beatty, the survivor, is a certified L2, coastal kayak, essentials of kayak touring. Also completed the skills assessment for coastal kayaking L3,
No record for Mr. Chicoine in the newly revamped (unfortunately) ACA listing, but many instructors have been left out - including L5 instructor/trainers. Something that wasn’t broke was “fixed,” but now really needs fixing.
I did see a reference to Timothy Chicoine at another site as holding the same L2 certification as Beatty, but couldn’t access the PDF file.
Such incidents remind me of the discussions here about situational awareness and risk assessment.
So, Coastal & not River. When I took ACA L3 we didn’t discuss dams or moving water other than tides. I’ve spend a fair bit of time on rivers and paddle (or at least used to paddle) whitewater & have a healthy respect for dams, pour-overs, and ledges. I have personal experience on the Big South Fork of how far downstream a reversal can reach.
L2 is not experienced, but remember my Central Tenet of Male Kayaking: Any male under the age of 80 who has been in a kayak twice considers himself intermediate or experienced.
“Course Overview: The Essentials of Kayak Touring course is designed to teach beginner paddlers to safely and enjoyably kayak on lakes, calm protected ocean environments, and other flatwater settings.”
An admirable and ambitious list of paddling and safety topics is covered in 8 hours, but that is not enough time to master any of them. I would consider a graduate of that class a better-informed beginner. One would think that being in their late 50s these guys would have learned about the danger of dams somewhere along the line, but maybe not. Even truly experienced people make deadly errors, nobody is immune to it.
Hmm, a few things. Agreed coastal paddling generally does not give anyone a lesson about inland dams, especially an underflow one. Those of us who live inland tend to get that lesson from spring flooding and annual springtime stories about someone getting caught by a dam.
There were likely signs on shore warning them to stay away, which I couldn’t have seen in the aerial. Duh on me.
As to qajaaman’s point… a highly certed instructor told Jim and myself years ago that he did not expect to see us in a headline even going out with just two of us in Maine. Because together we were always pretty conservative.
Dont know about the top, but there are adequate signs at the bottom. I wonder if there was a floating barrier above that was removed for the winter or something?
https://www.redrockhydroproject.com/images/uploads/Red_Rock_Dam.jpg
@qajaqman said:
L2 is not experienced, but remember my Central Tenet of Male Kayaking: Any male under the age of 80 who has been in a kayak twice considers himself intermediate or experienced.
I’m pretty sure 95% of the kayak people I’ve met fall into this category. More so male, but females too.
I’ve been kayaking since the 80s and I’m still an intermediate.
@string said:
I’ve been kayaking since the 80s and I’m still an intermediate.
Remember the old P-net with the self-rating in the profile - I rarely trusted the advice from those that considered themselves “Advance”.
@eckilson said:
Holy crap - why would you ever paddle anywhere near that. We have lots of dams around here, but nothing that big.
Exactly! And I bet you don’t take your ww boats into your smaller local dams to
play either.
The report that they were upstream was wrong. They got drawn upstream from below by the “whirlpool effect” as they call it. Maybe one of them lost their glasses and was trying to see what the big red sign said (see picture in article),
@string said:
I’ve been kayaking since the 80s and I’m still an intermediate.
(Edit: This is not a comment on the two kayakers mentioned in this thread. They had probably already been through all the ups and downs on the blue line.)
Perhaps these stages in a photographer’s life also fit a kayaker:
@qajaqman said:
L2 is not experienced,
[…]
I would consider a graduate of that class a better-informed beginner.
What would you consider the coach of that class? That is what is relevant here.
Any significant volume of water pouring down those steep sluices from underneath the gates would be expected to produce a large hydraulic with a strong reversal current. Presumably, the two victims got recirculated repeatedly. Too bad the gates could not have been closed more quickly.
I suspect most boaters with whitewater experience would have recognized the boil line that marks the boundary between the downstream current and the reversal, and stayed well away from it. But it sounds like these individuals may have had only flat water experience.
If the flow through the gates had been increased when the pair were in the immediate vicinity, the reversal current could have suddenly increased and the boil line moved further down stream.
