Speaking of dams, I wish that the US would make more use of extended weirs on smaller rivers and streams, as the British do. In fact, the Brits design them specifically so that canoes and kayaks can slide down them without any risk by building them with a notch that provides an entry path over the lip. The long gradual runout of a concrete weir creates very little turbulence at the base. I had the pleasure of dropping in canoes and kayaks over several of these on rivers in Yorkshire on my trip there in 2017.
One notable difference between the UK and the US is that the former designs much of their infrastructure around people (and their recreation) rather than commerce and machines. In fact they even build the weirs with whitewater recreation in mind – the Howsham weir on the Derwent has gates in the mill outwash rapids for play and competitions. We crossed this one and the weir at Kirkham Abbey upstream. It’s really quite fun and sure beats portaging. Fish can cross these safely too. This is one reason why you see more river paddlers in the UK in small WW boats rather than touring kayaks, even on rivers that are mostly flatwater.
Howsham Mill, on the island in the background of the video, is an ancient medieval water-powered grain mill that was lovingly restored and converted to a hydropower generator with a turbine plus three Archimedes screws. No vehicles were allowed on the site – all the moving of equipment and material was accomplished using horses. The island is a landscaped park with hiking trails and the mill building is open to the public and has facilities for classes in environmental science. In the US, the old mill probably would have been torn down and replaced with a fast food franchise or some rich snob’s McMansion.
@Rookie said:
There’s a small dam on a popular river up here. There are a couple of cables strung across the river just before the water flows over - perhaps to stop any foolish paddlers who ignored the warning signs posted along the shore upriver?
Yup - you see a lot of those around here - usually with orange floats on them. They last for a while, but eventually floods or ice take them out, so you need to replace them frequently.
One on that particular river is above the water. Can’t recall how high it was, but it looked like it would certainly make body contact. Not sure if that’s a life saving or liability issue. When the air temps get into positive numbers again, maybe I’ll take another hike there and get a photo.
@Rookie said:
One on that particular river is above the water. Can’t recall how high it was, but it looked like it would certainly make body contact. Not sure if that’s a life saving or liability issue.
Above the water - that’s not good - hopefully no one is putting it there intentionally. Once you are out of the boat you are really at the whim of the current.
@willowleaf said:
Speaking of dams, I wish that the US would make more use of extended weirs on smaller rivers and streams, as the British do.
We are starting to see those now. The weirs are designed to make it easier for fish to migrate upstream. Here is one on the Pawcatuck River in southern RI - a series of six stone weirs with a channel down the middle for paddlers.
https://vimeo.com/271000782
I some cases these dams have been there so long (this one dates back to the 1860’s) that the wetlands behind them have become habitat for birds and other wildlife that they don’t want to remove. There are also issues with contaminants in the sediments behind the dam. The weirs allow the dam and the wetland behind it to remain, but allow easier access for fish and people. Unfortunately, we don’t have any with slalom courses yet.
@Sparky961 said:
I heard just the other day that studies have been done that indicate you will remember more by observing carefully than by taking pictures (CBC Radio documentary). But that’s totally against the grain, so whatever floats your boat - literally.
I think there is something to that, and that is why I don’t take as many photos as I used to. But video requires no attention, until editing later - and that helps the memory, IME.
I don’t like watching video from helmet mounted cams though. Too jumpy, from all the head-turning.
Eckilson: I don’t think we’ve hijacked it. The post is tagged for cameras AND dams.
I’m happy to hear that there are some weir projects in the works this side of the Pond.
I live in Pittsburgh, and our 4 major rivers, that combine to make the Ohio (which feeds the Mississippi eventually) all have a bunch of low head dams which have repeatedly proven deadly to boaters of all kinds. Two summers ago a local pair of young women bought rec boats and threw them into the Ohio upstream of a 16’ low head, ignoring all the warning signs and buoys, even sending phone selfies of themselves (sans PFD’s of course) just before washing over to their deaths (the PFD’s would not have saved them but might have speeded up recovery of the bodies.) We’ve even had commercial marine craft become trapped in the outflow cauldron of low heads with the crew and pilots being killed.
I have no data upon which to base the notion, but I would think that a low gradient weir is more durable and requires less maintenance than the conventional steep drop low head, though I suppose it might be more costly to build due to more material being needed to create the slope. But the absence of the scouring recirculating hydraulic at the base I imagine must mean less erosion over time. Should have thought about this before I retired from the big engineering company – could have called the guys in the hydro division.
I lived a few years in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which has fish ladders on the Grand River (at the rapids, of course), so I’ve seen those.
@willowleaf said:
Eckilson: I don’t think we’ve hijacked it. The post is tagged for cameras AND dams.
I’m happy to hear that there are some weir projects in the works this side of the Pond.
There are a couple around here - here is another. On this one they didn’t even remove the old dam - just build the stone ramps on the downstream side
I have no data upon which to base the notion, but I would think that a low gradient weir is more durable and requires less maintenance than the conventional steep drop low head,
We’ll see - neither of these has gone through a serious flood yet. Definitely safer that the traditional low-head dam.
Here’s something with good reviews. Is it a GoPro? No. Is it going to be just fine for my needs. Yup.
I’m sure this would even out perform first first couple generations of the GoPro, but yes, this won’t compare to a $709 setup. I think I’ll give it a shot along with a RAM twist suction mount.
ok, I’ll take another nibble again at the original thread. OP inquired specifically about gopro but really prefer a jvc camcorder for stills and video. The tricky thing is holding it steady while still on the water in the boat. I keep it in a dry box in the boat when I have it stowed but mostly I just stuff it down the sprayskirt tunnel for quick access. I’ve yet to swim with it, and there’s a good chance I’d lose it in that case.
@Photecs said:
Here’s something with good reviews. Is it a GoPro? No. Is it going to be just fine for my needs. Yup.
I’m sure this would even out perform first first couple generations of the GoPro, but yes, this won’t compare to a $709 setup. I think I’ll give it a shot along with a RAM twist suction mount.
It was DC9mm’s post near the top of this thread that turned me onto them. I had no idea there were cheaper GoPro clones either… but really, what isn’t there a knock off of today?
Reviews on amazon are great, some of which specify kayaking.
Iam on my second knock off. The first one lasted 2 summers but started shutting off after about 15 minutes of video. You can still use it but have to restart after 15 minutes. It was a 1080 model at 30 fps;. I now have the 4k one BUT still shoot 1080 at 60 fps. I saw not much better quality in 4k plus that was only 30 fps. I have mine on my helmet and it comes with a water proof case it goes into plus a crap load of mounts. I tried taking just stills but wasn’t happy with quality of stills. I use my waterproof camera for stills. Much better. The video is NOT as good as the newer go pros. But its good enough for me. If money was plentiful I would buy a go pro,.
