Have you ever seen a pinned boat?
I’ve been on two trips on ClassII water where inexperinced boater got their boats pinned. I’m not sure how strong your Rec boat is but you should contemplate being folded up inside it before you try class III. Surf kayakers joke about being human tacos but I think it would be a real possibility in your boat.
Canoe Tn
I am going by this:
http://www.geocities.com/buffalorivercanoe/tnoutdoors/canoetn.htm
It says:
“Red River in Adams, TN. A Class I,II,III river with occasional rapids, the river is suitable for beginners to intermediates.
Red River Canoe Rental, Hwy 41, Adams, TN 37010. 931-696-2768 or 1-800-762-8408 outfits canoe trips.”
Compare their listings. Well-known runs
like the Hiwassee (spelled correctly here) do not even mention frequent class 2 rapids. The Buffalo claims class 2, which it really does not have. So when we get to the Red River, do we trust the claim of class 1-2-3? No, we do not. Try Sehlinger and Otey for a two volume, reasonably complete listing of TN whitewater.
Screwtape, you’re new, reconsider
Hi, Dancingmouse again.
I did a class 1 in a Swifty when I was new and didn’t have any experiance reading the river currents. You have to make judgements ahead of time to get “around that rock.” I got flipped. My boat went sideways to a rock because I didn’t decide fast enough which way I wanted to go and by the time I decided 1. it was too late and 2. I was fighting the current that wanted to take me the other way. I hit the rock sideways, slid up onto it on my right and the current just finished the job. It’s hard to learn without bumps and bruises and a good hard swim, and maybe even a snootfull of water if you don’t take at least one lesson and read a lot of books. (Or one real good one.)
My #1 rule is not to paddle in any water that you don’t want to swim in.
#2 rule, take at least one WW lesson in a WW boat and have them teach the technique of river reading. Also, in our safety talk before riding even a class II river, we mention that foot-pinning is a deadly problem. People can feel the bottom and try to walk to shore not realizing how much power there is in moving water. You can’t move much in fast water that’s above your knees. If your foot gets wedged in between a couple of rocks you might as well be a piece of fishline. Your head gets pulled under and pulls you tighter into the rocks. Bye-bye!
Please DO take a lesson. Knowlege is power and more often than not, safety. Especially in a sport like this. When you get to read the rivers well, then your Swifty will treat you very well in these waters. ClassIII is pushing it a bit, but some class II’s are quite big enough to have a lot of fun in. But first, learn from the pros, learn the risks and how to avoid them or deal with them properly. But for safety’s sake and many years of fun, this is the time to take it slow.
well said, dancingmouse. eom
Awesome
Cool, I will check that out. I am still learning. I would love to get into some faster currents. So far I have only done the harpeth and it is just a little slow for me. I don’t care so much about the bumps and drops of white water at this point but I do want some more speed. Any suggestions?