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Guiding & Paddling Skills
First let's start with the fact that there are two popular ways to navigate a raft down the river; with oars or paddle crew. You don't want to use the wrong terminology or people will look at you funny. Oars are big long things, usually operated as a pair (if everything is going well) and paddles are small, used one to a person and have a T grip on the end (which good paddlers cover with their fingers to prevent altering the facial features of other paddlers nearby). In an oar boat, the rower does most all the work and the passengers mostly sit and look pretty. In a paddle boat there are one or more paddlers and one guide. It's the guides job to keep an eye on the river, decide what needs to be done, call out paddle commands and get the crew working as a team. The guide also keeps the boat pointed in the right direction by deft application of his or her own paddle.
Reading the Water: The guide or rower is constantly studying the river as he floats along, looking for fun sections to ride and things to be avoided. River currents are complex and are constantly changing direction and moving a boat about. The guide calculates what effect the currents, wind and momentum are having on the boat and then gets the correct thrust applied in the proper direction when needed. Much can be learned from books and videos but you'll need practice and observation to perfect your skills. Moving Around on the River: The whole idea in rafting is to keep the boat in the current that's going where you want to go. You try to make the river do the work, not your muscles. The only reason we paddle is to shift the boat to the left or right on the currents, increase or decrease our forward momentum or to counter a headwind. To move a boat sideways on the river we propel the boat at an angel to the current. When we paddle downstream at an angle it's called a downstream ferry angle and when we paddle upstream at an angle it's called an upstream ferry angle. Paddling or rowing upstream at an angle to the current has the advantage of slowing our downstream motion and giving us more time to make key maneuvers. The other important factor to keep in mind is momentum - an object in motion tends to want to stay in that same motion. Momentum is useful in a raft when you have to make it over giant waves or plow through holes. But sometimes momentum needs to be reduced. Picture yourself and your 6 person crew (1200 lbs) going down a river at nice clip and it comes to a sharp bend. You'll need to slow your boat down or paddle away from shore in order to keep from hitting stuff along the shoreline. Another thing to keep in mind is that rafts will sideslip across the current; so angle of thrust is important. First you set the desired angle or direction (you call a turn command or do it yourself); then you use your crew to apply the thrust. Developing Teamwork with a paddle crew:
The importance of proper commands on a paddle boat: What would happen if when driving your car you put your foot on the gas and never took it off or turned left and kept the wheel turned left? Seems silly but that's what beginning guides do a lot. This leads to spinning out on curves, overcorrecting, zigzag courses, bumping into rocks and crew wondering what they got themselves into. So always use the stop command at the end of each command cycle. So, your standard commands should go like this: Forward!........ Stop! Back paddle!.........Stop! Left Turn!.. Stop! Right Turn!...Stop! Highside!!!!! The higher the class of river you are running, the more important this becomes. Your voice should be loud enough to get to the front paddlers and should increase as the noise of the rapids or the bullshitting on board increases. If your commands are crisp and confident your paddle crew will at least think you know what you are doing. Carnage Avoidance & Recovery:
Most carnage is caused by bumping into rocks. Vigilance and preparedness is most important. The river gods are always watching for boaters not paying attention. Rocks can hide a few inches under the surface and can be noticed by their effect on the water surface. As a paddler you should keep an eye on the river when it gets shallow so you can anticipate bumps and brace yourself for them. Everyone should know how to quickly pull in a swimmer. You stand up with your knees on the side of the boat, grab the life jacket at the shoulder with both hands and then fall back using your whole body. It is very helpful for someone to grab the paddle out of their hands and clear the landing area. Defensive swimming techniques: If you unexpectedly find yourself in the river you must make a quick assessment of any hazards around you. It can be pretty down there during the few seconds it takes for the life jacket to do it's work, with all the bubbles and stuff. Are there any rocks lurking nearby? If you bump up against the bottom of the boat; face it and push it away with your hands until you can pop up. When you surface look around. Where's the boat? Does it look like I'll be pulled back in soon or am I going to have to swim some rapids first? Are there any rocks to fend off downstream? Your best bet is to get to the boat and back in fast. Most of the time it's close by. If you are close enough you can reach toward the boat with your paddle handle and have someone pull you near and back in. But if you are in fast moving shallow waters you must roll onto your back, get your feet pointed downstream and near the surface and your butt up to clear any rocks. Use the back stroke and swim at various angles to the current to maneuver down through the rapid in the deepest water you can find. Use you legs to push off from any rocks. Remember that your breathing aperatus is now pointed straight at the rapids and you will have to take your breaths carefully between waves. I know you'll want to breath like a racehorse but this is a good time for control. Turning your head sideways to take a breath is much safer if you can pull it off. After the rapid, swim back to the boat if you can or to shore if you spot a nice eddy. It's important to take responsibility for yourself in the water. Don't wait to be rescued while floating the next quarter mile of river (I've seen it more than once). After you are through a rapid and you have deep water you should change to a another faster swim stroke to get where you want to go. If you are still holding on to your paddle you can throw it towards your destination and swim after it or just forget about it if you need to swim like hell. You can chase it down later. Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power (Life) Under no circumstances should you try to stand or walk in fast moving water deeper than 20 inches or so. Your foot could become entrapped on the bottom between rocks or in roots. Then the current can push you down under the surface thereby ruining your day and everyone else's. Also, stay away from any trees (strainers) in the river that have current flowing through them. They'll trap your ass too. Just swim away with haste.
If your boat does flip: 1. Get out from under the boat if that's where you ended up. Put the paddles on top of the boat to free your hands. 2. Check downstream for hazards or handy eddies and decide if you will swim the boat to shore or do the the mid-stream macho recovery technique. Generally it's best to stay with the boat but if there is a hazard close downstream like a big rapid you must decide whether to stay with the raft or abandon it and swim to shore. Generally, on low flow rivers like the American in summertime there are handy eddies to swim the raft into and you can turn it back over in the shallows. 3. If you are doing the macho mid stream recovery, the next step is to climb on top of the boat. You and your crew can raft the next fast section on the upside down boat if you have to. You may need some sort of aid to climb onto the boat from the water. You can untie the bow line, feed it through one of the side D rings, throw it over the boat and go around and pull yourself up with it. Many guides wear a piece of webbing doubled around their waists (a flip line) connected with a carabiner for fast deployment. Once you are on top, use the line to pull the boat back over which will but you back in the water again. Those crew members not pulling on the rope or still in the river should take charge of the loose paddles so they don't get lost in the process. 4. Climb back in (with the aid of that ol flip line) and help others get in. Find an eddy and take a breather. This whole experience can produce some great bonding among your fellow paddles. If you are good & studly, this whole thing can be done in 30 seconds or less. I highly recommend you try this procedure in some quiet water a few times so you know what you're doing when the need arises. Or maybe you'll know enough to say, "We're swimmin it to shore boys". I hope that if this ever happens to you that all your baggage and stuff is snugly secured to the raft and not cast onto the currents for the crawdads to examine. Another important point to mention is that bow line - if it is laying in the raft loose, swimmers can become entangled in it if you flip. Always use the proper knot to secure it and keep it on a short leash. |
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The paddle crew must work together and be responsive to the
paddle commands of the designated guide. Paddlers should start paddling only
when the captain gives a command and continue until they are told to stop. The
two front paddlers should dip their paddles in the water simultaneously to avoid
causing an energy wasting shimmy of the raft. The paddlers behind them
should synchronize with those in front to prevent banging paddle blades or
bumping heads (looking stupid). These skills need to be practiced at the start of the run before
running actual rapids. An important element of a raft trip is the put-in talk where the
guide explains the paddle commands, proper paddling technique and safety
points. 
Among river
runners the word carnage is used to refer to mishaps such as rafts flipping or
wrapping on rocks, paddlers falling out and having adventures in the river. Most
of the time carnage is good clean fun, makes great tales and helps build
character. Everyone gets it back together and goes merrily on their way. But
mostly it's better to avoid carnage especially if there are other people
watching. You can also get banged up by rocks or try to breath water.
Highsiding:
The boys in the picture are not highsiding and one of them is going
for a nice swim. When a raft hits a
rock sideways in a good current, the upstream tube can be forced under water and
the rock side pushed up the rock causing the possibility of a wrap, flip or an
unexpected dunk. The way to prevent this is to have all the paddlers move to
the rock side of the boat before it hits by yelling
"highside" so the upstream tube can stay above the current. Hopefully they will
move fast enough to prevent a wrap or flip. Having your crew practice this move
before its needed is a very good idea as people are quite slow
about it the first time. Timing is very important to the success of this
maneuver. As a paddler I often highside automatically before
the guide even says it.