I finally did it – flipped a paddle boat in Westwater. Not that I wanted to and even considered this as an option but it happened. I had a crew of 6, most fairly new to whitewater, and we flipped in the Funnel Falls rapid, which was one of the worst places to flip. We flipped because of my inattention and just a gross technical error. When I saw that we were setup wrong, I made an even worse mistake of trying to punch through instead of getting away from the hole by any means. I was watching Levi swimming outside his kayak above us and hoping that we can catch him before the Funnel. By the time I looked ahead we were already entering the rapid – straight into the hole on the left.
A few of us swam for a while between the Funnel and Surprise rapids. Thanks to Marc, Ryan and Pete we were all fished out of the water before Skull rapid.
Well, I learned a few lessons on this trip and next time I will do a few things differently (besides getting sucked into the hole there).
Good job everybody else! 
The paddle boat crew in Westwater, May 1, 2009 (click to enlarge)
The paddle boat crew in Westwater, May 1, 2009 (click to enlarge)
Uschi and Marc. Marc performed a remarkable swimmers/gear recovery operation through the Skull rapid and Uschi is one of the best whitewater crew members I’ve ever had on my boat. (click to enlarge)
Ryan and Pete (click to enlarge)
Ginger’s boat (click to enlarge)
From the left: Levi (kayak), Sally and Ginger (click to enlarge)
Filed under: River
This was the ’shake out’ crusie before the maiden voyage. Glad the ‘fishing’ trip was successful and that you came back with all the participants that you left with.
Other then that flip, was all good?
wow that was pretty scary stuff yesterday! I am sore everywhere from my waist to my chin, even the muscles under my chin are really sore, maybe from all the gasping for air! But it was super exciting, thanks for a fun trip, can’t wait for the 15th!
ps. who is that sitting in my spot in the boat? I didn’t have a red cap so i know it’s not me, but i don’t remember a time when everyone else was in the boat but me?? wierd.
wow that was pretty scary stuff yesterday! I am sore everywhere from my waist to my chin, even the muscles under my chin are really sore, maybe from all the gasping for air! But it was super exciting, thanks for a fun trip, can’t wait for the 15th!
I guess i must have been right behind Ushi in this photo, i was trying to figure out why i wasn’t in the boat!!
I am sure that it was scary for all swimmers. Jess – if you worked out more you’d be able to better endure long swims through the rapids.
Next time, during bigher water levels we will run it differently: a belly line on the boat with high tubes and a maximum of 5 people in the 14′ paddle boat. We will also practice flipping with a beginner crew. I am glad that at least jess is willing to do it again! You guys were great!
I love the name of the new boat! Glad you all made it back safe and really glad I went to work that day.
It was exciting to be in a boat that flipped and see how everyone worked together and stayed calm to get us all collected safely. I’d love to practice that on a calmer run of river for sure! Count me in.
Very impressed with the swimmers! AND…the hottie rowing the yellow boat. ; )
Thanks for spearheading a very “exciting” trip Martin! ; )
you know what happens when you make smart comments martin. see you friday!
Always good to see everyones smiling faces even after they went swimming, and it was great to be back on the river finally! Have another great trip this Friday, can’t wait to hear how it goes.