Don't Pass Oar Rafts in Rapids!

[Andy H.]

Today on Brown's I was rowing through a narrow rapid when a kayaker tried to scoot past me. I was facing forward, making some oar strokes and I unintentionally whacked the snot out of the kayaker as he came around me. Shortly afterward he passed me in another narrow rapid and could've been clobbered again if I'd been making an oar stroke at the wrong moment.

Please give rafts a lot of room in rapids and let us know if you can't wait until the next pool to pass!

Thanks,

--Andy

[PhillyBoop]

Andy I appreciate your concern. I was the kayaker in the red Disco and my friend the one that "got wacked". I think this was a miss (no)communication. We were trying to close our gap to the party of kayakers in front of us while avoiding the long line of raftes behind us, your raft also. We weren't trying to get in your way, just trying to get in front to catch up. We should of asked you to eddy out for some room. ~Jamie

[jas]

Yeah, Andy has taken a few swats at me, too. He knows what can happen when a kayaker gets too close to the beer cooler.

[Geezer]

He passed again!!! You would think the first whack would have taught him something

[cstork]

I see it as us kayakers takes the blame with nearly all raft collisions. If you surf a hole in front of a raft, it's your risk. If you get close to a raft in tight water...well that is one reason for wearing a helmet.

I'm always amazed at how rafters feel regret over clobbering a kayak after we do something stupid. Instead, after every good clobber, the rafter should just paint an additional kayak silhouette on their boat--as warning to the next kayaker.

[ec]

Originally Posted by Andy H.

Today on Brown's.....

That's all I needed to hear! That is why I avoid paddling Browns Canyon like the plague! god damn rubber tank parades all day long !!

[PhillyBoop]

For the peanut gallery, there is no issue with rafts on Browns. It's the livelyhood of many rafting companies in the Ark Valley. We stopped to play at several holes being very aware of raft traffic and gettin out of the hole for the traffic. A beer offer at the take out would have been nice "to save face".

[Andy H.]

Does anyone know where I can get the little kayaker silouette decals?

But seriously, Christof, I've missed more than a couple of prime lines on wave trains becaue a kayaker buddy's getting a really good surf. Not only that but I'm pretty sure that just before it happened I explicitly told Jamie that I'd be playing in the rapid, making unusual moves on the way down, and that they needed to give me a really wide berth.

I don't know what else I could've done - its not like a 14' raft with yellow oars and blades is hard to see when I'm flailing around in the water...

SYOTR,

--Andy

[benrodda]

Ever been to the Ocoee? Browns rafting traffic, in my opinion, is nothing compared to a busy day on the Ocoee. The really crazy part is that if a Kayaker even touches a raft the park rangers will give you a ticket.

Sounds to me like all the parites involved with the whacking are pretty laid back about it all which is way cool. Hats off to you guys for being cool about it. That kind of attitude will keep us away from fines like the Ocoee.

ben

[PhillyBoop]

Andy's right, he did say he'd be playing. No hard feelings. Just bad timing. We were on a playboat clinic and were trying to catch up. Damn playboat jelly leg was making me get out an rest every 30 mins. Our group as a whole was letting rafts pass so we could play. Even with all of the traffic, we still got a good session in Canyon Doors. Andy, were practically neighbors, so maybe I will see you in the hood. Later. J