When a Quick Home River Run Turns into a River Rescue

a Carolina Paddler Article

by Stan Cole

On February 18, 2023, four paddlers joined for a couple of laps on the Lower Haw River (Hwy 64 to Robeson Creek Canoe Access.)  The weather was mild and sunny, and the river was running at a good level, mid-3000 cfs on the Bynum gauge.  In the course of the next few hours some unexpected developments led to a swim and rescue with no injuries, but valuable experience gained.

Prepaddle

The four paddlers met at the Hw 64 access around 10am and dropped off their boats. A final check of the water level was communicated to be 3800 cfs, which actually turned out to be 3300 cfs upon later verification.  Most people experienced with the river know it changes nature at each 1000 cfs increment and even more so over 3000 cfs. For seasoned paddlers higher flows provide extra push, much needed water to keep you off the rocks, and stronger waves that can become a little grabbier. Two of the boaters were experienced paddlers who had ran the Lower Haw many times. For this article we will call them Matt and Sidney. The other two were less experienced but had ran the section before. We will call them John and Micah. This is only a 1.2 mile stretch of river, but paddlers can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2+ hours to complete it, depending on how much they want to interact with the features of the river. Due to the short length of the section, many paddlers run multiple “laps” in one day.

Lap 1

The first lap went well but there were two swims. John swam in Lunch Stop rapid, which is very early in the run, after a failed combat roll, but quickly completely self-rescued. The rest of the paddlers surfed and stood by for completion of the rescue. Micah also swam on the creek line of Moose Jaw Falls. This was an aided rescue and was straight forward, but Micah’s drysuit did take on water due to a malfunction with the relief zipper. All in all, the run was good and the group decided to take another lap.

Lap 2

The temperature had risen a few degrees, and the water level remained virtually the same. The four paddlers launched again and briefly warmed up in some upstream waves below the Hwy 64 bridge. They progressed through Lunch Stop rapid and surfed and practiced ferries there. They also practiced at the wave below Lunch Stop. This is the start of the rescue sequence. When the current is pushy some paddlers do not eddy for fear of a capsize or other issue while exiting the flow. This is likely what happened here. Micah got out ahead of the pack. Matt, seeing this, progressed with him. Sidney saw John spending a bit more time after attaining on the Ocean Boulevard rapid and slowed his progression to stay within reach of him. Matt ran through the “Rapid Above Gabriel’s Bend” as it has become known. Micah followed, got sideways, and flipped. At this time Sidney, upstream, glanced away from John to see the bottom of Micah’s boat and a paddle in the air. Micah pulled his skirt and exited his boat. Matt started a rescue and Sidney paddled down to the scene to assist.

Matt focused on Micah and assisted him to a deep eddy on the river left side of the rapid. Sidney attempted to corral the swamped kayak but was unable to stop its downriver movement. The kayak was a large volume creek boat and was full of water. Matt came to assist chasing the runaway boat.  Sidney returned to Micah, noticing he was having some difficulty. Micah was in waist high water and losing his foot hold. Sidney guided Micah to the most stable position available, the downstream side of a boulder, tree and root ball that was halfway between the previous rapid and Gabriel’s Bend. Meanwhile Matt was unable to catch the empty kayak and returned to assist with the rest of the rescue.

Sidney, Matt, John, and Micah assessed the situation and discussed potential rescue options. The situation was this: The section of river between the previous rapid and Gabriel’s Bend is usually flat and slow before Gabriel’s. On this day at 3.3k cfs the water was moving swiftly and too deep to simply ford or swim. There was also a potentially dangerous downed tree/strainer just downstream coming off the river right bank.  The spot where Micah was stranded was estimated to be at least twice as far as a rescue rope (100+ feet). The group decided the best option was for Sidney to ferry to the river right and set up for a rope throw, and for Micah to swim with his paddle as far as he could with two safety boaters, Matt being the primary spotter and coach. Micah would swim with the paddle until he was close enough that Sidney could throw the rope to him and pendulum him into the bank on river right. If this plan failed, there were a few outs. If Micah could not get within reach of the rope, or the rope throw failed, the most likely scenario would be that Micah would have a bumpy swim down Gabriel’s Bend. The two safety boaters could keep him clear of the strainer and assist with a rescue at the end of the rapid. Gabriel’s Bend is a long class III, but with the water as high as it was, it would only be a bumpy ride. The level wasn’t high enough to develop any keeper holes. It was not an ideal alternative, but not very dangerous.

The team started to execute the plan. Matt had a 65’ throw rope, the longest in the group. The paddlers later realized Micah had a 75’ rope, but it was floating down the river in his kayak. Sidney ferried across to an eddy. He exited his boat and kept it nearby in case a quick re-entry was required. He chose a spot downstream of Micah and Matt’s starting point that he believed would give Micah an opportunity to swim and flush with the current a bit. While the trees  on the bank are thick, this particular spot had plenty of clearing to make a clean underhand rope throw. All was set. Matt coached Micah as he progressed as far upstream as possible and then lunged with his paddle into the current. He paddle-swam with Matt’s encouragement from just downstream. The paddle swim was not working well, so Matt yelled to Micah to release the paddle and swim for it. Matt retrieved the paddle and hurled it closer to the river bank, sticking by Micah’s side while he swam, and eventually tossing the paddle onto the bank.

Micah swam a long distance and Sidney made a rope toss that sailed over him and about 5’-7’ downstream. The throw wasn’t ideal, but it would have to work. Matt yelled for Micah to swim for the rope. Micah reached the rope and grabbed it and Sidney set up a belay around a tree to take some of the force and to anchor himself. So far so good. Micah did a pendulum to the bank and crawled up it. It was a successful rescue. At this point he did not have his boat, but he had his paddle and was safe on the riverbank. He caught his breath, and his condition was assessed. The decision was made that he would walk the rest of the run to the takeout.

Paddlers not with the group retrieved Micah’s boat near the top of Gabriel’s Bend. They were on an island in the middle of the river. Micah walked down the side of the river to look at options. Matt and Sidney conferred and determined the best course of action was still for Micah to walk out. Then, they asked the other paddlers to send Micah’s boat down the river. At this point, Micah had two swims on the day. The first involved a dry suit failure, noted above, and this second involved a long time spent immersed in water. To launch at the top of the two most formidable rapids on the river would not be wise. Another swim and rescue sequence would not be good for crew morale. A walk out from this position was .6 miles either to the put in or take out. Micah made a hike to the takeout from here. The rest of the paddlers followed the boat to ensure there were no other paddlers in the path of the pilotless boat. Since the run ends at a lake, where the takeout is, there was little reason to rescue the boat. Sidney, Matt, and John merely guided the boat, unpinning it a few times and removing it from the river at the takeout. Micah was not present but soon appeared after completing his difficult hike to the take-out. The group regrouped, double-checked Micah’s condition, and finished for the day.

In Hindsight

As they always say, hindsight is 20-20. Overall, the rescue went well. It was well thought out and had the desired outcome. It is always good to reflect on events and ask what we would do differently. At the time, all you have is your equipment, knowledge, experience, and each other, to assess the situation at hand, and to figure out the best course of action. In some circumstances you can call on others, by way of a whistle or phone. This scenario did not warrant this, but it was an option. Knowing this river, the only thing the rescuers decided they would do differently was to have someone accompany Micah back to the put in. At this location on the river, it is an easy hike back to the put-in where someone’s vehicle is present. The hike around the rockface on Gabriel’s Bend is a bit more involved and prone to an accident. Micah was in good health and appeared in good condition, but all recommendations would have been to walk him back to the put in.

Swiftwater Rescue Training

Of the two experienced paddlers, both had training in swiftwater rescue. One trained within the previous year with the Carolina Canoe Club and the other earlier in his paddling career. The rescued person also had swiftwater rescue instruction. Both rescuers had enough equipment to give them multiple options. The rescuer with recent CCC training later stated the training had been invaluable to this rescue. He didn’t think he could have executed the rescue without the hands-on experience in the cold weather training and situational practice the year before. The previous training had made him aware of his previous misguided assumptions about rescues and his need to hone this skill. Both experienced paddlers agreed the rescue would have been much more difficult without at least two of them to coordinate the rescue. The person being rescued also stated that the training he received helped immensely during the rescue and recommended it for all whitewater paddlers.

The message is… plan for the unexpected. You can never have too many tools at your disposal when presented with a difficult situation.