There are some things everyone should know before venturing out on the water. This page is meant as an overview for someone who is going on their first run, but can also be used as a checklist for someone who is introducing their friend to the sport. The last thing I want is for someone to read this and head out on the water by themself, or with another neophyte. Your introduction to the sport should be at the hands of a sane person with both boating and teaching skills, on flatwater or a mild river with eddies. First-aid and rescue skills are also paramount.
Even on flatwater, there is a possibility of a newbie losing balance and toppling over. If you are on a river that has any type of drop at all, you would be lucky to get through your first day without a capsize. Remember that your teacher went through this phase too, and is still alive and having loads of fun.
This page is written for kayakers. If you are contemplating rafting, canoeing or other paddlesports, many of these concerns still apply. Let your teacher and your common sense determine what is relevant. Each paddlesport has its unique hazards. Kayaking requires fair balance and control, and it can be difficult to get out of a 'yak in some circumstances. The relative ease of rafting can lure people into waters where they do not belong, where swimming is dangerous. Canoes are much harder than kayaks to control. Inner tubes are not even designed to be ridden, so get real! I suppose you might be safe in a tube on Class I+ if you're a good swimmer with a PFD.
There are five pieces of gear which each person must have for whitewater kayaking. So use your five fingers for a checklist. Since it is impossible by definition to go boating without a boat, set your boat in front of you and fold in your thumb. Stoopid people sometimes try to get be without one or more of the remaining four items: a paddle, a PFD (life jacket), a sprayskirt, and a helmet.
The boat should not be a tiny playboat. Kiwi kayaks and their imitations are designed to get someone down a river upright, and inflatable kayaks are even easier. Once you have survived a couple of trips you should switch to a modern river-running or creek boat, or an older, larger boat. If you stay in an easy boat your skills will not develop as fast, and you will be limited to easier rivers.
The paddle should be sturdy rather than lightweight, with little feather. You will want a Type III PFD which is designed for whitewater. It should fit quite snugly, but not interfere with your paddling. Neoprene skirts are required; nylon doesn't work on whitewater. Many people fasten something onto the grab loop so they can see if it's available and find it quicker. The helmet should be designed for boating, not bicycling, motorcycling, construction work, etc. Face protection is optional.
Everything beyond these five pieces of gear is for comfort. This does not mean unnecessary. Once you are cold you will stop having fun, and from there the next step is hypothermia. You may also be OK for boating, but if you get out of your boat for whatever reason, you will not be happy if you are underdressed. You should feel HOT before you climb into your boat. Also, dehydration and skin cancer are undesirable.
So you will accumulate enough layers to keep you toasty. I use my head-to-toe anatomy as my comfort checklist, and pick from the following items as appropriate:
Other gear to be carried for safety includes:
By now you look like you're going to jump out of an airplane. Have someone pull the straps of your PFD tight. Then see how you feel in your boat. You should be reasonably snug in the hips. Your knees should lock you in, but you should be able to get out of the boat. As a beginner an easy exit is probably more important than being one with the boat. Adjust the footpegs to get the best compromise.
Gear to be carried by the leaders would include a cell phone, a throwbag, a first aid kit, and spare paddle. Away from civilization, maps, compass, water purifiers, and other stuff come into play. Have all members of the party put the following on a sheet of paper: name, emergency contact, physician, medical conditions, blood type. Stuff that needs to be dry goes in dry bags. Don't forget to bring lunch. Once all this is laid out you can start loading the car. Once you are a real kayaker, you can pre-pack gear bags so you can just grab & run.
Every 'yakker at some point will have to get out of his boat. At this point things will not be going well, so the wet exit should be thought of as a desirable beginning of the end of an unpleasant circumstance. You will practice getting out of your boat on dry land and in a pool before going into moving water.
Since the wet exit is just a way to get out of your boat, first practice getting in and out of your boat normally. With the boat stabilized somehow, sit down in it. You may notice some difficulty getting your legs in and out. The cure for this is to momentarily rest your butt on the back edge of the cockpit so you can swing your legs through.
The wet exit is a lot like taking off your pants, except that the water either helps or hinders you. To take off your pants you would first unbuckle your belt if you are wearing one, work your hands around your waist to clear the pants from your hips, push the pants to the floor, step out of them, and pick them up and put them somewhere. So with your boat still stabilized and you in it, fasten your skirt. Always make sure that the grab loop is outside the boat where you can reach it. Now pull the loop, then quickly work your hands around the cockpit edge to free the skirt. When your hands reach the back, push the boat away until you are sitting on the back cockpit edge. Now swing your legs through and stand up.
Now comes the part which many find scary. You will get in your boat, and paddle out in calm water until it is deep enough to practice your first wet exit. Have at least one person in a boat and another standing in the water to help if you need it. Put on nose plugs, take a good breath, and flip over. Repeat what you have learned on dry land. Do not try to get to the surface until you are free of the boat. Once you are out of the boat and swimming, follow your friend's instructions to pick up the pieces.
Once you are out of your boat you are making your partners work to rescue you. You can make their life easier by picking up your own pieces. When you go for the grab loop, hang on to the paddle with one hand. When you push yourself out of the boat, do not let go of the cockpit edge. Now work your way to the front of the boat, and grab the loop of the boat with the hand that is holding the paddle. Now you can swim with the other hand. If you have to let go of something, lose the boat since paddles are more difficult to find.
When swimming, first achieve the basic position: on your back, legs on the surface. Keep your legs pointed downstream by doing an elementary backstroke. Use your legs to absorb impacts from rocks. When you have a chance to reach shore, you can flip over and swim aggressively.
You see, a common river death is caused by foot entrapment. Someone goes for a little swim and tries to stand up. Then a foot gets caught under a rock. The force of the water pushes the person over and holds him underwater. Rescuers may not be able to overcome the river's power. So keep your feet up until you are practically lying on the riverbank. Also, if the river takes you over a drop, your foot might get stuck on something at the bottom. So roll into a cannonball so your feet are not protruding.
When your friend wipes out, it is your turn to help him. Approach him from downstream so you don't smash him against something. Have him grab the back loop of your boat. Paddle to shore. Have him kick to help with the propulsion. It takes a lot of effort to tow a person and a boat, so be ready with your most powerful strokes. Once the swimmer is taken care of, others can collect any loose gear. Boats can be pushed to shore; do not try to tow them without a proper harness. You can sandwich two paddles together and paddle fairly normally.
When someone goes through some kind of ordeal, you can inquire about their state of being by slapping the top of your helmet. This means "I'm OK, are you OK?", and mandates a response. If they are uninjured, they will respond likewise. The signal for "I'm hurt" is to clutch your arms together in front of your chest.
Someone may try to teach you how to do something called a 'bow rescue'. This often only works in water which is so quiet that swimming is of little consequence anyway, so going through their exercise is optional today.
Running whitewater involves a well defined group structure. First, before embarking, get everyone together for a head count. An experienced paddler should be in the lead, (also called 'point' or 'probe') position. Others will generally follow his line, in single file, maintaining space between boats. Difficult sections should be run one person at a time. On flatwater it is OK to break into groups to converse, or go exploring. Know who is behind you, and keep them in sight. Stop if necessary. The people in front should see you stop and stop also. If they don't you should chew them out at the next opportunity. The last boater should be an experienced boater with good rescue skills. This is called the 'sweep' position. When casually exploring on flatwater, the sweep boater may pass you. When he does, he should say "You're sweep!" Continue to keep everybody in sight, and regain the established order before tackling any significant sections.
The lead boater will use paddle signals to communicate. Holding the paddle normally with both hands, and raising it horizontally above your head means 'stop'. There maybe a hazard, a difficult section, or a blind passage, so find an eddy somewhere and scout a runnable line. Holding the paddle straight up in the air with hands together like it's a flagpole means 'proceed'. You should follow the line that he just took. If instead of holding it straight up, he holds it at an angle to the left or right, go the direction he is pointing. In other words, he will point away from any obstacles. In the event that he loses his paddle, he will make similar signals with his arms: holding them out crucifix style for 'stop', one arm straight up for 'go', and 'pointing positive' towards the good route.
Whistles are generally to be used in difficult situations. I hardly ever hear anyone blow their whistle on the water. When someone hears a whistle they know it is something serious, so don't cry 'wolf'. The accepted whistle signals are:
One last bit regarding communication: when you are looking downriver, what is on your left is known as 'river left'. Conversely, well you can figure that one out. The tricky part is when you look upriver, 'river right' is on your left.
Once you are on the water, people will want to show you how to do a lot of stuff. If you are overloaded with information, feel free to ignore them. This is the minimum you will need to know to control your boat:
Things you want to avoid include rocks and strainers. Rocks are obvious hazards, since striking them can knock you on your butt. If you can't avoid a rock, try to hit it head on. This way you won't be knocked on your side. If you are swept sideways into one, lean into it. If you lean away, you will get knocked over. If you lean into it you can stay upright, and it doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as you think. 'Strainers' are logs and branches that block streams. They are extremely dangerous since they can hold you and the force of the water won't let you escape. Wood is no good! Stay away! If you find yourself floating into a strainer, try to get on top of it somehow.
So if you stay away from rocks and strainers, what does that leave you with? The clear channel! This can be identified by tounges of green water extending downstream between the white foam. To get there you must point your boat towards it. This can be done with a sweep stroke. To perform a sweep stroke, put the paddle in the water by your foot, with the shaft nearly horizontal. Now pivot your body at the waist. The blade will travel in an arc away from the boat, while the boat turns away from the paddle. When the boat is pointed in a good direction, you paddle towards your target with forward strokes. In a forward stroke the paddle shaft is much closer to vertical than the sweep stroke, and the blade will travel in a straight line down the side of the boat. There are many things you can do to improve your strokes. Listen to advice until you have enough skill to get down the river. Then start thinking about other aspects of river running.
When you are going through rapids, just keep paddling! This will give you stability. A low brace is a stroke you can use in case you start to go over. If someone wants to teach you bracing, you should listen, but the best advice I can give about staying upright is to stay relaxed so that you are flexible in the hips, staying vertical no matter which way the boat moves.
You want to use eddies as places to rest, and plan your descent. Eddies are paradoxical currents which are moving upriver. Eddies can be found in coves along the river bank, and behind any rock or other obstruction in the river. While some obstructions create friendly parking places, others create dangerous whirlpools and holes. You will learn to recognize these, but today your friends should be interpreting river features for you. To catch a friendly eddy while drifting downstream, point your boat at the very top of it and paddle hard into it. It may grab your boat and pull you in. If it doesn't, paddle hard until you are in. Don't let anybody confuse you today with more complicated advice.
When a river goes around a bend, the water wants to keep going straight. So it will pile up on any cliff that is on the outside bank, and take along any boater that lets it. But there will be a shallow eddy on the inside of the curve. Just point your boat at it and paddle into it.
A useful maneuver is to be able to cross a river without going downstream. This is called the 'upstream ferry'. To do this you point your boat at an angle which is neither straight upstream nor straight across, but somewhere in between. The proper angle will vary according to conditions, but once you have found it you can just paddle forward and the boat will magically move straight across the river. To get started, point the boat more towards upriver so you won't get blown downstream.
At this point you have the information you need to survive a sanely guided trip down class II water. It has taken longer to read this page than it will take to put on the proper gear, do a practice wet exit, and review basic safety information. But all this needs to be conveyed before someone can enjoy their first whitewater adventure. This document is probably too long to take with you on the water, so print out my Safety Checklist. It is in the public domain, and formatted for your printer.
This page written by David Lark.
Created 2002
Revised 5/23/2004