tips and tricks for a good swim

[insolence]

@ squeakyknee


Oh, really????? what a ****ing good und clever advice, not to swim!

I had never thought, it would be a good idea not to swim, to stay in the boat and maybe roll, really!!! I had thought, the sense of paddling is taking a swim in whitewater!You really opened my mind, thanks!



to be serious: trying not to capsize or trying a roll if the canoe flips over, is what everyone does. But it is a fact that sometimes a swim happens though. Often, rolling does not work, what ever the reason might be.

Maybe you are such a pro boater who never swims. But I presume that the majority of the paddlers, especially the ones just joined in this sport, are not! (And: I have seen even very good paddlers swim.)
In this case some like to know how to avoid injuries when being forced to a swim.

your pretty advice is definitely NOT useful!

Happy swimming/rolling /paddling!

Insolence

[insolence]

@ squeakyknee again

now, some friends told me about the irony in your post "don't swim".....

I had not understood it was ironic, and thought it would be meant serious. For getting a reliable whitewater roll can be relatively difficult, I had been very upset about the post (that I misunderstood as I know now). I hope you understand.

But now I got the point.

So I'm sorry

Insolence

[jim gross]

Swiming in white water is a best case/ worst case scenario. We use case studies to learn from and not all cases or situations are the same. I conclude this situation started not so abnormaly in that she was pitched out on the downstream side before she realised it. The time period she was with her calves held high and behind her was brief while in heavy current. Said smashing of the knee is the consequience for exiting the boat. You have to love rocks. With out them there are no rapids or obstructions to play with. It is easy to swim in deeper water. but when steep creekinin spring or paddleing shallower runs later in the year we invite tripping over rocks and possibly becomeing intimate with said fun rocks. Sounds like she had a good swim (ie: didn,t die , even made the eddy she chose ) albie she has swum into that eddy before ( cheater). I started as an open boater and was an aggresive learner. This combination made me a 3 swim a day boater for 4 months. I remember the first day i only swam twice i was afried of what carma may befall me the next time out. What happened was i became addept at swimming and self rescue, useualy collecting most of my equipment as i exited the boat. After a 6 year lay off i have a new skill. YARD SALE. Even a lost boat never to be seen again. HAHAHAHAH. Any how currents can take your legs deep, do what you can to avoid it and if not get em high as soon as possible syotr JIM

[Deb R]

Sounds like she had a good swim (ie: didn,t die , even made the eddy she chose ) albie she has swum into that eddy before ( cheater).

True enough, I didn't die and I made the eddy. BUT, it was the very first time I paddled that river--I swear I wasn't cheating!

Deb

[Mike W.]

I wasn't going to chime in on this one. I've got a pretty reliable roll & don't swim often. However, today I was playing at Weldon which is a nice little deep park & play spot. I was on the surf wave at the bottom of the rapid.

I haven't had a swim there in several years. Had a nice surf & really don't remember what my exit move was for that particular ride. Anyway I was upside-down, which isn't unussual for me. I set up, snap, nothing OK, not really sure why "nothing" happened, so I set up again. This time I noticed that I got into the set-up possition very quickly I snap again & nothing happened. My paddle went down & I remained under the boat

I've never tried swimming out of this boat (this is STUPID on my part). Whenever you get a new boat or change outfitting swim out of the boat w/ someone there to help if needed.

I don't even recall thinking about swimming. I just popped the skirt, pulled the lap-belt & got mostly out of the boat. One foot didn't want to swim & stayed in the boat for a bit. Once I got my foot out, I looked at my paddle.....SHAFT Then I looked around for my blade It was floating nearby

I'm really glad that IF my paddle was going to break, this was the place. It's an easy swim in deep water to the boat ramp. I didn't hit anything w/ the paddle & had no warning that it was going to break. I guess I'll get into shape swinging the big wood Mitchell again. That one will be there when I need it. Those light, composites are really nice & do so much for my stroke rate, but I never really liked the joint between shaft & blade.

OH! One more thing...use float bags in the boat

[jscottl67]

Before I got into WW OC-1, I used to go rafting on the New in WV whenever I got the chance (probably about 10 times), and I always got out of the boat to swim when the guides said it was ok to do so. The places they let us swim really had no major risk of entrappment, but generally had some wave trains so you did have to time your breaths a little, and it was great practice (paid off later when we dumptrucked and swam a portion of Double-Z).

In some of the intentional swims, I've gotten in similar positions as you described right after going in cannonball style. What always seemed to work best for me was to quickly roll over onto my side head downstream, pull my knees up to my chest (close to the surface) and use my arms to then start the spin of my torso into a downstream position. Sideways to the current, there is almost no current differential to oppose in the bringing the knees up movement.

The spin is actually pretty quick because your legs are up at the faster moving surface water (at least in the same plane as the rest of your torso). You can release your legs depending on what the current is doing pretty quickly and in the same movement complete it by rolling onto your back. I've gotten from facing downstream with feet behind me into the swimmers position within a couple of seconds.

I'm sure it all depends on what is going on, and I certainly would not want to go over a drop during that brief sideways stage Not sure if it's "proper" technique, but it's a quick way to get into the swimming position, and I've tested it once or twice in shallow areas of the Nanty.

Disclaimer - I'm not nearly as experienced as a lot of paddlers on this forum. However, learning OC-1 with an Ocoee as a first boat, I do have an inordinate amount of practice at swimming.

[Heidi]

Deb, you were paddling an Outrage and if I'm correct the Ocoee is fairly new to you, the difference in chines on these boats requires different learned sensitivities to how the boat will react to you and the river.

As I understand it, the softer chine of the Outrage is considered more predictable/forgiving to a degree as it allows for more micro variations in angle, lean, water to boat surface, etc., whereas the edge of a harder chine boat like the Ocoee seems to require a different kind of precision.

Another thought on safety is to take it back to pond - class 2 while getting acquainted with an unfamiliar boat, put it through the rigors where the consequences are controllable or minimal.

[philcanoe]

Deb keep up the good work...a buddy told me,if you're not swimming you're not learning...I've swam with the best of them, now I turn over less than they do

there is one stroke that works while swimming...

you cheat up and grip the paddle right next to the blade...grap it like a eastern forehand grip (like a tennis racket)...let the shaft come up behind your forearm and elbow ...you can practice this by sculling the boat around in one hand .. master this and you can ferry yourself out of really fast current, boat in tow

you can actually grap the boat in one hand, the paddle in the other and do a backstroke with both arms, both feet will be up and pointing down stream... this will also help keep you on the surface... of course you have to get there first...sometimes it's a bounce or two before surfacing ...the key is to ferry-yourself to the side

in reference to your predicament... you might have drawn your knees up to your chest, and swirled you arms around to orient...this has helped me in the past ... of course sometimes it's better to go for the crawl stroke, and 'Get the H-E-L-L' out of there ... Goodluck, you're on the way to being able to decide

[Deb R]

Deb, you were paddling an Outrage and if I'm correct the Ocoee is fairly new to you, the difference in chines on these boats requires different learned sensitivities to how the boat will react to you and the river.

As I understand it, the softer chine of the Outrage is considered more predictable/forgiving to a degree as it allows for more micro variations in angle, lean, water to boat surface, etc., whereas the edge of a harder chine boat like the Ocoee seems to require a different kind of precision.

Another thought on safety is to take it back to pond - class 2 while getting acquainted with an unfamiliar boat, put it through the rigors where the consequences are controllable or minimal.

I actually find the Ocoee very comfortable and responsive, even moreso than the Outrage (and I thought that would always be my favorite boat). I took it out before the Swift trip on some flat - class II stuff for practice first and surprisingly I'm not finding that it has a steep learning curve for me. Just speaking for myself, I've found that my best learning takes place where there's some current--not on a pond. I need to learn by feel; I'm not someone who naturally responds well to theory. The boat wasn't the problem--I approached the drop with an incorrect angle and hit a rock (this was at the end of the run and the rest of the run had been challenging but fine). The bigger problem was the situation of the current doing something unfamiliar to my legs once I was already in the water. I'm positive that I'll always have a swim or two on occasion--that doesn't bother me. What I *do* want to know is how to be safe once I'm swimming. The tuck up into a ball is what I'll try if I'm in that same current situation again.

Deb