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Before Choosing an Outfitter, Do Your Homework
Gopaddle.com is dedicated to being the most comprehensive paddlesports directory on the Internet. We do not endorse any specific business. We are supported by our subscribers. Some pay to have banner ads and we use that money to support the site, pay rent on a little office, pay utilities, and promote the site. Nor every outfitter listed on this site may be worthy of the name.
Before selecting an outfitter, do some investigating. Most outfitters worthy of the name belong to a regional, state or national trade association. They strive to be professional.
Most carry some form of liability insurance, however, the waivers that these insurance companies require you to sign before your trip pretty much eliminates any opportunities for frivolous law suites. And, that is as it should be. They carry insurance to protect you and their assets should they or one of their employees do something grossly negligent and you get hurt. For some the insurance is as little as $1.00 per person, for others it may run as much as $10.00 person or more.
There is an element of risk and all outdoor recreational activities that cannot be eliminated by even the most safety conscious outfitter. If there wasn’t some risk involved, most of us wouldn’t be attracted to certain aspects of this sport.
Add to the insurance premiums rising fuel costs – all outfitters are in the mass transit business, too and how many airlines, bus companies and railroads are making money these days? On top of these costs are employee wages, utilities, maintenance and upgrading equipment. Even with all these costs, a rafting, canoeing, kayaking or tubing trip remains your best value in outdoor recreation. Compare the time you spend on the water to the cost of green fees golfing, scuba diving, even such benign activities as attending a major league baseball or football game or attending an amusement or water park. Paddling is a bargain. But there are elements of risk.
That said, pay close attention to your outfitters safety briefings – all professional outfitters either offer a video or oral safety presentation. Some will even send you copies of their safety video to view before your trip or offer these and copies of their release forms on their websites.
Ask them about their alcohol policy in advance. We at gopaddle.com recommend that you save the party until after the trip. However, if alcohol is permitted, limit your consumption, as studies indicate that the effects of alcohol are stronger while on the water.
Even though some outfitters on the same river offer less expensive trips than their competitors, they may not offer the same quality of equipment or the same services. This is your recreation time. You worked hard for it. Take all things into consideration before trying to save a couple of dollars.
If you are booking a more expensive multiple-day trip and don’t know anything about a particular outfitter, ask for references.
The spectrum of outfitting businesses runs from the one man or woman show to professional resorts with a staff of 100 or more on the payroll. The small outfitters cannot afford a large staff. One person might be doing it all, answering phones, taking reservations, greeting you when you arrive, loading and unloading your boats, and even guiding you on the trip. Be patient. Paddling moves at the pace of the heart, not the speed of a jet or even your car or bike. For many involved in outfitting, it is more a labor of love than a way to make a living. Some have real jobs, too.
And that is a nice sedge way into a topic that one of our business partners, Jim Thaxton, was asked to write about by one of his co-workers at the local health department where he works a real job. Though the following is a bit parochial, the dangers of low head dams are pervasive across the country. Outfitters will always warn you about low head dams on the rivers and streams that they serve and how to portage and avoid them. Yet annually, dozens of people die in these “drowning machines”. Part of the problem is that people are buying their own canoes and kayaks at big box stores from salespeople who may have never held a paddle in their hands and then heading out to the nearest waterway without any idea of the hazards involved.
Recreational kayaking is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Unfortunately, with that growth more an more people are dying on our waterways because they don’t have the proper information to protect themselves from harms way. Change the county name to your county or one near you and the story is the same:
Pendleton County's Drowning Machine
Summer heat arrived with a vengeance last week and with it many people escaped to the rivers and streams that define the landscape throughout Pendleton County.
Young boys have traded in their schoolbooks for fishing poles and when the fish aren’t biting the youth are quick to jump in and frolic about in the cool waters of the South Licking River at the dam.
The dam has been a favorite swimming hole for generations of county residents. It has also taken the life of at least one person in each generation since it was constructed in the early 50’s. Seldom a year goes by without someone having a close call at the dam.
In most cases, a drowning will occur when the river raises high enough to create a strong backflow current that captures anything that is buoyant. We’ve all seen balls, tires, and trees tumbling about in the backflow below the dam.
As we know too well, the South Fork of the Licking River can rise quickly. At 2 p.m. on a summer day there might be a trickle of clear water flowing over the dam. At the same time, thunder can be heard in the distance and a cloudburst is dropping 3 inches or more of rain in the Gum Lick watershed. By 5 p.m. the river has turned a butterscotch brown, it is pushing drift and the dam has turned into a “drowning machine” filled with trees and other debris.
Recently, a man and woman floating in a rubber raft on the Great Miami near Dayton, Ohio were stripped naked and suffered deep cuts and abrasions throughout their bodies when they were caught between two tumbling utility poles trapped in the backflow of a low head dam. They were rescued by extending a latter from a fire truck out over the dam. Two men drowned at the same dam last year when their 24 foot yacht lost power and was swept over the dam and capsized in the turbulent waters below.
The South Fork of the Licking has low head dams at regular intervals between Falmouth and Cynthiana. Shortly after the flood of ’97, Robinson Dam took the lives of a Harrison County teacher, his son, and another youth when they attempted to “shoot” the dam in kayaks after a heavy summer rain. Due to its concave design, Robinson Dam creates a backwash that extends farther downstream.
Many residents will recall the near fatal attempt to rescue a man in an inner tube that was stuck in our low head dam. Local firemen who were not trained in low head dam rescue sent two men in a motorboat into the dam. The powerful currents captured the boat and spun it sideways. The aerated waters made the motor useless and the propeller became a deadly hazard to the man they were attempting to save. Fortunately, or perhaps it was the Hand of God, the motorboat capsized at just the right angle to catch the outflow current about 8 feet downstream of the dam. For a brief moment as the boat was tugged gently into the downstream current an escape route was created and the firemen along with the victim were pulled to safety.
Today our river rescue personnel are specially trained to save people trapped in the backwash of low head dams. It is dangerous work. It is up to all of us to respect the forces of nature, the incredible forces of water, and not put these dedicated volunteers in harms way.
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