Відео

Saying that a kayaker needs to be going faster or slower than the water around them to maintain control is absolutely false. If a boat is going slower than the water then the water is putting pressure on the boat which you will need to overcome to make any adjustment, which is why beginner paddlers often flip when peeling out of an eddy. Similar idea when a boat is going faster than the water, now the pressure on your boat comes from it pushing through the slower water. That pressure on the boat will again need to be overcome before any adjustment can be made, which is why beginner paddlers also flip often when catching an eddy. Another example would be why a new paddler will struggle to paddle their boat straight on a perfectly calm lake. Once they have any momentum the pressure on the boat will cause it to try and turn. But if I’m sitting still on a lake I can change my angle 180 with the slightest stroke of my blade. Likewise, if I’m going the same speed as the water as I go through a wave train rapid I can change my angle with ease as there is no pressure on my boat. Obviously there are plenty of times when speeding up or slowing down are crucial, but you actually have the most control over your boat when your boat and water are moving the same speed. This is a critical concept to grasp for whitewater kayaking and thankfully it’s straight forward and easy to grasp on day one in a boat if someone teaches it to you.

Thank you for posting this.

You want to be faster than the flow or at minimum the same speed, if you are slower than the flow the river owns you. If you are going to hit a rock or get pinned then always lean into the rock so the flow goes under your boat.

That’s spooky. Good vid man 🤙

Going the speed of the current does NOT equate to being out of control (0.57).

isn't the buoyancy with the kayak greater than buoyancy of paddler alone? Meaning you get faster to the surface with kayak.

which danheim track is this? nice music

I've noticed too here that the paddler doesn't even have a well developed forward stroke!

As somebody who has been like 20 seconds from the drowning response I think this video is wonderful

He could see he was headed for trouble and yet he did not paddle HARD. Maybe he was utterly exhausted from earlier swims?

great video thank you

Total inexperience, all the time and space to pick a line, seemed clueless

Thank you for your comments. I think the major mistake that the paddler made here, and that is very common among novice paddlers, is underestimating the speed of the current. Given where the paddler was pointing their boat, it seemed that they planned on paddling river right. At the same time, given how relaxed their paddle strokes were, they seem to have thought that they have enough time to get to those eddies without putting [seemingly unnecessary] power into their strokes. The typical problem with this kind of thinking is that a novice paddler doesn't account for a possibility that they can miss a stroke (like this paddler did) or hit a rock, which will slow them down, or get out-of-balance by the current and lose time bracing, or [most commonly] simply misread the current. Whereas, by paddling more aggressively than they think they need to, they're essentially buying themselves insurance against such scenarios. In order to stop underestimating river currents, one needs to practice paddling down trajectories that cross the river as many times as possible, i.e. performing ferries, wave moves, catching eddies, etc. After many failed seemingly simple maneuvres, one will realize that they should paddle harder than their initial estimate often is.

Two other things: The entire Safe Eddy Rule says, “Never go further downstream than the next eddy, a) that YOU can see, b) that YOU can catch, c) from which YOU can get out of the river. Don’t trust that there’s an eddy because another paddler told you there’s one. There are eddies that another paddler can squeak into but are not within your current ability. And, finally, being in a safe eddy means you can get you of you boat and climb to safety. Sitting around waiting for the water level to fall is not a good solution. I don’t think this paddler had any real chance of getting into that eddy. Second, POINT THE DAMN BOAT. You will *never* catch an eddy with your bow pointing straight downstream, no matter how fast you’re paddling. Good info on the undercut recognition!

@Montana Zach great commentary and illustration. You mentioned another kayaking video. I do not see it on your channel. Do you have a link?

After watching a number of these videos it has become apparent that many of these people are out of their element and most of these accidents are easily avoided.

Wow clickbait… I was looking for a video about how to die in a kayak not how to not die in a kayak. 🫤

Thank you! Now I can die in a kayak!

Very. Very. Lucky.

That is terrifying!

Thanks for the play by play and pointing out all the options & errors. Seems like he was lackadaisical after he went over the first rock at river level. If he would have just paddled harder, with the knowledge of white vs green water... ( ... already said..). The other option I saw was that before he hit that first low rock, he could have realized it might be hard to clear the other big rock further down on the right side, so he could have boofed straight over the water level rock and done either an eddy behind the first rock (or an 'eddy S' turn) and ferried over to the left a bit and gone by the big undercut rock on the left... Eddies are our friends and he could have chilled behind the first one, even though it was a bit frothy... take a moment to assess. I always tell people ya 'gotta paddle not float' and gotta work the eddies constantly for practice. It's a bunch of fun too... and it can save your life and others... thanks! Newt

Did he live or die

No thanks. I'll stick with snow skiing on the bunny slope.

I've not been kayaking any more for like 20 years and saw this video yesterday without any comments. My thoughts when seeing it first are reflected in your comments nearly 1:1. Too slow, no control, no firm grip to the paddle. One more thing is that there is no reaction to the obvious danger. He tries to avoid the rock just 10-15 secomds too late.

How is going slower than the river maintaining control? Seems to me if you are going slower than the river you are liable to get stuck in a feature like he did.

Scary, but educational and extremely well presented. I'm going to show this video to any family/friends that are new to white water kayaking.

Alright yo, as a boater, I am gonna go ahead and let you know that you’re not perfect bro. You don’t get to judge someone else’s boating. This dude made a critical error, but came out of it. Also that is technically called a siphon. An undercut has no exit point. I’d love to see you put your fucking ego where your mouth is and try to boat with my friends and I.

GODDdddd that shit was sooooo quick if you dont know what your doing you could so insanely easily just get randomly teleported to death! Phenomenal to watch and really showd the magnitude of how how dangerous kayaking is!

Seems like the margin for error is almost nonexistent in this sport

why didn't yo u tittle this video dude gets suck into cave and comes out the otherside XD

Getting in the water was the first mistake 🤔

After thirty plus years white water kayaking at all grades; I reckon there isn't a word out of place here. Impressed by the tip on green water and undercuts. Not often taught nowadays.

I got sucked through an underwater tunnel on the Mollala River in Oregon...scariest thing that ever happened to me in 15 years of white water kayaking...

Great video much appreciated 👍👍

Thank's a lot !!!

1 this paddler is not skilled enough for this grade of water 2 basic scouting and prep would have warned them of the danger 3 the people paddling with this paddler are either delusional or equally inexperienced and therefore dangerous 4 paddling is not the hyper complicated frame by frame game of roulette that the commentator suggests

Bro I'm 13 and did class 3 Rapids I'm lucky lol allmost died 3 times

Biggest mistake: rookie paddler who's unstable,unsure and flailing while taking on water he doesn't yet have the skills to safely read and handle.One or two decisive and well placed strokes would have easily gotten him past what is an easily missed obstacle in CLII water.

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm new to ww kayaking and so I'm watching everything i can. This was a very good watch. Thanks again.

never knew this

Yesterday i did 35km river the mattawa river never ran Rapids before was alot of fun but i learned of ppl like you that are kind and take time to same my and other lives for beginners was class 3 at the most few small falls but took us 12 hours long ride

I’ve been sucked under a down tree like this and was held under but it wasn’t that deep so I was able to plant my hand on the ground and keep my head out of the water until my buddy could get out and help me.

His sweep strokes had no effect. He used the arm and shoulder instead of the core muscles

Wow that's nuts so deep so fast got lucky.

Thank you for the information. This is invaluable. I’m still in class 2 and 3 water on a sit-on-top Dagger Roam. Love it but I’ve been working my way up slowly and learning to read the water. What is your #1 piece of advice for a beginner? I’ve mastered ferrying, catching eddys and such, leaning the hill upstream, and I still capsize sometimes in big holes. Wave trains are easy for me, front surfing, etc. but somehow my success rate on big class 3 drops is a mixed bag. Sometimes I get through and sometimes the water swings me sideways and then the tip. Thanks.

Sorry about your friend thanks for saving us

Nearly 50 years since I last paddled white water seriously. Boats were 13’6” long and an Olymp 76 was still hot property. Glass fibre was as tech as it got. Some things however never change, reading the water and hazard perception, basic river craft. Doesn’t matter how flash and high tech your gear is you can’t cheat the basics.

Good stuff...ive seen that kind of video before somewhere...way to break it down.

This is the "Soča River in Slovenia" if anyone wants to know. Here in Slovenia its also know an the emerald river. This part of the river we call "The S" As this is the maneuver you must make with rafts when in low water to avoid the siphon. You go into the rapid river right as the kayaker did. just before the first set of rocks about 5meters out from the first set of rocks we would back paddle and place the raft be-hide in the Eddie crossing directly in-front of the siphon while working our way to river left... The kayaker was about 2 meters off the line he should have taken to avoid what happened to him. Even while on the correct line the current is still pushing you into the siphon so you must still drive the kayak river right while on the correct line... The rock itself is siphon / "C" shape undercut as in super low water its dry and you can see how it is..... The companies of the Soča Valley keep that "siphon" clean as much as possible.. We are checking it always specially after big water levels if something is inside it we take it out ASAP.

thanks thanks thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for this awesome video commentary