When I began running rapids wood and canvas canoes were the
norm. We knew that our boats were delicate, so swimming, or even crunching,
simply was not an option. Did this restrict us? Not at all.
My old Chestnut has happily danced through the Petawawa's flooded Rollway
and surfed the hole at the bottom of the Ottawa's McCoy's. Folks quite
often ask me if I was worried about breaking my boat, and yes, I was, but
I was and remain far more concerned about breaking my body. If I keep
my boat out of trouble, I keep myself out of trouble.
Plastic canoes and kayaks, helmets, dry suits and wet suits, impact-resistant
PFDs, knives, throw ropes, whistles: individually, they will make it
possible for you to either run more challenging wild water or to be rescued
when you mess up, so they are extremely important; collectively, they might
give you a false sense of security. Remember, your body is now the weakest
link in the chain.
It used to be that you could not simply purchase a boat, immediately put
in to serious water, and hope to return home with more than a bundle of kindling
tied together with strips of #10 cotton. It took a few years of experience
before you would venture beyond class III. Times have changed.
My novice kayak students run class III on their first full day-trip, and
class IV by the end of their first season. The technique is easy enough
to learn, and the equipment is superb, but I wonder: do these new paddlers
truly understand the forces with which they are playing. I doubt it.
They do not realize how quickly a run can go sour. The horror of dragging
or pinning are only abstract constructs. The insidious nature of hypothermia
is just something from a book. As an instructor, the hardest part of
my job isn't teaching technique, it's conveying the absolute necessity of
conservative judgement and teamwork.
When you go out this season, please keep safety at the front of your mind.
Think through the possible ramifications of your actions, and communicate
and work closely with others on your paddling team. You will live or
die by your decisions, so don't be led down the rock garden path by the durability
of your equipment. Remember, a plastic closed canoe has run Niagara
Falls successfully, it's just the paddler who didn't survive.