American River Swift Water Rescue

With the weather almost in the 90's yesterday a buddy and I decided to hit the river with the small yaks to surf the stationary wave for a couple of hours before a BBQ.

To make a long story short a guy obviously not knowing what he doing ends up flipping his Tarpon in the rapids and the current sucks him under immediately. Seeing this unfold we start counting, after 30 seconds..the kayaks floating down river and he's no where in sight we start looking. About 45 sec- to a 1 min. we end up pulling him from the water and dragging him over the front of the kayaks. Partially blue and gasping for air we pull him to shore.  I hope he learned a life long lesson yesterday...the weather might be HOT but the waters still extremely COLD and FAST.......WEAR A FREAGIN LIFE JACKET!!! Keep this in mind especially you non seasoned paddlers we don't need this happening to anyone!.

This marks the first person pulled from the river this year and from years past won't be the last! RESPECT THE WATER and DON'T BE THIS GUY!

Wow...

 That's Huge.....

 Glad you were successful, that guy could very well killed you...

 Not to take anything away from what you did, You deserve a medal....

 Swift Water rescue is no Joke.... One of the Biggest Dangers is The Victim themselves...

their Panicking, and extremely dangerous...

 Good for You and your Bro for a Job Well Done.....

Swift Water rescue is no Joke.... One of the Biggest Dangers is The Victim themselves...
their Panicking, and extremely dangerous..

I second that, I have seen it happen many times! Its not the first person I've pulled from the river and yesterday we were comfortable using the kayaks like an extraction sled.
 

Good job Abdiver.  Where did this happen? San Juan?  No PFD 

Saw a AR report in the paper about 2 weeks ago of a woman who fell in while walking on shore and was swept away.  If I recall correctly I think it was a CHP helicopter that first responded to the 911 call from her friends that pulled her out.

WTG.... You guys were in the right place and time for that guy... Nice rescue... I hope he learned his lesson and passes it on.

Good Job..!

Gue

WTG guys you were in the right place at the right time. That dude owes you his life. Can't believe he didn't have a PFD on especially in those rough waters. I'm sorry that douche ruined your day.

I've been involved in one rescue down south. Happened in Malibu fishing the kelpbeds. Water was rough, current & swells were strong. Newbie fell off his yak, current takes yak and he's struggling in the water with no PFD.
Paddle over for the assist I tell him to grab the front of my yak & hold on, he's in shock, scared, and try to climb on to the front of my yak. After me yelling at him several times to calm the hell down and him almost flipping me over several times, I had to take some sort of action.

This may seem harsh but I whacked him over his back with my paddle pretty hard, which turned out to be good thing cuz it snapped him out of his panic. Told him to calm the hell down, paddled him into the surf zone into the shallows where he could stand up. He waited on the beach while i did a 2 mile round trip to retrieve his yak.

Sorry for the thread jack. Just wanted to share a similar experience.

That guy is sooo lucky you are as experienced as you are, hope he realizes that.  Last year it was a cute mutt that was marooned, and now this hapless dude.  Youre a rescuing machine!

This may seem harsh but I whacked him over his back with my paddle pretty hard, which turned out to be good thing cuz it snapped him out of his panic. Told him to calm the hell down, paddled him into the surf zone into the shallows where he could stand up. He waited on the beach while i did a 2 mile round trip to retrieve his yak.

Sorry for the thread jack.

That's no thread jack...  That is what your supposed to do and good info for all here that may find themselves in a similar situation..

 Another Job well done....

Good going on the rescue & for posting. All good info for anyone to consider, esp us less experienced paddlers.

This may seem harsh but I whacked him over his back with my paddle pretty hard, which turned out to be good thing cuz it snapped him out of his panic. Told him to calm the hell down, paddled him into the surf zone into the shallows where he could stand up. He waited on the beach while i did a 2 mile round trip to retrieve his yak.

Sorry for the thread jack.

That's no thread jack...  That is what your supposed to do and good info for all here that may find themselves in a similar situation..

 Another Job well done....

We often have the same comment to make, Don.  Specially when it comes to life and limb issues.  It is so good to know we have each others' backs. for sure.

WTG Ariel and Abdiver.....PFDs= a MUST.  Your actions give new meaning to the term "whack job."  Best part of the story.

One guy I gave a bunch of guff to then saw him the next wek out on the ocean
"where's your pfd?"

He proudly answered, "Oh I have one this week, it's in my front hatch"

Needless to say I reamed him again then got his pfd out of the hatch for him so he wouldn't flip..... (he will remain anonymous,,,but....you know who you are...LOL)

Allen

He proudly answered, "Oh I have one this week, it's in my front hatch"

Where's your seat belt?
Oh, I'll put it on when I'm about to get in a wreck...

WTG...hopefully he learned his lesson.

Really nice work.  Two thumbs up!

 Where did this happen? San Juan? 

YEP! Right in the main rapid! With the flows up above 3100 CFS it was cooking through there Sunday!

Lots of stupid people on the Am River this year.  Last week I pulled a guy out of some whitewater between Auburn and Folsom lake.  The guy had been watching playboaters on TV and thought he could do the same thing with his costco kayak.  The dude was trying to run playwaves,Class III and chunky IVs sans PFD, sans helmet, sans cerebrum.