Author Archives: Tom Hyde
Aberglaslyn Gorge
Christmas Pud Paddle – 27th December
Brian is organising a club get together. The peer group paddle will run from Llangollen to Chirk along the canal (which is fairly easy going as it is one of those rare canals that has a flow on it). It will be cold so make sure that you bring appropriate kit
Kit:
- Warm clothes (both for paddling in and for getting changed into after)
- Throwline, First Aid Kit
- PFD (Buoyancy Aid)
- Hot drink, food etc
- Headtorch for paddling through the tunnel.
If you need any kit from the container then please contact Brian Wenlock (via the email).
We will be meeting at the Morton Garden Centre near St. Martins, which is just off the A5 on the way to Chirk.
Whitewater Safety and Rescue – Principles and Methods
I will be updating this page as soon as and when necessary.
Principles
The most important principle is Self, Team, Victim, Kit this shows the order of priority that things rank in. It also highlights the importance of self rescue because as a victim you are second to last priority for everyone else. It also means don’t wade into a dangerous situation just to rescue a boat.
Methods
I have made a little list of posts that may be helpful to people wanting to know how to do various types of rescues.
Boat Retrieval
Free a pinned boat using mechanical advantage – Complex Method
Free a pinned boat using mechanical advantage – Simple Method
The Mill – Llangollen
Aside
Just in case any new members wonder what happens at The Mile End Mill whitewater sessions here’s a taster. Maybe you’ll be tempted to come along when they start up again…
Llangollen 17-11-12 from Nick Newman on Vimeo.
Criccieth weekend
Some photos from the fantastic weekend we all had at Criccieth, Whistling Sands and the Tryweryn
Cricceth Surf / River Trip
Maybe someone will be able to shed some light on this trip. If you know a little more can you drop me an email?
Scotland Trip 2010
Here are a few of the photos from the 2010 Easter Scotland Trip (A little while back I know)
Tryweryn in the Glorious Sunshine
Free a pinned boat using Mechanical Advantage
Having recently been on a White Water Safety and Rescue course, I then went to bed and forgot a good bit of the ropework (also the weather on the day of the course didn’t really help). Anyway I have been looking on the internet and nobody seems to have put together a guide for the 4:1 mechanical advantage system that you are taught so I have put one together. Click on a picture to enlarge it.
Diagram of the Setup
Pictures of the Setup
Once the karabiner on the end of the throwline meets the anchor point the throwbag can be pushed back towards the pinned boat and the line can be pulled again. This should be repeated until the boat is free.
This picture just shows the whole system, the throwline attached to the end of the boat would be the one that the open boater has pulled when they have swum with their boat.
If there was no line from the boat then the karabiner should be clipped into the boat. This is less ideal because it requires someone to wade into the river putting them at risk, however it will be the main way of attaching it to a pinned kayak.
A more efficient system is a pig rig, the system is essentially the same but the karabiners are replaced with pulleys (they can be with this if you have them), and prusiks are used to prevent the rope slipping backwards.
Image Credit http://www.brrr.us/safety/