Lining Mishap

[Mihun09]

Seems to be the right place for this, considering the fellow was solo'ing the Bloodvein last year a week or two ahead of Alan. In reading through his TR and journals he has a video of how he had a lining mishap due to laziness as he calls it. Funny thing is, the spot looks much like where Alan had his mishap coming back upstream, albeit on the opposite side of the river. The downstream background looks the same.

Anyway, the whole TR takes awhile to go through and I haven't watched most of the video, but the mishap occurs on day 18 I think. Pulled from the Manitoba section of MyCCR. http://www.recped.com/bloodvein/day018.html

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I wonder if the mishap would have been easier to avoid if he had the line rigged with a bridle under the upstream stem, instead of the grab loop. It's easy to second guess, but that's how I would have rigged it. I'm going to have to read that whole report. Looks like a great trip.

Hey - did I see a teddy bear in the bow?

 

[Alan Gage]

Fun video. Must have been a relief to flip the boat over and see so much stuff still inside. You could see him doing an inventory as he looked it over. Glad the boat survived with only a wrinkle in the bow.

Different rapid than I lost my canoe on. His was bigger. Mine I'm sure he paddled right over while heading downstream.

Looked like a fun trip and I no longer feel like such a bum for not getting on the water until 9am many mornings.

Alan

 

[Guest]

Wow, I gotta give him credit for his measured boat-chase down the rocky shore. I’d probably have run after it frantically, tripped and made a bad situation worse.

I’m always amazed at how much loose stuff sometimes stays in a capsized canoe.

I’m not sure what I like more, the giant white beard or the stuffed animal tied atop the barrel in the stern.

 

[blackfly]

Does anyone have a diagram of how that bridle should be tied?

I've used them and agree the lining performance is far superior, however I've never tied one myself. It seems simple enough, however I'm not sure if it can be done with a single rope.

 

[memaquay]

Don't think the bridle would have made a difference in this case. His canoe ended up parked in a sideways souse hole. I too was amazed at his calm walk into the water, I probably would have jumped off the nearest cliff. I'm not sure, but i think on Myccr, a fellow who tripped with recep called him a cat loving hippie or something similar. Pretty cool dude.

 

[yellowcanoe]

No picture of a bridle. I could go tie one on a boat and bring the boat into the sun. Basically its a loop of rope under the boat with the ends tied to the thwart. A second rope is tied with a bowline so it can slide along the looped rope. that makes the lining line stay low..

I have dropped my end of the rope. Same consequences..the canoe ran away and dumped...Somehow for me walking with my gear is safer..

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Can be done with one line. I think Bill Mason demonstrates it in one of his videos, IIRC. Easier to have a dedicated bridle ready though, IMO.

Most of my eexperience is actually tracking, not lining. Seems that it's easier to see the difference a bridle makes when tracking - but probably easier to get in trouble when lining.

 

[Guest]

I too was amazed at his calm walk into the water, I probably would have jumped off the nearest cliff. I'm not sure, but i think on Myccr, a fellow who tripped with recep called him a cat loving hippie or something similar. Pretty cool dude.

I watched that video again, and it wasn’t just his calm boat chase along the shore, it was the surprising lack of obscenity filled audio. Even if I had stayed calm and composed making my way along the shoreline I guarantee the audio portion would have been cover-the-kid’s-ears colorful.

Not a single god-damning, son of a, fornication this or that. Especially when the canoe began to drift away from shore far out into the pool. I would have had some expletive things to say at that point.

Nice 100 yard breast stroke too.

Throw bag bineered ready to the bow*. Gear mostly tied in or tethered. Rational recovery plan. Yeah, that’s a pretty cool dude.

*I guess I should consider that. I keep a throw bag strapped with arm’s reach, which makes sense when paddling with companions, but if I’m solo I’m not throwing it to anyone, and having it secured at the bow or stern would beneficial in out of boat experiences.

Having 50 to 70 feet of contained and easily deployable line attached to one stem makes great sense.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I too will watch this vid again ! Thanks Karin !

My wife saw me watch this video, and said is there something wrong ? She says "You keeping rocking side to side in that chair ! "
I said I was just trying to help this guy keep his canoe upright in the rapids ! HA !

Those GO PRO cameras can put you right in the boat !
Thanks again !

Jim

 

[Canotrouge]

IMO, his lines were to short, I think with longer lines the boat would have clear the hole... hard to say...
Me, I would have run that rapid for sure.

 

[Mihun09]

Recped does solo or group solo river trips every year. I know he did the Seal a few years ago and the Pigeon/Berens also not long ago. He smokes, he takes hordes of equipment, he starts his days when he feels like it, although starting at 3pm is a tad late for most of us. He does it how it works for him, which may explain the calm manner of getting his boat back. It obviously didn't concern him much, or did he edit out the cussing.

Seal trip here... http://www.recped.com/seal/index.htm

 

[Odyssey]

From the comfort of my cushy kitchen chair I can offer my own critique of this guy's misadventure, but first I've gotta offer him my huge admiration for just being there and doing this. And sharing it. Superb trip and attitude! No sense in panicking and making things way worse. This guy is the ultimate in staying cool and calm.
I agree that his lines seemed too short. It's hard not to overcompensate and feel uneasy trusting the current and your tethered lifeline, but as far as I'm concerned (with limited experience) the flow is your friend, not your foe. Maybe I might've wound up in the same souse-hole situation anyway but I don't like bouncing off shoreline rocks so much. I'd rather loosen 30'+ of rope and idle the canoe in midstream than hug the shore. I doubt I could've handled any mishaps as well as this guy though.
Thanks Mihun for this TR. Despite the bugs, thrashing current, and soggy gear I think I'd much prefer to be sitting out there than in my cushy kitchen chair right now.

 

[tump_lion]

yep, similar thing happened to me way-back when i used the grab-handles...i've rigged a bridle ever since...the pros use a prusik, me i just tie from the seats, run it under to the other seat and then throw a quick-knot mid-section and tie-out from there -- it's less than elegant, but uses a single straight run of rope, if i was more serious, lined often enough to have dedicated gear, i think i might go with webbing that would lay flat on the hull......have to think that one thru -- on creeks and stuff, once i'm rigged, i tend to keep the set-up set up which can be a little clunky and even prone to snags...

 

[Canotrouge]

Don'T get me wrong guys, I have a lot of respect for anyone that does solo trips, even overnighter... I watch all the video of that day, and like I said I would have run all the rapids(from what I could see from my kitchen table)... That said I think one always have to see things differently when traveling by him self!! I have a friend up here that always does trip on is own, and he is a really talented ww paddler, class IV V creek is what he likes! He did a few trip up north like the Flat river, the Little Nahannie, the Overland to the nahannie the Tatenshini etc etc... And what he said is when you travel solo you think differently.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Oh yeah - when I first watched the video, I was thinking, " in that boat, I would just run that ". But then I reminded myself that he was solo, and that waves and holes always look smaller in photos and videos. So probably, I wouldn't.

 

[Alan Gage]

But then I reminded myself that he was solo, and that waves and holes always look smaller in photos and videos.

I also found they look smaller when scouting from shore as opposed to in the canoe on final approach.

Alan