Basic Guide Training Manual

Basic Guide Training Manual
This manual is dedicated to

Soren
and to all paddlers
who did not make it to takeout.
May your memory inspire all

river-runners towards even greater
respect for moving water and care for
those who travel the river with us.
Project Great Outdoors, Inc.

Copyright 2012
Project Great Outdoors, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America

Reno Typographers, Inc.
Reno, Nevada
Preface
This manual has been a long time in the making. Ever since Project Great Out-
doors started training guides, we’ve looked for good documentation and source
material. Yes, Project Go is an experiential organization, and yes we believe that
people learn best by DOING, but these beliefs do not preclude reference mate-
rial. And some people NEED to read something, or see an illustration of it to
learn effectively.
We’ve used commercially purchased books in the past and have examined the col-
lections of Xerox copies of different source material that other guide schools use,
but we have found nothing that is an appropriate companion to our eleven day
guide training program; nothing that treats learning to guide a whitewater raft as a
progression of skills building one upon the next.
The outline for this manual came from presentation outlines created by Project
GO senior trainers. When these trainers were gave presentations on a particular
subject, they were asked to provide an outline of their presentation. The following
year, the outline was provided to the trainer making that year’s presentation, and
that year’s trainer was encouraged to edit, modify and improve it. These source out-
lines were thus modified year after year until everyone seemed satisfied that they
were accurate and complete.
Now we’ve simply added prose descriptions of the outline points, and illustra-
tions. Taken together with our in-boat training, visual aids and the presentations,
this booklet completes a package of guide training material that we believe to be
among the most comprehensive in the United States. We will continue to evaluate
and improve the program however. The book you are holding may not be the most
recent. Please check http://www.projectGO.org to find the most recent version.
In reviewing the final manuscript prior to publication, it’s astonishing how many
things are described as “beyond the scope of this manual.” Guiding a raft is just too
complex an endeavor to fully describe on paper. No manual is a replacement for ex-
perience, practice and competent instruction. However complete we believe this
manual to be, there may be errors or omissions. When you get into a boat and navi-
gate a stretch of whitewater you assume full responsibility for your actions. Project
GO and the authors assume no liability for the result of actions taken after reading
this manual. Be careful out there. Be familiar with the rivers you run. If you have
doubts, stay home!
Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 5

CONTENTS
One Personal Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Two Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Three Guide and Paddle Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Four Commanding a Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Five Basic Maneuvering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Six Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Seven Ride the Back of the Mighty Dragon . . . . 59
Eight River Rescue and Safety Basics . . . . . . . . 65
Nine Working with Rope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Ten Rigging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
ONE
Personal Gear
People who love the outdoors love gear. Having the right things becomes part of
your identity, and if you can afford it, it is tempting to go out and fill your whole
garage with stuff. You want to look like a guide, after all! We respectfully suggest,
however, that you refrain from buying a bunch of stuff until you have practical ex-
perience\ and have spoken to a number of experienced people who have used the
gear you’re contemplating. This chapter is intended to be an overview of basic op-
tions, not the be-all and end-all of gear recommendations.
Clothing
There are many options of outerwear to protect you from the elements. Under-
neath this outerwear, you’ll want to have clothing that will insulate even when
wet. That means synthetics like Capilene and polypropylene are best. Wool is
the old standby. What you want to avoid is cotton, as it does not insulate when
wet. Even on the hottest days, there will be shade in a river canyon, and there is
always the possibility of a misadventure causing a trip to be on the river late into
the evening. Whenever possible, dress in layers so you can add or remove layers as
conditions change.
You’ll need shoes that won’t come off your feet. Teva and Chaco style sport san-
dals are a popular choice, but are not ideal for a guide. As a guide you may be in-
volved in rescue operations, where a closed toe, a secure fit and good grip are
essential. There are many specialized rafting shoes on the market. Check with
guides that you meet to get their feedback. Canvas sneakers or high-tops are a pop-
ular and inexpensive choice.

If the conditions are cold and/or you expect or plan to be in the water at any time
of year, a wetsuit or drysuit is a good idea. As a general rule, you should dress for a
potential swim, not for the outside weather. Also note that it is very easy to cool off
if you’re too hot, while warming up is a lot tougher. Wet-
suits come in several flavors. Neoprene that is between 2
and 3.5 mil thickness is about what you’ll be looking for.
A “Farmer John” or “Jane” sleeveless is the best all around
choice. You can wear layers under and/or over these, and
the lack of sleeves allows for good mobility of your upper
body. Diving wetsuits can be very restrictive, and should
probably be avoided.
Drysuits are a great option for cold

weather, provided you can afford
one and have the time to care for it.
The “Farmer John” wetsuit is pretty
standard, and by adding layers is
quite warm enough for most
conditions.
You may elect to wear a splash top, paddling jacket or even a dry-top, and
splash pants or dry-pants instead of or in addition to your wetsuit. Splash tops and
paddling jackets/pants generally have velcro closures at the neck, waist, wrists and
ankles. They are not meant to keep you completely dry, but rather to keep the
clothing underneath from getting too wet. In the event of a swim, they’ll do little
for you while you’re in the water, though protection from the wind and another
layer of insulation when you get out of the water can be nice.
Drytops and drysuits have rubber gaskets and are intended to completely seal
out water. A drytop by itself is not ideal for a rafter. They are intended to keep
kayakers’ upper bodies dry, and depend on the kayak and skirt to keep the lower
body dry. On a cold day, there is nothing quite like a drysuit. Bundle as much
clothing as you want under it and you will be nice and toasty, and there are a num-
ber of options. Pockets, relief-zippers to allow bathroom breaks without having to
disrobe, and attached booties rather than ankle gaskets are among them. They’re
made of several materials. Gortex being the most popular. A Gortex drysuit with all
the bells and whistles may cost over $1,000 though, so unless you plan on doing a
lot of winter boating, you’ll probably opt to rent one for the times you need it.
A safety note on drysuits: rubber gaskets break
down under sunlight. Always inspect the gaskets of
a drysuit before using it. A drysuit filled with water
will make you significantly less buoyant and make
it much harder to move and swim. It’s best not to
combine a drysuit with a very low flotation pfd, no
matter how great a swimmer you think you are.
A torn neck Gasket.
12 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

PFDs
Personal Flotation Devices, or PFDs must always be correctly worn when on the
river. Here too, there are numerous options. The US Coastguard recognizes five
types of flotation devices. Type III and Type V PFDs designed for whitewater activi-
ties are approved for whitewater use.
Type I
This PFD is designed for extended survival in rough, open water. It usually will
turn an unconscious person face up and has over 22 pounds of buoyancy. This is the
best PFD to keep you afloat in remote regions where rescue may be slow in coming.
Type II
This “classic” PFD comes in several sizes for adults and children and is for calm
inland water where there is chance of fast rescue. It is less bulky and less expensive
than a Type I, and many will turn an unconscious person face-up in the water.
Type III
These life jackets are generally considered the most comfortable with styles in-
tended for different boating activities and sports. They are for use in calm water
where there is a good chance of fast rescue since they will generally not turn an un-
conscious person face-up. Flotation aids come in many sizes and styles.
Type IV
These are designed to be thrown to a person in the water. Throwable devices in-
clude boat cushions, ring buoys, and horseshoe buoys. They are not designed to be
worn and must be supplemented by a wearable PFD. It is important to keep these
devices immediately available for emergencies, and they should not be used for
small children, non-swimmers, or unconscious people.
Type V
Special use PFDs include work vests, deck suits, and hybrids for restricted use.
Hybrid vests contain some internal buoyancy and are inflatable to provide addi-
tional flotation.
In selecting a PFD for your personal use,

Low Flotation
there are two basic considerations, and
they tend to conflict with each other: com-
fort versus Flotation. Vests with low flota-
tion allow a great range of movement. As
guides spend a lot of time moving their
upper bodies, this is desirable. On the
other hand, whitewater boating can put
swimmers into aerated white-water where
High Flotation flotation is very important. We’ve heard
guides say that they prefer low flotation vests, because they want to have maximum mobility
so they can “swim.” We believe that even the strongest swimmer can have a hard timing
swimming in swift current though and generally advocate a higher flotation PFD. Flotation is
measured in pounds of flotation, and the range available in typical whitewater vests is from
15.5 to 22 pounds. People with very little body fat and/or those who intend to regularly wear a
drysuit are strongly advised to wear a high flotation PFD.

Rescue Vests
One other option is something called a “rescue vest.” Some retailers will sell these
only to individuals who can prove that they are trained in their use. This sort of vest
has an additional strap through a metal ring, and has a quick-release buckle. Such a
vest is used in rescue operations where the wearer will be attached to a line while
they swim after a victim. Do not attempt to do this unless you have the proper
training. It is OK to own such a vest even before you are so trained, as in a rescue
situation, you could swap PFDs with someone who is trained. It’s always good to
have more emergency equipment than less.
The well-dressed guide. While this guide’s PFD is low profile, it has considerable flotation.
Note the whistle, knife, several extra locking carabiners and a pair of pulleys. While this guide
is comfortable in a short-sleeve thermal top, notice that the other guides in the photo are each
dressed in varying degrees of warmth. On the left you see a wetsuit. In the middle, a drysuit,
and on the right splash pants. There is no one “perfect” outfit for everyone.
Helmets
As of this writing, helmets are not required by any regulation on the rivers that
Project GO operates on. By custom, all participants wear helmets on class IV rivers,
and helmets are optional on class III rivers. We do expect this custom to change and
to see more and more helmets on class III rivers.
Regardless of regulation or custom, a helmet is an important piece of equipment
for a guide to own. A guide may be directly involved in rescue operations, so it
makes a lot of sense for guides to always wear one, so they can be prepared to act in-
stantly in case of an emergency.
A helmet should fit very securely, and not move about the head. The ability to
hear in a boat is very important, so many guides prefer helmets that do not cover
the ears.

Personal safety/Rescue Gear
Every guide should have a knife, a whistle and a flip-line.
There are two primary purposes for having a knife. To cut ropes or to cut boats,
either of which could entrap someone. Important considerations for knives are the
security of the attachment mechanism, whether it is single or double edged, and the
sort of hilt that it has.
A knife that can come loose by accident is a bad thing in a rubber raft, so look for
a knife that will not come off if it is bumped or pressed upon from the front. Single
or double edged blade is a matter of personal preference. Some people like having
the choice of a standard and serrated edge, while others prefer to be able to press on
one side of the knife without cutting their fingers off. Some sort of hilt is very im-
portant. These knives are VERY sharp and when cutting you don’t want your hand
to slip off the handle and onto the blade.
A whistle is essential for signaling. There are several varieties made for whitewater
use. Loud – even when wet – small and inexpensive, the Fox40 is the standard by
which others are measured.
A flipline is a length of rope or webbing that is typically secured around the waist
by a LOCKING carabiner. In addition to helping right a flipped raft, they can be
used for many purposes on the river: to attach two boats together, to peel a boat off
of a rock, and if made of 1 inch tubular webbing, to use in constructing an anchor
for rescue purposes. The length can be anywhere from 8 to 20 feet.
Other Rescue Gear

A personal throwbag that can be attached around the waist is a great item to
have. It ensures that you are never without this essential piece of rescue hardware.
Examine it frequently to ensure that there is no danger of the rope escaping the bag.
If you can afford it, consider getting one with static line, as such can be quite useful
in rescue situations.
It’s a good idea to carry a few “extra” bits of gear, too. A locking carabiner or two,
a pulley, or prusik loops are all good choices. While the rescue kit that goes on every
trip has such things, if every guide on a trip has a few components, rescue options
and the speed at which they can be accomplished are increased.
Personal Effects
For day-trips, it’s nice to have a small dry bag or pelican box in which you can
keep a few extra warmies, sunscreen, or the incidental item that one of your pad-
dlers will ask you to store. A small mesh bag to carry your straps and carabiners can
also be rigged into the boat to carry personal effects that don’t have to stay dry.
All of your gear should be marked with your name and phone number, and or
some other identifying mark. All rafting gear looks the same, and it is not uncom-
mon for things to get mixed up over the course of a day.

TWO
Equipment
Inflatable rafts come in a number of shapes and sizes, and can be made of a num-
ber or materials. Different brands and sizes of boats are more or less common, de-
pending on the river where they are used. On the South Fork of the American River
and in fact on most Sierra rivers, a fourteen foot boat is the most common. You’ll
see twelve and thirteen foot boats being paddle-guided, and every now and then
you’ll see a fifteen or even a sixteen foot boat on the South Fork. If you get up to
the Ottawa River in Canada, though, or the Zambezi in Africa, you’ll see 20 and 22
foot paddle rafts. You’ll also see them flip end over end in huge whitewater. It’s
kinda fun to watch: See what a google search of “ottawa river carnage” brings up.
Most commonly, boats are made from a densely woven fabric coated with a rub-
ber or plastic compound: Hypalon and PVC are perhaps the most common. The
quality and strength of the fabric is based broadly on the density of the weave of the
base material, measured in denier, the mass of fiber in grams per 9,000 meters (file
that one away in the trivia file). Fabric for a typical whitewater inflatable boat
ranges from 800 denier on the low end, to 1200 on the high end. Boats may have
fabric of different denier in different parts, The bottom of tubes and the bottom of
the floor may be denser than the top of the tubes, for example. Rubber (hypalon
etc.) and plastic (pvc etc.) have different characteristics, and can impact boat per-
formance, durability and longevity.
Plastic tends to be stiffer, for example, which can make the boat a little less likely
to “wrap” around a rock, for instance, but a little more likely to flip over. Plastic

boats are slipperier than their rubber counterparts, making them easier to get off of
rocks when they do get stuck. The best plastic boats are welded, and do not use glue
to hold them together. This is important, as PVC glues break down over time, lim-
iting the useful life of a glued plastic boat. Plastic boats are more difficult to roll up,
which can be an issue for the boater who must fit a boat into a car for transporta-
tion to the river.
Rubber boats are more flexible, making them better able to “stick” to the water.
Unfortunately this same characteristic can make them more likely to stick to rocks,
too. The glue used to assemble and patch rubber boats forms a chemical bond with
the rubber, making it a permanent bond. For this reason, you’ll see far more 20 year
old hypalon rafts than 20 year old PVC rafts on the river. Hypalon as a base mate-
rial, is much more expensive than PVC. If you’re talking about glued boats, the hy-
palon variety will generally cost twice as much as the PVC variety. But as soon as
you add the cost of welding, a PVC boat will cost just as much as hypalon one.
Boats of both types can be coated with different materials intended to add addi-
tional abrasion protection. Neoprene and urethane are two examples. Some manu-
facturers stitch their boats, and use an inner-tube so that they hold air and are easier
to repair.
A boat may have a simple floor that holds no air and thus requires a bailing
mechanism, usually you and a bucket, hence the name “Bucket Boat,” or an inflat-
able floor which sits
above the water level
and allows the water to
drain though openings
around the outer rim of
the floor, hence the
name “Self-Bailing.” A
bucket boat will cost
much less than a self-
bailing raft, but is much
more likely to wrap
around a rock, and is
Self Bailing Floors. Considering the simplicity of the concept, it very difficult to control
took a long time to figure out a way to make a self bailing raft. So when filled with water.
called “Bucket Boats” are increasingly uncommon, but you’ll still A self-bailing floor
see them on large volume rivers, where guides claim that the may be glued or laced
weight of the water in the boat keeps the boat from flipping. into position. A laced
floor has the advantage
of easier repair and replacement, as one can detach the damaged floor and ship it to
a repair facility, or replace it altogether. As you might expect, a laced floor tends to
increase the cost of a boat. The lacing must be regularly inspected to ensure that it is
sufficiently tight, and that the lacing itself is not in danger of breaking through
abrasion.
Floors may be flat bottomed, or have ridges, and may be attached higher or lower
in a boat. These things can affect the performance of the boat. A flat floor will likely

be a bit easier to spin, for instance, while
one with ridges may “track” better,
much as a keel; or centerboard helps a
sailboat continue in a straight line.
In general, a boat is about half as wide
as it is long. Tubes vary in diameter from
16 to 21 inches, with the larger diameter
tubes being preferable on “big water.”
“Rocker” describes how much higher the
bow and stern are than the center of the
boat. Boats with more rocker have a
Self Bailing Indeed! Here you can see water shorter waterline and may be more ma-
draining from a self-bailing floor in a rather dra- neuverable. But lots of rocker makes it a
matic way. This may be one of the situations bit more difficult to comfortably seat a
when a bucket boat would have worked out paddle crew.
better though, as a boat full of water would be What many readers want to know is
far less likely to wind up upside-down in a situ- “what is the best boat, and how much
ation like this. does it cost?” Alas there is no easy an-
swer. In general, the more you pay for a
boat, the longer it will last. But you should guide as many different boats as you can
and talk to as many boat owners as you can before forming your own opinion.
Here’s some general information on makes of rafts available in California. Please
note that this list is not complete, and reflects only the best understanding of the
author. Each manufacturer would no doubt contest or wish to augment the descrip-
tions below.
Aire. Manufactured in Idaho, Aire boats are plastic, and make use of inner blad-
ders to hold air. Because the boats are stitched, they must be dry before storage, as
the thread that holds them together may rot over years of use. An advantage of
Aire’s inner-tube construction is that they can be very easily repaired in the field.
Aire also has a budget line of boats called “Tributary” which is made in China, has
fewer bells and whistles and is somewhat less robust in construction.
Avon. Manufactured in Wales, these hypalon boats are known for their longevity
and toughness. They tend to have larger tubes and are a bit wider than other boats
of the same length, which makes them somewhat barge-like: They can carry a huge
crew and a lot of gear, but are not known for being especially nimble.
Bullet. Bullet is a relatively new company, and manufactures its glued boats in
China. Though they offer a hypalon version, it must be purchased in lots of five or
more and is quite a bit more expensive, so private boaters are not likely to own one.
The design, customization options, list of standard features and relatively low price-
point make them a real value. That they are glued rather than welded, however,
means that they will not last as long as some other boats.
Hyside. These Korean built hypalon boats are very common on the South Fork
of the American River. They come in several grades of toughness. The most expen-
sive measure up quite well with the best boats out there. The less expensive models
have glued instead of laced floors and a much lower denier fabric.

Maravia. Based in Idaho, Maravia makes an especially tough welded PVC boat
encapsulated in urethane. These are not particularly common in California.
NRS. Northwest River Supply manufactures all manner of river gear, including
boats. Over the years they have made both rubber and plastic boats, and currently
have three different grades of boats from which to choose.
SOTAR. An acronym meaning State Of The Art Raft, SOTAR manufactures rafts
in Oregon, and essentially invented the self-bailing raft. Their heat-welded plastic
boats are among the most well-regarded rafts made, unless you happen to own an
Avon, in which case SOTAR stands for “Swim Over To Avon Raft.”
Vanguard. A glued PVC boat made in China. The Vanguard is c considered a
good value, but as with Bullet, will not last as long as some others.
Wing. An American made welded plastic boat of the highest quality, Wing does
not make many river boats anymore, as they concentrate on making boats for the
US military. If you need a fleet of boats though, they’ll be happy to help: Just don’t
expect the boats to be cheap.
Boat Anatomy
Tube Thwarts Chafe Pad Floor
D-Rings
Valves Pressure Release Valve
Seam Handles Rub Strake
The outer tube is divided into four separate “chambers,” each with its own valve and sepa-
rated by “baffles.” It’s very important that all be equally inflated.

Despite all the differences outlined above, boats have a great deal in common.
The outer tube is divided into multiple “chambers,” usually four, by “baffles:” di-
aphragms inside the tubes. This separation into chambers is a safety measure:
should there be damage to the boat, most likely only one chamber will be affected,
and so the boat will still float. When inflating a raft, it is important that each cham-
ber be equally inflated, so as not to distend and thereby damage the baffles that sep-
arate the chambers.
Thwarts are tubes that run across the boat to provide dimensional stability, a
place to tuck your feet and a convenient thing to tie gear to. They are NOT seats,
despite the fact that new paddlers always put their butts on them. A typical fourteen
foot paddle raft has three thwarts, though some have only two. Thwarts may be at-
tached to the main tubes by straps, lacing, glue or systems using pins and interlock-
ing loops.
Each chamber, thwart and
the floor will have one valve
by which to inflate them.
There are two basic types of
valves: military, which screw
open and closed and the
Halkey-Roberts, which may
be locked open or closed by
pressing and turning a pin in
Two common types of valves: The Halkey Roberts (left) the middle of the valve open-
and the milliary (right). ing. When in the closed posi-
tion, air can still be blown into
the Halkey-Roberts. When opening and closing the military style valve, it’s impor-
tant that they not be over torqued, or they may get stuck in position. Always check
to make sure you’ll be able to close a valve before you bother to pump air into it.
Most floors also have a release valve: a mechanism to prevent over inflation of a
floor, or damage to the floor when heat causes expansion of the air within. D-Rings
are metal rings attached to the raft for the purpose of either tying things to the raft,
or tying the raft to things. A perimeter line is sometimes strung through D-rings to
make it easier to get into the raft, and to provide additional gear attachment points.
It’s vital that perimeter lines be taut, to minimize potential for entrapment. Han-
dles may also be found at the front and back and along the sides of the raft. These
are to aide in carrying the raft, and are not intended as tie-down points.
Pumps and inflation

On shore, electric pumps are increasingly common. AC electric pumps make short
work of inflating a raft, and many put-in locations on popular rivers have 110 volt
outlets to accommodate them. DC electric pumps attach to a car battery, and can be
a real labor saver, though the motors in these little guys are not super robust, and
they can overheat if you’re pumping up more than one boat with the same one. For
those who appreciate a workout, hand pumps come in two basic configurations: a
six inch barrel pump for bulk inflating and a four inch barrel pump for “topping,”

or putting the last bit of air in the boat once it is in the water. There are other types
of pumps, but they do not move a lot of air, and so are not as commonly used.
Rules concerning inflation of a raft:

(1) Do not inflate completely until the boat is at the temperature it will be when
you’re rafting. That means you inflate it mostly on the shore, and then put it
in the water. Close valve covers if they exist, and then splash the boat to cool
it to the temperature it will be at when running the river. Then “top” the boat
(fill it completely) with a smaller pump.
(2) For most boats (Aire and Aire Tributary rafts are the exception, as they do not
have baffles between chambers), it is important that all four chambers are
equally inflated. Over inflation of one chamber can potentially rupture a baffle.
(3) If the boat has been in the water, make sure
the valve is dry before you start inflating. If
there is water in the valve, use a few quick
blasts of air from your pump to blow out
the water. Water in a tube is hard to get out
and will cause decay inside the boat.
(4) When air heats, it expands. If a boat is fully
inflated and is sitting in the sun, or out of
the water, it will warm, the air will expand
and a tube may burst. To prevent this,
splash the boat frequently. If you will not
be around to splash, let some air out of the
tubes. Much better to have to re-pump
than repair.
(5) When letting air out of a hot or “topped”
boat, let the same amount of air out of all
When using a barrel pump, use your four chambers at the same time. This will
legs, not your arms: you’ll be way take several people, as the valves are far
less tired when you’re done. Avoid apart. This is to prevent the bursting of a
topping or bottoming out the baffle when one chamber suddenly has less
plunger, as this is bad for the pump. pressure then the one next to it. If the boat
Work in the middle. is not “hard,” this step is not necessary.
How much air is enough? That depends on the
make of the boat, the conditions of the river to be run and the preference of the
guide. Most boat manufactures suggest 2.5 to 3 psi. But since you won’t have a
pressure gauge, this information isn’t very helpful. Experience should be your guide.
When the boat is inflated, press your knee on the top of a tube as hard as you can.
If this pressure causes a crease, you probably need more air. A soft boat is much
more likely to flex in waves and eject passengers and guides.
Paddles and such

Paddles are pretty straight forward pieces of gear consisting of a blade, a shaft
and a grip. Most are plastic with metal shafts, but wooden and composite fiber pad-

dles are also available. The primary difference between paddles is the size of the
blade and the length of the shaft.
A guide paddle is simply the same thing as a regular paddle with a longer blade
and probably a longer shaft. How much longer the shaft is depends on the size and
preference of the guide using it. Incidentally, there is no requirement that a guide
use a “guide paddle.” While someone with size and strength can move a lot of water
with one, many excellent guides prefer to guide with a regular paddle, believing
(correctly) that technique is more important than brute strength.
In any case, you should work on the basic body mechanics of guide-strokes with a
regular paddle and not move on to the “guide paddle” until you’ve mastered the
basic instrument. If you choose to guide with a guide paddle, you should not allow
yourself to become dependent on it, as you may not always have one available to
you. Most outfitters do not provide them, so guides must have their own. To some
guides, a big paddle seems to have become “Dumbo’s magic feather,” without which
they cannot guide. Don’t let your ego’s need for a “big” paddle get in the way of be-
coming a competent raft guide.

THREE
Guide and Paddle Strokes

Paddle strokes are used to add forward or backward power or to add turning
force, or some combination of the two. There is no physical skill more fundamental
(except perhaps for sitting in the boat) to whitewater rafting and guiding than the
techniques presented in this chapter.
Rafting paddle strokes are derived from paddle strokes used by canoeists and the
nomenclature is very similar. A canoe is a very different craft from an inflatable raft,
however, and many canoe strokes are useless or impossible to execute in a raft.
Other strokes have been modified slightly in order to be effective from a whitewater
inflatable raft.
Beyond basic guidelines for safety and efficiency, there is no one “right” stroke for
every guide in any given situation. Any skilled guide will tell you that they have an
infinite number of strokes, as every situation is slightly different. Guides come in
different sizes and shapes, too and a tall guide will likely choose a different stroke
for a situation than a short guide would choose. With that said, it is important to
learn the correct mechanics of the basic strokes so that you can evaluate them all,
and learn to use them safely.
Sitting in the boat

Effective paddle strokes require that one be comfortably, securely and effectively
seated in the raft. Comfortably so you can keep a smile on your face and not be too
sore at the end of a day, securely so you won’t be likely to fall out of the boat, and
effectively so that you move the boat in the water – not yourself in the boat.

A forward, athletic body position. Clockwise from upper left: Darby is sitting well forward of
the thwart with his torso forward of his seat. Christine’s knees are touching the thwart in front
of her, and she is sitting out far enough on the tube that despite her short stature, she has no
problem reaching the water. Note the position of Frank’s paddle relative to his body: It’s in
front of him, as he projects his entire body forward. The prefered foot position for most guides:
the outside foot forward, the inside foot back with hips facing forward. This is a position that
affords great strength and security.
Whether seated as a guide or as a paddler, it’s important that you keep a low cen-
ter of gravity, and keep your upper body balanced over your torso. Your feet should
be placed in a position of security, with one foot tucked under the thwart in front of
you, and the sole of the other foot pressing on the thwart (or tube, if in the rear of
the boat) behind you. Sit as far out on the tube as you comfortably can. If you’re sit-
ting on the inside of the boat, you won’t be able to get your paddle into the water in
an effective way. The guides in the photos above are sitting securely and comfort-
ably in the boat. Note that all three of them are sitting upright, and can easily reach
the water without contorting themselves.
Paddle strokes are intended to move the boat and not the paddle. Ideally the pad-
dle is stationary in the water while the boat is either pulled toward or pushed away

from this “immovable object.” All paddle strokes will turn the boat; some more
than others. When paddling forward or backward, the stroke should be made paral-
lel to the center-line of the boat. If the paddle follows the shape of the boat, some of
the force of the stroke is wasted in turning the raft to the side rather than in pulling
it forward or backward.
In all strokes, the upper hand is held over the top of the t-grip. Use the grip to
control angle of the blade, and note that the face of the blade must be perpendicular
to the direction of paddle travel to achieve maximum power. The lower hand
should grasp the paddle shaft as low as is comfortable to permit leverage and impart
more power to the stroke. Do your best to pull or push water forward or back, to or
away from the boat and not to pull it up or push it down.
The Forward stroke provides forward power. If performed by a paddle crew, it
will impart no turning force, and if performed just by a guide it will provide for-
ward power along with very slight turning force. With your arms extended, lean
forward and place the blade in the water as far in front of you as you comfortably
can. Sit up straight and pull the blade towards you. The stroke is complete when
the blade reaches your hip. To recover, lift the paddle edgewise. If another stroke is
required, rotate the blade face flat to the water while swinging forward in an arc out
to the side of the boat until the paddle is as far forward as you can comfortably
reach. As a guide, you will very rarely use this stroke.
The Backpaddle stroke provides backward power. If performed by a paddle crew,
it will impart no turning force, and if performed just by a guide it will provide
Backward power along with very slight turning force. While leaning slightly for-
ward, place the blade in the water slightly behind your hip with the blade face per-
pendicular to the center-line of the boat. Sit upright while pulling your upper hand
toward you and pushing down and forward with your lower hand. To recover, sit
upright, and remove the blade edgewise from the water. As a guide, you will very
rarely use this stroke.
Forward Backpaddle
Paddle Strokes. Guides will rarely use these strokes, but it is important that one know how to
do them well so paddlers can be taught correct technique. Note that to move the boat for-
ward, the paddle travels back, and to move the boat back, the paddle travels forward. This is
sometimes cause for confusion with novice paddlers.

Forward Sweep
The Forward Sweep provides forward power with moderate turning force.
When done by a guide in the proper position, the stern of the boat is pulled to
the paddle side, turning the raft to the non-paddle side. The paddle is inserted in
the water just out from the hip. The paddle is swept back in a wide arc until the
blade reaches the stern. To recover, lift paddle edgewise and rotate the face flat to
the water while swinging forward in an arc out to the side of the boat until the
paddle is as far forward as you can comfortably reach. Now you are ready to re-
peat the stroke.
Reverse Sweep
The Reverse Sweep is a turning stroke. Insert the paddle with the blade directly
behind you. Using your hip as a fulcrum and sweep the blade away from you while
pulling in with the upper hand. To recover, lower your upper hand and raise your
lower hand to remove the blade edgewise from the water.
Not like this! There is no skill more

fundamental to guiding than sitting
correctly in the boat. While it may be
comfortable to sit in stern with your
foot up, it is neither secure nor effec-
tive. Many difficulties new guides have
with their strokes are actually prob-
lems with how or where they sit!

Draw
The Draw stroke is used to move the end of the boat to the paddle side. This will
turn the boat to the non-paddle side when executed off the side, or will add back-
ward power when executed off the stern. The upper hand is held at about eye-level,
with the elbow below the chin, and the torso is turned from the waist depending on
where the blade is to enter the water. This stroke is made by reaching out as far as
possible from the raft with the lower hand. The face of the paddle on the surface of
the water will keep you from falling out of the raft. As you push out with the upper
hand and then pull in with the lower hand, use the lower hand as a fixed pivot
point: the raft will be pulled toward the paddle blade. Continue the stroke by sit-
ting upright, and using the muscles of your torso to complete the stroke. To recover,
just before the raft hits the paddle, use the lower hand as a pivot point and push the
upper hand down and forward toward the bow while swinging the blade up out of
the water. Another method of recovery, useful when a number of draw strokes are
done in rapid succession, is to rotate the paddle shaft 90 degrees with the upper
hand and slice the blade through the water out to the initial position.
The Pry is a short powerful turning stroke. Slice the blade through the water to-
wards your hip. Once the shaft of the paddle is touching the tube on which you are
sitting, twist the blade 90 degrees clockwise, and pull the handle towards the inside
of the boat, across your chest, using the tube as a fulcrum. One the paddle is at
about a 45 degree angle, you may either recover by slicing the blade back and out of
the water, or twist the blade counter-clockwise 90 degrees and repeat the stroke.
The J-stroke is a propelling stroke used by the guide. Insert the blade of the pad-
dle in the water as far forward as possible and pull to your hip. Once your lower
hand passes your hip, the shaft will come into contact with your hip. Execute a
short pry stroke to correct any spin caused by the first half of the stroke. This move-
ment suggests the letter “J.” To recover, lift paddle edgewise and rotate the blade flat
to the water while swinging forward in an arc out to the side of the boat until the
paddle is as far forward as you can reach. Now you are ready to repeat the stroke.

FOUR
Commanding a Crew
What makes rafting such a rewarding activity for many is that it is at once an in-
dividual and a team sport. The crew of your boat is an integral part of your ability
to get the boat down the river. How you train, communicate with and motivate
your crew will have a lot to do with your level of success. Most paddlers want to do
a good job and want to participate. It is up to you as the guide to make sure they
have the tools to do that. It is tempting for a strong guide to do all the work herself.
While it is important, especially for a Project GO Guide, to be able to get a boat
down the river without much (or any) help from the crew, the experience will be
better for all if the crew is actively engaged.
Commands
First let’s look at the basic things your crew needs to do, and how you command
them to do it. There are five basic commands. Forward, Backpaddle, Left-Turn,
Right-Turn and Stop, as well as few ancillary ones Each corresponds with a specific
action that the crew should take. Some other commands that are good to be famil-
iar with include Bump, Down, Highside, Over-Left, Over-Right, Draw-Left and
Draw-Right.
Foward means that your crew should, in unison, reach forward with their pad-
dles and pull the boat towards their paddles, adding forward momentum. Informa-
tion and illustrations of how to correctly do a forward stroke are in the preceding
chapter.
Backpaddle means that your crew should, in unison, reach behind them with

their paddle, and pull the boat back towards their paddles, adding backward (or re-
ducing forward) momentum. Information and illustrations of how to correctly do a
backpaddle stroke are in the preceding chapter.
Left-Turn means that paddlers on the left side of the boat should backpaddle,
while those on the right should forward.
Right-Turn means that paddlers on the right side of the boat should backpaddle,
while those on the left should forward.
Stop means that paddlers should stop whatever they are doing, and be ready for
another command. It does NOT mean “stop the boat.”
Bump means that the guide expects the boat to hit something, and that the pad-
dlers should brace themselves and/or hold on to ensure that they don’t go for a swim.
Down means that the paddlers should get in the bottom of the boat and hold on.
This might be used in a rapid where the likelihood of consequences of an inadver-
tent swim are high.
Highside means that everyone in the boat should move to the “high” side of a
boat. It is called in situations where a boat hits a rock broadside and begins to take
on water over the upstream tube. It is hoped that the weight of the crew on the
downstream, or “high” side will keep the boat from filling with water and “wrap-
ping” around the rock. There will be more information on high-siding and wraps in
the safety and rescue chapter of this manual.
Since the advent of self-bailing rafts, “wraps” are much less common. Nevertheless, hitting a
rock sideways can result in one (or a flip). If you want to avoid the situation above, call HIGH-
SIDE before the boat hits the rock. If you do wind up like these folks, make sure your entire
crew is accounted for, and remember to SMILE... as someone WILL take a photo.

Over-Left and Over-Right are similar to highside, in that the guide is directing
the crew to move to one side or the other of the raft. With highside there is no need
to specify left or right because it is obvious: get off the side that is under water and
get to the side that is out of the water. Overs are called to change the dynamic of a
raft, to get through a narrow channel, to avoid getting stuck on a rock, or to get off
a rock once stuck.
Draw-Left and Draw-Right are called rarely, as a novice crew generally does not
know how to do the stroke. It is called only when the crew knows how to do it and
in situations where the guide wants to scoot the raft to the left or to the right with-
out adding any downstream momentum.
Training your crew

The quality of the experience you and your crew have on the river will be deter-
mined by the quality of the training you give your crew. If your crew understands
the commands and executes them effectively, you’ll have an easy day, be able to
show them the most exciting ride they can handle, and no one will be sore the next
day. If, on the other hand, the crew is
not able to follow and correctly execute
your commands, it will be a long and
painful day. Poor crew training is prob-
ably the single biggest mistake of
novice guides.
First learn their names, and use
them. If the second paddler on the left
is doing something wrong, it is hard to
correct if you can’t call on him by
name. Next make sure your crew un-
derstands the safety talk they received
on shore by asking questions like “what
should you do if you fall out of the
boat?” and “What should you never do
with your feet if you’re in the river?”
Check to see that their PFDs are worn
correctly and tight enough. Showing
that you have an interest in their safety
and well-being helps establish you as a
Training makes all the difference. The pad- leader and shows that you care.
dles in the top boat are rafting for the first time Demonstration is an important and
ever: but they are paddling together, and for the underused tool in the training arsenal.
most part have good forward body positions, so Your crew may have NO IDEA how to
they’re unlikely to get tossed about the boat. The sit in the boat, or how to hold a pad-
paddlers in the bottom raft… well, not so much. dle. Few will learn from a verbal de-
The guide has to work really hard to get down scription. So SHOW them how to sit
the rio. Good thing she has solid guide strokes! in the boat. SHOW them how to do

an effective forward and backpaddle. SHOW them what their body should look
like. Show them how powerfully they can move the boat if they work together.
When you have them do strokes themselves, take the time to look at EACH of
them, so that you can offer individual feedback. Look at where and how they are
sitting, how they are holding their paddles, and how they are using their bodies.
Once they can do the strokes individually, designate a lead paddler and give them
a good idea about timing, emphasizing that it is more important for them to work
together than it is for them to be especially strong or fast.
Once they have all the strokes down, PRACTICE. Make sure that they know
what they are doing, and that you can count on them to do it.
Some guides like to train their crew on the shore, before the boat pushes off. As
long as there is some reasonably calm water at put-in, there is no reason to do this.
Your crew WANTS to be on the water, and beach space is limited. Training on the
shore prevents other trips from getting on the water. As long as you don’t NEED
your crew right away, you can move the boat downstream, and train as you go. This
will make your head guide very happy, as one of her responsibilities is getting and
keeping the trip moving, and getting to takeout at the appropriate time.
Think about training your crew not as an activity that takes a certain amount of
time, but as a goal that must be met. You can be training them ALL DAY as long as
you are positive and kind about it: “Can I show you an easier way to do that?” vs.
“You’re still doing it wrong!”
Motivating your crew

If you’ve trained the crew well, motivation will not be a particularly difficult
thing to accomplish. A good team will want to help! Nevertheless there are a few
things you can do to ensure that your commands are followed.
1) It’s a command, not a question or a suggestion. There may be times when it is
OK to give commands in a quiet or conversational way, but when you need
the crew to do something, say it like you mean it and make sure you are loud
enough to be heard over the roar of the rapids. Project your voice from the di-
aphragm and make sure you are facing your crew when you give the com-
mand. If you are looking over your shoulder they won’t hear you no matter
how loud you are!
2) Be consistent. Call your commands the same way, every time. If, when you
want them to backpaddle, you sometimes say “back,” sometimes say “back it
up,” and sometimes say “backpaddle,” you’ll find that your crew does not re-
spond as well when you really need them. Frequently this is because they can’t
hear you well, and when you say “back,” they think you said “STOP!” Note
that the commands as we have presented them are unique in the number of
syllables. “STOP” is the only one syllable command. “FORWARD has two
syllables, and “BACKPADDLE” is the only three syllable command.
3) Learn and use their names. There is no better way to get the crew to pay at-
tention to you!
4) Laugh, smile and joke. If you are having fun, your crew will, too!

5) Say please and thank you.
6) Take care of them! Make sure they are drinking water and have enough sun-
screen. Every guide should have a small personal drybag or box that contains
things to make the day better: a wool cap or a paddling jacket to offer some-
one who is cold, or a granola bar to offer someone who is hungry.
7) Compliment them individually and collectively when and as they deserve it.
There are a few things that will quickly demotivate a crew, and it is important to
avoid these. Doing the opposite of any the seven steps above is sure to demotivate
them. In addition avoid:
1) Ignoring them.
2) Taking them on a route that is more challenging than they can handle and
swimming/scaring them. Remember that they don’t know where the easy route
and the hard route are. They may say they want to go big, but if they are not
ready for it, go small, and tell them they went big.
3) Putting them down, demeaning them or questioning their worth.
Many guides use humor. At Project GO, we ask that your humor not be directed
at the guests. We are an educational organization. If a client asks how deep the
water is, there are a whole bunch of ways you can use the question to make fun of
them. Instead of one of these pat responses, we ask that you consider the question
as an opportunity for them to learn something. A great response to that question
might be “I don’t know how deep the water is here. Can you think of a way we
could find out?” Put some time into thinking of kind and meaningful responses to
common questions. It makes a difference.

Tri-Focal Vision. You have to know what is coming up in order to maneuverer correctly. Move
your field of vision between these three areas frequently, and you’ll find yourself predicting in-
stead of reacting.

FIVE
Basic maneuvering
There are quite a few ways to maneuver a raft. But all of them are meaningless if
you don’t know where you want to go. A river guide is constantly evaluating sensory
input and trying to plan several steps in advance. Make sure to use your eyes! A
good technique is called tri-focal vision. Instead of keeping your eyes fixed imme-
diately ahead of the boat, switch your focus frequently through three distinct areas.
(1) Right in front of your boat, (2) 20-50 feet downstream of your boat, and (3) as
far down the river as you can see.
Look right in front of your boat for obstacles that you may have to avoid. Some
of the trickier things to avoid can only be seen when you’re right up against them.
Look downstream a little further to identify more pronounced obstacles and useful
river features with enough time to do something about it. Look downstream as far
as you can to see things like which way the river bends and whether there are more
than one channel to choose from.
Keeping your eyes moving though these three focal points will ensure that you al-
ways have enough information to help you decide where your boat needs to be. In
time, this will be automatic, and you can then start paying attention to other im-
portant things too. Your paddlers. The boat in front and behind yours. The first
and last boat in your trip. The weather. Your paddlers. All of this can influence how
you choose to maneuver.

0° angle, or no
angle to the 30° Downstream
current angle to the current
45° Upstream 45° downstream

angle to the angle to the
current current
90° angle, or
perpendicular
to the current
Angles and Ferrying
The angle at which your boat points relative to the current is called a ferry angle,
or simply an angle. When your boat points directly downstream parallel with the
current, your boat has no angle, or a zero degree angle. In this situation you have no
ability to move laterally across the river, but you have a good ability to speed up and
slow down. When your boat is pointed across the current, you are said to have a 90°
angle to the current. Here you have extreme ability to move laterally across the river,
but no control over your downstream momentum.
When we speak of angles, we are speaking about the boat’s angle relative to the
current directly under the boat. When we speak of holding angles we are speak-
ing of using our guide strokes and/or crew to spin the boat to keep the
same angle relative to current as it changes underneath the boat.
Angles are described relative to the current, and can be

described as either “upstream” or “downstream,”
Depending on which way the boat is pointing.
The river doesn’t care if you’re pointed up-
stream or downstream, but the paddlers
in the boat might. For all intents and
purposes, the two “45°” boats to
the left have the same angle,
and the same maneuver-
ing choices: A “forward”
in one boat would have
the same net result
as a “backpaddle”
This boat is holding a
in the other.
90° angle to the current as
it is carried downstream. This
angle will not “hold itself” though.
It requires active work by the guide.
A 90° angle has been described as the
“hand of God” angle, because it allows
for maximum lateral movement. To move
this boat to the left, call “forward. To move
this boat to the right. Call “backpaddle.” So
long as there are no big waves or holes to
go through, this is a perfectly acceptable,
though not very glamorous way to run a
rapid. Please note that this illustration is a
gross oversimplification. As we’ll see in the
next chapter, the current does not just sweep
evenly around a bend. A guide must be alert
to which direction the current is flowing DI-
RECTLY UNDER the boat.

In the most basic sense, maneuvering on the river is a matter of being where you
want to be between the left and right bank of the river. The river itself is doing the
work of moving you downstream. If there’s a chundering frowning hole on the right,
you want to be on the left. If there’s a pointed stick on the left bank waiting to put a
hole in your craft, you want to be on the right. And if you see both of these, you
want to be in the middle. We’ll spend plenty of time discussing “where” you want to
be on the river and why later on. For now we’re just focusing on the “how.”
The angle that the boat has to the current, then, determines how efficiently you
can move from left to right. A 90° angle to the current lets you move to the right
and/or to the left most efficiently. Note that with a 90° angle – perpendicular to the
current – you can move to one side by calling FORWARD, and to the other by call-
ing BACKPADDLE. This would be like using forward and reverse in your car, rather
than forward – U-turn – forward. So long as you are happy traveling downstream at
the speed of the river, this is a perfectly acceptable way to maneuver your boat.
But what if you are on the left and you need to get to the right, and there is a big
frowning hole you must avoid in the middle – say just downstream of you? Or let’s
say you want to cross the river, and wind up exactly on the other side, not down-
stream (maybe it’s your lunch spot, and the crew is so hungry that they’re on the
verge of mutiny). The technique described above would put you in that hole, or
cause you to be so far downstream of the lunch spot that the crew would be consid-
ering eating you rather than hiking upstream to lunch. Rest assured, your life need
not be spent as an offering to the river goddess or as a snack for your famished crew.
In the frontier days of the American West, when a trail crossed a river that was
too deep to ford, a ferry might be set up to move people and goods across the river.
If the river was still, the ferry would be moved across with paddles or poles. But if
the river were moving, another way was employed. This process was the genesis of
the modern technique we call “ferrying.”
By securing a taut cable to each side of the river and tethering the front and back
of the ferryboat each to a pulley affixed to that line, the ferry could move across the
river without being swept downstream. Moreover, by changing the lengths of the
tethers so the ferry presented an angle to the onrushing water, the force of the water
on the upstream side and the eddy on the downstream side caused a difference in
pressure that moved the boat across the river by itself.
We don’t have the luxury of a cable across the river, so we use our crew instead.
The faster the river is moving, the steeper the angle to the current must be in order
for the crew’s FORWARD or BACKPADDLE to counteract the current. If the
water is really fast, or your crew really weak or tired, you may have to have the boat
pointed almost straight upstream or downstream.
It’s also important to understand that you can “ferry” using a BACKPADDLE (in
which case your boat and crew would be facing generally downstream, and the crew
would be counteracting the river’s flow by backpaddling), or a FORWARD (in
which case your boat and crew would be facing generally upstream, and their for-
ward strokes would be counteracting the river’s flow).
This is an absolutely fundamental skill, and a guide must be capable of forward-
and back-ferrying left and right in swiftly moving current.

e
d dl
ar ad
rw kp
Fo ac
B
le d
ad ar
d
kp rw
ac
B Fo
It’s important to understand that the river is a dynamic system, and the flow is not consistent
across its breadth. To effectively “ferry” across the river, you’ll need to change the angle of the
boat relative to the current frequently as you ferry out of calm water into current, and back into
the calm water on the other side.
Hold a 90° angle

Many rapids, especially class II rapids, do not have hydraulics that can upset or
flip a boat. These rapids can be run effectively by holding a strong angle to the cur-
rent, adjusting as the current changes, and simply calling FORWARD and BACK-
PADDLE to move left and right to avoid obstacles and stay in the best channel. If
you hit a rock or cross an eddy line and the boat spins, stop the spin when the boat
again has an effective angle and continue as before.
Line it up and feed it

Some rapids are simply single hydraulics (a wave or a hole) in a particular spot on
the river. Simply ferrying can be a simple an effective way to run such a rapid. Set
an angle relative to the current, and ferry left or right, working against the river’s
downstream momentum, until your boat is directly upstream of the rapid. Once
your boat is there, point the boat perpendicular to the hydraulic and call FOR-
WARD! Once you are through the hydraulic, look downstream to determine where
–laterally– on the river you ought to be, and ferry to that place. Repeat as needed.
Backing away from danger

Novice guides especially find that things happen too fast on the river. The current
is always carrying the boat downstream. Backpaddling your way down the river can
be an effective way of “slowing things down,” though if used exclusively will tire
your crew out and make for a much longer day. This technique is not very effective
on class IV and V rivers though, as the water is moving so fast that simple backpad-
dling is not effective. In a rapid with several obstacles along its course, some on the
left, and some on the right, The backpaddle technique requires you to identify the
first obstacle you need to avoid, and set an angle of around 45° to the current with

the nose of the boat pointing at it, and backpaddle, essentially ferrying away from
the obstacle. The moment you are confident that you will avoid that obstacle, turn
the boat with the crew or with a guide stroke to an angle pointing at the next obsta-
cle, and back away from it. Repeat as required, always “pointing at” the danger, and
backing away from it, until you’re through.
Three simple techniques. A) Hold a 90° angle, B)“Line it Up and Feed it” and C) Backing
Away From Danger. These are not the only ways to run a rapid, nor are they the “best,” but
they all work. As your understanding of water and momentum increase, you’ll combine all of
these techniques with others that will be highlighted in a later chapter.

It’s NOT A CAR!
We are conditioned by our driving experience to turn to avoid obstacles or to get
to a different place. This conditioning works against river guides. Remember that if
you have an angle to the current, you can move to the left or to the right by calling
FORWARD or BACKPADDLE. If you are considering turning the boat in order to
go somewhere else on the river, or avoid an obstacle, see if you can accomplish your
goal with the angle you already have. Many guides drift down the river with a 90°
angle, because this is the angle that gives them the most maneuverability.

SIX
Water
“Wild Rivers are Earth’s renegades, dancing to their own tune, resisting the
authority of humans, and eventually always winning”
—Richard Bangs, River Gods
A moving river is a complex system and it’s beyond the scope of this manual to
provide a complete scientific description of how water acts in different situations.
Instead we’ll concentrate on broad topics that are applicable to whitewater guid-
ing. First we’ll start with some very broad information and then we’ll look at
some specific river features and present possible strategies for using or working
with them.
One thing to clarify right up front: How directions are described on the river.
Universally, “left” and “right” are shorthand for “river-left,” and “river right,” refer-
ring to directions assuming the viewer is facing downstream.
To make a rapid, three things must be present in some degree: flow, gradient and
obstruction. Flow refers to the amount of water, gradient is how steep the rapid,
and obstruction refers to rocks, constrictions and bends in the river.
In the United States, flow is measured in cubic feet per second, (CFS): How many
cubic feet of water pass a given point in a second. On a typical summer weekend on
the South Fork of the American, you might experience a flow of anything from 1200
to 1800 CFS. In the spring, it is not unusual to have that same river at 4500 or 7000
CFS. When the upstream dam is releasing only enough water to keep fish alive (“fish

flow”) it might be flowing at only 200CFS. By contrast, a typical flow on the Col-
orado River through the Grand Canyon is 15,000 CFS and the Mississippi flows be-
tween 200,000 and 700,000 CFS depending on the season and weather.
A cubic foot of water weighs about 62.5 pounds, by the way. This should give
you a good idea of why we must treat the river with such care and respect. At nor-
mal summer flows, the South Fork of the American pushes 1800 x 62.5 = 112,500
pounds of water by any given point every second. How much can you bench press?
Gradient is measured in feet per mile: how many feet the river drops for every
mile that it travels. The South Fork of the American drops at about 30 feet per
mile, and the Class IV section of the North Fork of the American drops about 50
feet per mile. What these numbers don’t tell you is how the drop happens. Is it a
steady decline? A series of small drops with pools in between? Or is it two lakes with
a 50 foot waterfall connecting them? In the Sierras, most of our rivers are “pool and
drop” in nature. You might tumble down steeply for a short while, but generally, es-
pecially on class III and lower rivers, the drop will be followed by a nice calm pool.
This is not how it works everywhere: so know before you go!
Obstructions can take many forms. Rocks are the obvious ones, but also trees, con-
strictions and bends in the river can create turbulent water and the need to maneuver.
Continuous vs. Pool and Drop. Two rivers may have the same overall gradient and flow and
yet be quite different from one another.

International Rapid Rating System
Rapids are classified in levels of difficulty and danger. The system is in theory in-
ternational, but as there is no international body that oversees the ratings, there may
be wide variations in rating from country to county, or even from state to state. It’s
important that you familiarize yourself with rivers in other areas before running
them. Just because you can guide a class III river here, does not mean you can guide
a class III river in Uganda. It’s also important to understand that rapid ratings can
vary based upon the flow. The South Fork of the American is class III at flows of
under 3500 cfs. But with three times that much water it would certainly rate class
IV, and possibly Class V! The rapids pictured below are all in our area.
Class I Class II
Class I: Fast moving water with riffles and small waves. Few obstructions, all ob-
vious and easily missed with little training. Risk to swimmers is slight; self-rescue
is easy.
Class II: Straightforward rapids with wide, clear channels which are evident with-
out scouting. Occasional maneuvering may be required, but rocks and medium-
sized waves are easily missed by trained paddlers. Swimmers are seldom injured
and group assistance, while helpful, is seldom needed. Rapids that are at the
upper end of this difficulty range are designated Class II+.
Class III: Rapids with moderate, irregular waves

Class III
which may be difficult to avoid and which can
swamp an open canoe. Complex maneuvers in
fast current and good boat control in tight pas-
sages or around ledges are often required; large
waves or strainers may be present but are easily
avoided. Strong eddies and powerful current ef-
fects can be found, particularly on large-volume
rivers. Scouting is advisable for inexperienced
parties. Injuries while swimming are rare; self-res-
cue is usually easy but group assistance may be
required to avoid long swims. Rapids that are at
the lower or upper end of this difficulty range are
designated Class III- or Class III+ respectively.

Class IV
Class IV: Intense, powerful but predictable rapids requiring precise boat handling
in turbulent water. Depending on the character of the river, it may feature large,
unavoidable waves and holes or constricted passages demanding fast maneuvers
under pressure. A fast, reliable eddy turn may be needed to initiate maneuvers,
scout rapids, or rest. Rapids may require “must-make” moves above dangerous
hazards. Scouting may be necessary the first time down. Risk of injury to swim-
mers is moderate to high, and water conditions may make self-rescue difficult.
Group assistance for rescue is often essential but requires practiced skills. Rapids
that are at the lower or upper end of this difficulty range are designated Class IV-
or Class IV+ respectively.
Class V

Class V: Extremely long, obstructed, or very violent rapids which expose a pad-
dler to added risk. Drops may contain large, unavoidable waves and holes or
steep, congested chutes with complex, demanding routes. Rapids may continue
for long distances between pools, demanding a high level of fitness. What eddies
exist may be small, turbulent, or difficult to reach. At the high end of the scale,
several of these factors may be combined. Scouting is recommended but may be
difficult. Swims are dangerous, and rescue is often difficult even for experts. Prop-
per equipment, extensive experience, and practiced rescue skills are essential. Be-
cause of the large range of difficulty that exists beyond Class IV, Class 5 is an
open-ended, multiple-level scale designated by class 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, etc... each of
these levels is an order of magnitude more difficult than the last. Example: in-
creasing difficulty from Class 5.0 to Class 5.1 is a similar order of magnitude as
increasing from Class IV to Class 5.0.
Class VI: These runs have al-

most never been attempted
and often exemplify the ex-
tremes of difficulty, unpre-
dictability and danger. The
consequences of errors are
very severe and rescue may be
impossible. For teams of ex-
perts only, at favorable water
levels, after close personal in-
spection and taking all pre-
cautions. After a Class VI
rapid has been run many
times, its rating may be
changed to an appropriate Class VI
Class 5.x rating.
River Morphology and Hydrology

Don’t worry. We’re not going to get all “sciencey” on you. We’re just using a sci-
encey phrase as a heading for the section that describes characteristics of river chan-
nels and the way water moves through them. If you really want to get into the
science of the stuff, visit a library or google search “fluid geomorphology” and fol-
low where it leads.
The most fundamental thing a raft guide needs to understand about the flow of a
river is that water goes straight, like a billiard ball, until it runs into something. What
it does then depends mostly on what it runs into. In all cases though, it will follow the
path of least resistance. When a long straight section of river goes around a bend, the
water will run right into the outside bank of that bend and pile up there. This is why
rivers tend to be deeper on the outside of a turn than on the inside.
Without any action from the people in a raft, a boat will go where the water

goes. If your boat is in the main current when the river bends, you will find your-
self up against the outside bank of the turn: probably bouncing into the bank and
learning something unfortunate about momentum.
This bend marks the start of the “Gorge” on the South Fork of the American River. Though the
river bend itself is a continuous curve, the current goes straight until it hits the left bank, and
then goes straight again, in a different direction. Looking at this bend, can you tell where the
water is deepest, and where shallowest?
The very inside of a turn can also be a tricky spot for a raft to be. If the water is
deepest and fastest at the outside of a turn, it follows that it is shallowest and slow-
est on the inside of a turn. Shallow water means rocks will be close to the surface
and a good probability of getting stuck.
With a little experience, you’ll be able to gauge the depth of any part of a river
channel by the color and texture of the water. Small waves and a brownish color
probably mean shallow water, while green water in general means the river is deep.
White water indicates turbulence, which could be caused by any number of things.
It might be water piling up against the outside of a bend and crashing back into it-
self. It might be water going over a drop and compressing. It might be water cascad-
ing over a shallow rocky area. The texture of the surface water and where the white
water is relative to the banks will give you a good indication of which of these you’ll
be dealing with. Ask yourself, what would be the most likely cause of white water in
the inside of a bend? On the outside of a bend? In the middle of a bend?
It’s also important for a guide to take in the “big picture.” You need to notice the
color and texture of the water around and in front of your boat, of course, but look
way downstream, and above you too. You can tell a lot about what’s coming ahead
by looking at the shape of the canyon and layout of hills and cliffs up ahead.

A few terms may be helpful in discussing water’s Main
movement and in a general understanding of Current
how the water in rivers act. Laminar flow
refers to the swiftest moving water, going
straight, without obstruction. Helical
flow refers to the water that experiences
friction with the river bank, the river
bottom, and to a lesser degree with
the air on the surface. The lami-
nar flow is faster than the heli-
cal flow, so in general, if a
river is going straight or if
you happen to be rafting on Fast
a concrete canal, the very
fastest water will be in the
middle, just below the surface. Slow
Rocks and Water

Water interacting with the riverbed, banks, and rocks or other obstructions cre-
ates features in the water that will have an effect on your raft. These features are
generally visible on the surface of the water, and when not seen, can often be pre-
dicted by looking at the riverbanks and the terrain downstream.
The simplest of these
features is the tongue,
green glassy water flowing
between two obstructions.
In general, we like green
water. The tongue is fre-
quently the place in a
rapid of riffle that you will
be aiming for.
The tongue is where water flows swiftly and without obstruction.

Upstream and downstream Vs are other very simple indicators on the surface of
the water of what lies beneath, and can be good guides of where your boat should
be, and where it should not be. Downstream Vs are essentially the same thing as
“tongues,” in that they indicate a clear channel and are caused in the same way. The
primary difference between a downstream V and a tongue is the volume and speed
of the water. Upstream Vs indicate the presence of some sort of obstruction: likely
something to be avoided. Upstream Vs can by synonymous with some of the spe-
cific features discussed below. Most notably pillows, holes and eddies.
Upstream and Downstream Vs show you where to go… and where not to.
Eddies are formed by water rushing past an obstruction, and then flowing back
upstream to fill the void left as the water rushes by. An eddy, then, is an area of up-
stream flow (or much slower downstream flow at least) in the river. You will find ed-
dies behind (i.e. downstream of ) any object that obstructs the flow of the river. This
may be a rock of any
size, a peninsula
reaching out from the
shore, or a bend in
the river. The size of
the eddy is dependent
on the size of the ob-
ject obstructing the
flow and how much
flow there actually is.
Eddies are of great
importance to a
whitewater boater. If
large enough to fit
your boat, they are

good places to stop and take a rest. If
you have become a swimmer and are
looking to get out of the water, even a
small eddy is a welcome sight. In
some swiftwater rescue techniques,
eddies are formed purposefully by a
team of rescuers, so that a victim can
be floated downstream of the rescuers
in calmer water. If your raft is stuck
B B on a rock, there will be an eddy
downstream of your stuck raft.
A Should you need to get out of your
raft (a “last resort” option) to get it
unstuck, this eddy may be the safest
place for you to exit the raft. Eddies
are useful for maneuvering too: more
about this in a later chapter.
While eddies are generally great
C things, their very nature causes an-
other feature which is not as friendly.
The eddy-fence, or eddy-line – the
Anatomy of an eddy. (A) is where the eddy is “seam” where water rushing past the
strongest, where the water is moving upstream at obstruction interacts with the water
its maximum force. (B) is the eddy-line, or eddy- flowing back upstream – can be a
fence, where upstream and downstream flows mix. force to be reckoned with. At the very
The eddy-lines are narrowest close the “top” of the “top” of an eddy, where the water is
eddy, and widest as the move downstream. (C) in- just rushing by the obstruction, the
dicates the area where the eddy is weakest, where eddy-fence is at its strongest. But this
watter is again moving downstream. is also where it is narrowest, making
it the easiest and generally best place
to cross, assuming your goal is to get into the eddy. The farther downstream you go
from the obstruction, the weaker and wider the eddy-fence is. Eventually the up-
stream and downstream water mix and just go downstream. Just before this happens
is the area referred to as the “bottom” of the eddy and its fence.
In a later chapter we’ll discuss in detail strategies for “catching” an eddy and for
using them to maneuver. What is important for you to know at this point are
what an eddy and an eddy-fence ARE, and that they are stronger at the top than
the bottom.
What happens when a river is obstructed by a rock depends on how much water,
and how big the rock. When the rock is sticking way out of the water, it forms an
eddy. As the water gets higher and higher relative to the rock, different features are
formed. Pillow is the name given the white water that piles up in front of the rock
or obstruction. The more water, and the closer to the top of the rock it is, the larger
the pillow. A pillow may be large enough to allow a raft to run right into the rock
and be gently pushed to the left or the right. In a kayak, this move is called a

“boof.” When raft guides pull it off on purpose, as part of a desired maneuver, they
think It’s really cool.
You will see pillows of varying sizes everywhere you look if the water is moving.
When water hits something, it pillows as it flows around, and to a degree over an
obstacle. If, however, you see water running up against something and NOT form-
ing a pillow, you’re looking at something that is very dangerous. If the water is not
pillowing, it means that it’s flowing beneath the obstruction. This is a sign of an
undercut. A swimmer who encounters such an obstruction may be pulled under,
and pinned. There are not many such places known on the South Fork of the
American, but as a guide, you should be on the lookout for them. If there is any
possibility that you or a member of your crew might go for a swim, STAY AWAY!
When water just starts to crest and cover an obstruction, it is called a pourover.
From the top, a pourover may look something like a wave. You can discern its real
nature by looking past the “hump” of
water to the other side. If the water be- Pourover
hind the hump is relatively calm, you can
deduce the presence of an eddy, and in all
likelihood, you’re looking at a pourover. A
pourover MAY be runable, but unless you
are sure, you should try to avoid it. You
never know how big the obstruction is, or
how big the drop on the other side. There
may even be another dangerous obstacle
right behind the pourover, hidden from
your view.
Pillow
Pourover Hole
Pillows, pourovers and holes are caused by the same elements. The difference is simply in
how much water is meeting and/or pouring over the obstruction.
When there is enough water flowing over the obstruction, or in the case of a lot
of water coursing over a sudden depression or drop-off in the riverbed, a hole is
formed. Water pouring over the drop hits the bottom, bounces up and surfaces

somewhat downstream. Some of the water then rushes back upstream to fill the
void behind the drop. The effect is that of an extremely turbulent eddy. In de-
termining whether a given hole is
“runable” or not, you should consider Hole
the size of the hole, the shape of the
hole, the size and weight of your boat
and the strength of your crew. There
is no hard and fast rule to follow. You
are simply trying to determine
whether your boat will go through
the hole and continue downstream or
stay in the hole.
Hole
Boil Line
When enough water pours over an obstruction or ledge a hole is formed. Water flows back up-
stream to fill the void behind the obstruction. To get a boat through a hole, paddlers will have to get
hold of water downstream of the “boil,” the spot where water starts moving downstream again.
The water on the surface of a hole is flowing upstream. Determine the “size” of
the hole by how far away the point where the water is again flowing downstream is
from the beginning of the hole. If this length is greater than the width of your boat,
you should probably avoid the hole, as the possibility of your boat turning sideways
and surfing or flipping is substantial.
The shape of the obstruction or drop that causes the hole influences the character
of the hydraulic. Some holes are shaped such that the water (and therefore boats
and swimmers) flush out and downstream. Others, called stoppers, or keepers, have
characteristics that cause the water to re-circulate more significantly. These latter are
generally holes to avoid. You can make some basic assumptions about a hole by its
shape. Imagine a “smiley-face” on the river with the eyes downstream of the hole.
Imagine the hole as the grin (or frown) on the smiley face. In general, if you see a
smile, it’s a happy hole, as the water will flush out. If you see a “frown,” stay away,
as it is more likely to be a keeper.
Ledges can form holes, and are worthy of special note. A long straight hole, espe-
cially one that stretches across the river (as you might find on a low-head dam) can
be particularly dangerous, as there is no exit for water to the side.

Waves come in several flavors, and are caused by a number of things. Generally
speaking, waves are fun and runable. But if you see a wave that is much taller than
your boat is long and is breaking towards you, you probably want to avoid it. Waves
on the ocean move. Not all waves on a river do. In fact most are more or less sta-
tionary: humps of water that the current runs through. We call these standing
waves, or haystacks. They may be green glassy humps, or they may be breaking
with foam at the crest cascading towards you. When wave are lined up, one after
another, it’s called a wave train.
One cause of standing waves is a sudden constriction in the width of the river. A
suddenly narrowing channel causes water to pile up upon itself as it is suddenly
slowed by the constriction. Once the river widens again, waves continue for a little
while, getting smaller and smaller as the river releases it energy. A sudden change in
the depth of the river can have the same effect: if the river bottom suddenly rises, it
will cause a corresponding rise on the river surface.
another cause of standing waves is convergence, as when two rivers or channels
come together. Water from each side rushes together and piles up.
Waves are also caused by reflections. Water bouncing of a wall, for example, will
pile up and make a wave. These reflecting waves are frequently called lateral waves,
as they sometimes manifest at an unusual angle.
The rule with waves
(and holes, for that
matter) is “When in
doubt, straighten it
out.” That is to say, if
the wave is breaking,
try to hit it perpendicu-
lar to the direction of
break. If you fail to do
this, the wave may turn
your boat so that it is
parallel to the wave, in
which case your boat is
much more likely to
flip. Adding some for-
ward momentum can
be a good idea as well. Wave. One of most well-known waves is the 5th wave in the rapid
In spots where waves “Hemit” on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. The boat hit-
come one after another, ting this wave is probably 18-20 feet in length. Better hit it
as in Upper and Lower STRAIGHT!
Haystack Canyon on
the South Fork of the American, a guide will angle the boat left and right many
times to ensure that each wave is hit perpendicularly. This makes for the best ride,
and keeps the boat in the current rather than shoved aside. You will find it easier to
turn your boat to hit the next wave while your boat is at the crest of the previous
wave, rather than when it is in the trough between two waves.

Wrong.
This boat is running par-
allel to the river banks
and current. The diago-
nal wave will cause the
boat to turn, and if the
wave is big enough sub-
jects the raft to a poten-
tial flip.
Right.
This boat has turned so
as to hit the wave
perpendicularly. Even
though the wave is diag-
onal, it will not turn the
boat, the guide will re-
main in control and the
boat is unlikely to flip.
SEVEN
Ride the Back of the Mighty Dragon!

There is no substitute for experience, and you absolutely cannot learn how to
guide by reading a book. It is our hope, however, that this chapter will provide
some insight on ways you might be able to effectively use the tools and understand-
ings outlined in the preceding chapters. There is no one “right” way to run a rapid,
and arguably, any run that winds up with no one hurt and everyone still in the boat
is a successful one. But we do hope that you’ll aspire to a somewhat higher standard
than mere survival!
At first, you will likely view the river as a force to be overcome. You’ll fight to
keep the boat pointed where you want it. You’ll struggle to keep from running into
the bank on the outside of turns and you’ll battle the many rocks that seem to come
from nowhere to mess up your perfect plan. With time and experience though,
you’ll view the river as an ally. She will talk to you. You’ll see that waves, eddies and
holes can push and pull your boat in different ways, and you’ll take advantage of it.
You’ll see a line of “greener” water going where you want to go and you’ll ride it.
You’ll predict the rocks’ location, and instead of being thwarted by them, you’ll use
the pillow on one to push the nose of your raft where you want to go, and spin pur-
posefully in the eddy below another. Eventually, you will learn to dance with the
river. The techniques in the “basic maneuvering” chapter are a great place from
which to start, but if you limit yourself to those basic techniques, you’ll find your-
self stepping on your partner’s feet. In case you were wondering, she doesn’t like
having her feet stepped on, and sometimes repays guides in embarrassing ways.

Momentum
A raft full of gear and people is a heavy thing. This is something that you can use
to your advantage in getting from one side of a river to the other. Sir Isaac Newton’s
first law of motion says that an object in motion will continue in motion until acted
upon by some other force. And Newton’s second law tells us that the more massive
an object, the more force is required to accelerate (or decelerate!) an object.
If Newton weren’t afraid of mussing his powdered wig, he’d have made a great
raft guide. He would understand that you can get a big heavy raft across the river
just by starting it across the river. Point the boat to the opposite shore and call
FORWARD and let the crew take just as many strokes as it takes to get the thing
moving, then call STOP. The boat will continue to drift across the river. Maybe not
quickly, but a lazy guide (like Newton, who was so famously lazy that he sat under
an apple tree until finally driven off by falling fruit), knowing which side of the
river she wants to be on will plan ahead and initiate a “lateral drift,” using the 1000
pounds of boat, paddlers and gear to do the work. We call this lateral momentum.
On the Grand Canyon, when rowing a boat that may weigh 2500 pounds or more,
this technique is every bit as important – maybe more important – than ferrying.
Of course other forces do act upon your raft. The current. The rock you just ran
over. Another boat. All of these and other factors must be taken into account when
purposefully using lateral momentum to maneuver.
In addition to lateral momentum, you should be aware of angular momentum.
A boat spinning down the river is a boat out of control, and a boat out of control is
a potentially dangerous thing. A boat can spin for a number of reasons. Hitting a
rock is perhaps the most common. Crossing an eddy-line is another (half of your
boat is in water moving upstream, and half of your boat is in water moving down-
stream, so of course the boat will spin).
When your boat spins (AND IT WILL!), you have to decide what to do about it.
Angular momentum is the thing a guide has the most direct control over, so letting
a boat spin wildly through a rapid is to stop being a guide in any sense of the word.
Many spins are predictable. Frequently you’ll see the rock before you hit it and will
know which way you’ll spin. If you’re crossing into an eddy, you can predict which
way the boat will spin.
In the situation of the rock, you have two choices. Knowing you’re going to spin
you can get your paddle ready to stop the spin as soon as the boat has assumed a
new and useful angle. Or you can predict the direction that the rock will spin you,
and start spinning the boat in that direction BEFORE you make contact. It is possi-
ble that this will keep you from hitting the rock, but if you do hit it, it will lessen
the force of the impact and help keep your paddlers in the boat.
In the situation of the eddy line, you can predict which way the boat will spin,
and start the OPPOSITE spin just before the boat hits the line. This way the force
of the eddy corrects the spin you started, rather than pushing you out of control.
A final note about angular momentum: once a boat is spinning, it can be hard to
stop it. Rather than using brute force to stop the spin and then spin back to the
angle you had, it is frequently easier to continue the spin you already have, and stop
the boat after it has spun all the way around.

Using the River to your Advantage
At any spot on a river you will find water
traveling at different speeds. Around a bend,
for example, there is fast water towards the
outside of the bend and slow water towards
the inside. You will find that you have great
control of your raft when you keep out of
the very fastest water, but close to it. If
you do this, and keep an angle to
the current, you can easily move
yourself into the faster water
or slower water to control
your speed. If you stay on
A great way to do this is the inside of
to forward to the inside of turns, you’ll stay in
turns. Point the nose of control, have lots of
the raft into the turn, and options, and won’t
call a forward if one is spend all day backing
needed to get there. Your away from the outside
goal is to enter the turn at of bends.
its top and on the inside.
Not so far inside that you
catch the eddy that is always
found there, but maybe right
next to that eddy. If you need
to slow or stop, it will be EASY
for you to get into that eddy. If it
looks safe and fun in the faster water, you can get there easily. The important thing
is that you are using the river itself as a tool to control your raft.
It’s important that you don’t let this technique become “driving,” though. We call
it “driving” when a guide stays in the current, keeps a zero angle to it and forwards
down the river. Invariably the “driver” gains too much downstream momentum,
looses control and crashes into the river bank or an obstruction.
Your friend Eddy

Eddies are, of all hydraulic features, the most important and the most useful to a
whitewater boater. They can help you maneuver, they can slow you down, and they are
great places to stop: to look downstream, to take a rest, or to eat lunch. A great and
controlled way to run almost any rapid is to hop from one eddy to another.
The most important thing to do with an eddy is to stop in it, a maneuver that is called
“catching an eddy.” If you poll experienced guides, most will tell you that the ability to
catch an eddy is the most important “skill” a guide can have. Many guide schools teach
this skill before anything else. We don’t disagree with the importance of catching an eddy,
but we do disagree that it should be the first thing taught. Catching an eddy is not really a
skill. It is rather the successful application of essentially every other skill and understanding.

To catch an eddy, you must first identify the eddy you’d like to catch. It must be down-
stream of you some distance, or you will have already missed it. Of course you can’t al-
ways see an eddy downstream, but you can almost always predict where there will be one
by what you CAN see. If you can see a rock, you can be sure that there is an eddy behind
it: the bigger the rock, the bigger the eddy. If you see a bend in the river, you can be sure
that there will be an eddy on the inside of that bend. There will be many rocks and bends
in every river you run, so there will always be lots of eddies.
Once you’ve chosen the eddy you want to catch, you need to determine the strategy
you’ll use to get into it. There are two basic methods: Upstream or Downstream. We’ll ex-
amine them individually, but start with what they have in common.
Always enter an eddy at the top, where the eddy-fence is narrowest. As you get further
downstream from the feature that caused the eddy, the fence gets wider, and therefore
harder to cross. Also, an eddy is the most powerful, and therefore “stickier” at the top.
Which method, upstream or downstream, of catching an eddy you choose will depend
on circumstance. Most directly it will depend on the angle you have relative to the cur-
rent when you decide to catch the eddy, and how far away from the eddy you are.
If your boat has a downstream right angle, say, and the eddy you need to catch is to the
left of you and only a few boat lengths downstream of you (or vise-versa), the upstream
method will be a good choice. You can think of this method as ferrying into the eddy.
With the angle you have, calling a backpaddle will slow the downstream momentum,
Catch an eddy with an upstream ferry. This is generally the easier method for novice
guides, as it slows the boat down relative to the current, so buys some time. Holding the
angle as you cross the eddy-line can be challenging. Anticipation is the key!

and cause the boat to ferry towards the eddy. Pay very careful attention though, and ad-
just the boat’s angle and the strength and frequency of the crew’s strokes to ensure that it
doesn’t enter too high and bump into the feature that is creating the eddy. The moment
that the tail of the boat crosses the eddy-line, it will spin. The angular momentum that
this will cause might very well spin the tail back out of the eddy, causing the crew’s back-
padling to ferry the boat back OUT of the eddy. To avoid this, ANTICIPATE the spin,
and use a guide stroke to start a little spin the OPPOSITE way just as the boat crosses the
fence. Pay attention to the boat’s angle as it slips into the eddy and be prepared to call
stop as soon as the boat is in the eddy. It is common when back-ferrying into an eddy for
the guide to be looking over his shoulder. Note that the crew will not be able to hear
commands given from this orientation! In the event that your boat were pointed up-
stream, one could, of course forward-ferry into an eddy as well.
If the nose of the boat is pointed downstream and in general towards the eddy, the
downstream technique can work quite well. Guide the nose of the boat into the top of
the eddy. As with the upstream approach, the boat will spin. But this time, instead of
fighting the spin, HELP it. The angular momentum thus generated will spin the tail of
the boat into the eddy. The guide must make sure that the spin stops at this point
though, else the nose may spin back across the fence and into the current, and pull the
whole boat with it.
To exit an eddy, the
same rule applies:
Cross the eddy-fence
where it is narrowest:
at the top. Ideally the
boat will exit at an
upstream angle. As
soon as the nose of
the boat crosses into
water moving down-
stream, the boat will
spin that direction.
The guide must pre-
vent this spin, how-
ever, by pointing the
boat in the same di-
rection until at least
half of the boat is
across the fence.
Forward into an eddy

and let the eddy spin
you in. Make sure you
STOP before you pad-
dle back out of the
eddy.

Eddies as aids in maneuvering
One need not catch an eddy to find it useful. You can cross an eddy-line deliber-
ately to spin the boat to a new and desired angle. This is called an eddy spin, and
doing it ON PURPOSE is a demonstration of real skill. You can also consider of
eddies on varying sides of the river, one after another as bends in the river, and
“Forward to the inside” of the turns, just as you would with bends in the river. Stay
close to the features that cause the eddies, and you will find yourself always close to
the slow water that means control.
Using all three dimensions

Thus far, we’ve viewed the river as essentially two-dimensional. The fact is that
hydraulics exist in the third dimension as well, and understanding this can give
guides a great tool.
When a boat’s nose pushes up the face of a wave, for example, the angle of the
boat relative to the direction the wave is breaking will determine whether or not the
boat will turn. Hit it perfectly straight, and the boat won’t turn. But angle the nose
just a little to the left, and gravity will help spin the boat to the left.
Waves have fronts and backs, but they have sides, too, and boat can slide down
the side of a wave. So if the boat is riding a wave-train, riding on the left side of the
wave will cause the boat to slip down the left side, adding lateral momentum to the
left. Riding on the right side will cause the boat to slip down the right side, adding
lateral momentum to the right. If hit without a whole lot of momentum, a long lat-
eral wave can scoot a boat all the way across its face. This is sometimes called “type-
writering.”
Many holes have a “kick.” Water exiting the hole can push to the right, or to the
left. When a boat enters a hole, it will tend to exit in the direction of that kick.
Finally, pay attention to gradient. When boating downhill, downstream momen-
tum can be significant, and hard to control. All the backpaddling in the world may
not suffice to slow the boat down. In this situation, you’ll have to plan way ahead.
Line Dancing
Guides sometimes talk about “seeing a line.” They’re not describing a straight line
from point A to point B. They’re talking about the best path through a rapid. Look
for a “line” that allows the river to lead in your dance. Her waves will push one way,
her holes may kick another, her eddies will suck you towards them, and gravity will
influence where you go too. Do not expect to become a dancer right away. But pay
attention to how all of these things interact with your raft. Experiment. Note that
being in the same place simply with different momentum can result in very differ-
ent runs. With experience and practice, you WILL see the line.

EIGHT
River Safety and Rescue Basics

This chapter is in no way a replacement for a Swiftwater Rescue Class. No man-
ual would be complete without addressing safety and rescue, though, so those
points most salient to guiding on a class III river will be covered here. All guides are
encouraged to take an appropriate technical swiftwater rescue course.
Safety Talk
Any run down a river, regardless of the conditions, begins with a brief and effec-
tive talk about the dangers of river rafting and about ways to stay safe. How this
talk is given is at least as important as what is said as safety information is only use-
ful if people hear it and remember it. A very thorough safety talk might go on for
45 minutes and be a complete waste of time. Cover the big-ticket items, and do it
in less than ten minutes! Your goal is to inform, not to frighten. Humor is a great
tool, but make sure the whole talk isn’t seen as a joke. It’s a fine line to walk, and a
very important one!
Here’s an outline of a good class III safety talk:

I Distribute Paddles and PFDS
1) Demonstrate how to wear a PFD
a. Explain that it must be tight
b. Enlist other guides to check fit
2) Demonstrate proper way to hold a paddle
a. Keep one hand on the t-grip at all times

II What to do if you fall out of the boat
1) Grab hold of the boat. Someone will pull you in
2) Use your paddle to extend your reach
3) If you can’t get right back to the boat, keep your feet UP and face
downstream
4) Never try to stand up in moving water.
5) Pull someone into the raft by the shoulders of their PFD.
a. Use your legs, not your back or arms
b. Easiest if the swimmer is facing the rescuer
6) If you are under the boat, pick one direction and with your hands over
your head, walk your way out
7) If someone throws you a throwbag
a. You might have to swim a bit to reach it!
b. Grab the rope, not the bag
c. Don’t wrap it around your hand or any body part... just grip it.
d. Turn on your back, and put the rope over your shoulder
i. The shoulder on the same side as the thrower of the
bag
8) A strainer is anything that water can get through, but big things like
people can’t
a. Typically a tree or a bush
b. They are very dangerous. If you are being swept towards one,
try and swim away from it.
c. If you can’t get away from it, try to climb over the top of it.
III Talk about environmental concerns

1) Apply sunscreen frequently
a. Not above your eyes, as it will get wet, run, and sting.
2) Drink water every time it is offered, and any time you are thirsty
a. Dehydration is common and painful
3) Tell someone if you are cold
4) Describe any local harmful plants and give advice concerning them
a. Will vary from locale to locale.
b. On the South Fork of the American, Poison Oak is the one.
5) Talk about potentially dangerous bugs and animals
6) Walking on shore and getting into and out of the boat is most danger-
ous thing you will do today. Watch your step!
IV Talk about group dynamics and communication

1) Listen to your guide!
2) Guides will always “point positive,” that is, point to the safe place to go
3) Describe other hand signals
a. Patting your head means “I’m OK”
b. Pointing at someone else and patting your head means “Are
YOU OK?”

4) Only takes one person to pull someone into the boat. Everyone else
keep paddling and listen to your guide.
5) High-Side command means everyone get all of their weight to the side
of the boat that is rising out of the water
V Solicit feedback
1) Are there any questions?
2) Does anyone have a medical condition that might impact your
participation?
a. Please inform me or your guide. You may do that privately
b. Allergies, and do you need/have an eppi-pen. Where is it?
c. Asthma, and do you need/have an inhaler. Where is it?
d. Neck or back problems?
VI Review the most important things

1) This may vary depending on conditions
2) Typically highlight:
a. Avoiding entrapments
b. Holding the T-Grip
c. Drink lots of water
d. HAVE FUN!
If you guide a boat, one of the very first things you should do with your crew is
check for understanding of the safety talk. Especially highlight the things likely to
cause injury: entrapments and strainers, keeping a hold of the paddle’s t-grip, and
how to pull someone into the boat. It can’t hurt to hear these items several times.
Guide Meeting
After the safety talk, but before pushing off, the head guide should lead a brief
meeting to discuss issues relating to safety and logistics for the day. If this is a group
of guides who have worked together in similar situations, and there are no issues re-
lating to the paddlers or specific new river conditions to report, the meeting might
be foregone.
In this meeting several things must be communicated:
(1) Where is take-out? By what time must the trip be there?
(2) Where will the trip stop for lunch?
(3) In what order will the boats travel?
(4) What is the location of the med kit and rescue equipment?
(5) Who will be in charge of medical situations? Who is second in command?
(6) Who will be the overall incident commander? Who is second in command?
(7) Share any medical information provided on liability release forms or other-
wise.
(8) Any specific conditions that might make this trip “non-standard.”

Signals and Communication
Rivers are pretty loud, and there are many places where even the loudest voice
can’t be heard over its roar. Communication between boats, though, is very impor-
tant, so a number of hand signals have been developed that can be discerned at a
great distance.
These signals are common on the South Fork of the American River, where Proj-
ect GO runs most of its programs, but these signals are NOT UNIVERSAL! If you
boat with a new group of people, or in a new place, it is important that you discuss
the signals that will be used. The signal that we indicate means “I am OK” in an-
other locale means “Come to me!” for example. A signal is only worthwhile if it can
be understood.
Communication frequently needs to go from the last raft in a pod to the first, or
vice-versa. In this situation, it is passed from boat to boat and receipt and under-
standing of the signal should be provided to the sender. We’ll address the issue of
boat spacing in a bit, but here it makes sense to point out that the boats in your trip
must be close enough to one another to be able to transmit signals. There are many
signals common in non boating situations – like raising your palm, meaning STOP,
or telling some one to “come here” by wiggling your index finger. These signals are
not useful at a distance though, as they are too small to be seen. River signals must
be large enough to be seen, and sometimes will use the signaler’s whole body.
The most basic signal is really a philoso-

phy. If any signal is in fact universal, this
is it. “Point positive”. That is, whenever
we point, we point to the preferred,
Go that way!
best, or safest place. You may
Go
point with your arm, or with
that way!
your paddle.
Arms outstretched or a paddle held

horizontally overhead
with both hands
means STOP. Stop!
Go!
An arm or paddle held straight up means GO.
This signal is sometimes used to indicate that
your boat is ready to go, and once the signal is
seen in all boats in a trip, the trip can proceed.
Go!

Patting your head and pointing at someone is asking the ques-
tion “Are you OK?”
Patting your head means “I am OK.” It also can be used to

signal “message received,” or “I understand.”
O.K.
Holding your arms above your head, crossed between the wrist
and elbow, means “First Aid Required”
First Aid
Pumping your fist up and down at

your side means “Hurry Up,” or
“Let’s get going!”
Hurry Bringing your palms together

Up! with arms above your head
means “Let’s get our boats Closer!
closer together.”
Eddy out!
Twirling your index finger in the air vertically near your head
means “Catch an eddy and stop.” Pointing immediately after this
signal to the left or right indicates which side of the river that
eddy should be.
Swimmer! Paddle!
Holding your hands above your head and
moving them in a mock swimming motion
means “Swimmer in the water.”
Grasping a paddle with one hand and holding it

out, while pointing with the other hand means
“There’s a paddle in the water. It’s over there.”

Signals you can hear
Whistles are also used to communicate. A single blast means “Hey! Pay attention
to me!” Two blasts mean “upstream,” and three blasts means “downstream.” Three
blasts repeating mean that life or limb is in danger: get every piece of rescue equip-
ment you have and come to help RIGHT NOW. Whistle blasts are very serious
things. The non-repeating three-blast should be used rarely, if ever, as many outfitters
and guides assume any three blast signal an emergency. The use of two and three
blasts to indicate upstream and downstream is a change to Project GO’s standard
procedures. It brings us in line with National Fire Protection (NFPA)standards and
ensures that we can communicate with professional rescue personnel. As it is new, it
is especially important that it be discussed and understood at the guide meeting.
Spacing of Boats
It was noted above that boats must be close enough together to easily pass a sig-
nal from boat to boat. Certainly, you must be able to see the boat in front of you
and behind you. But just because you’re close enough to SEE a boat, does not
mean you are close enough to provide assistance to it. And really, that is what boat
spacing is all about. Simple courtesy is another reason to keep the boats on a trip
close together.
How close is close enough? And how close is too close? The short answer is “it de-
pends.” As a general rule, in very slow moving water where little or no maneuvering
is required, boats can be nearly touching one another, and there is little reason for
boats in the same trip to be more than two boat-lengths apart. In a rapid, you need
to give the boat in front of you room to maneuver without getting in the way, but
you must remain close enough to render assistance if something should go wrong.
It is the responsibility of the following boat to stay close enough to the boat in
front of it. If it is impossible to keep up, signal the boat in front before they get
away from you. Think of yourself as “safety” for the boat in front of you and never
let them face danger alone!
Boats seem to get separated in rapids. That is because as soon as a raft leaves a
pool and enters swift current, it pulls way out ahead. Anticipation is the key here.
Pay attention and don’t let the boat in front of you get away!
When a boat reaches the bottom of a rapid, unless they are the last boat of the
trip, there should be a boat in the rapid just navigated. Move to some slow water, or
even catch an eddy while you ensure that the following boat made it through safely.
Once you know they are OK, continue down the river. They will do the same for
the boat behind them. Unless it has been agreed upon ahead of time for some rea-
son, there is no need for an entire trip to eddy out after a rapid.
In situations where several boats are in an eddy together, and intend to get under-
way, careful attention must be paid. It takes a little while to get out of an eddy and
you must start leaving well before you actually leave, else you will be way behind. If
you need to exit an eddy and get behind a boat that is in the current and coming
towards you, you must start your exit well before that boat passes you. If you wait
until the boat passes you to exit the eddy, you will be far behind, disrupting the
whole trip.

Circles of responsibility
The most basic rule of all rescue is to look after yourself first. Yes, you have re-
sponsibility for the people in your raft, but you can do nothing to help them if you
yourself become a victim. Do not take actions you are not safely able to accomplish,
or that you do not have appropriate training for.
Once you know that you, yourself are safe, your next concern is for the other
guides on the trip. They have training, skills and equipment that can help resolve a
problem In general if you have to make a choice between rescuing another guide or
a guest, you should choose to rescue the guide, as they will be able to help you ef-
fect other rescues. Helping the guest will burden you with another responsibility,
and possibly keep you from effecting other rescues. That said, guides should be able
to take care of themselves. The threshold for a guide needing rescue is much higher
that of a guest. Use your judgment here: rescue a guide who NEEDS to be rescued.
Remember that guides are looking out for themselves, and know how to do it.
Once you know that you and the other guides are secure, take care of the
guests who may need it. Don’t endanger yourself or anyone else, but do all that
you safely can.
Gear and equipment is the last worry. Make sure everyone is safe before you
worry about unwrapping a boat or going to get lost paddles.
In rescuing swimmers, work from the simple to the complex. The order of opera-
tion depends on where the rescuer is. If the rescuer is in a boat (as is most likely)
going to the swimmer with the boat should be tried before throwing a line. If the
rescuer is on shore, throwing a bag should come before going after them with a
boat. The order presented below is different from what is taught in most swiftwater
rescue courses which are designed for first responders and fire-fighters. That is be-
cause firefighters who effect rescues are rarely in a boat. Whereas guides are in a
boat. It’s important not to be dogmatic about the specific order, however, and keep
the safety of all and expediency in mind.
Reach. Reach for the swimmer with your hand or with a paddle. Encourage them
to get close enough to you to be able to reach them.
Row. You are in a boat. Paddle after the swimmer, and when you are close enough,
reach out an arm or paddle. This is a very effective and low risk rescue option. ESPE-
CIALLY if you are appropriately close to the other boats in your trip!
Throw. This refers to throwing a throwbag. Ropes in water can be very dangerous.
They are, in fact, the primary reason guides carry knives: to cut a rope that has en-
tangled someone. Because ropes are so dangerous, they should rarely if ever be
thrown from a raft. The platform is not stable enough, and with the boat moving,
the rope moving in the water and the swimmer moving, the possibility of someone
getting entangled in a rope is just too great. If you’re going to use a throwbag, use it
from the shore. The only time it may be appropriate to deploy a throwbag from a
boat is if the boat is securely tied to something on shore. At this point, the boat is ar-
guably just an extension of the shore. And anyway: if you are in a boat, you are in
the most effective rescue tool there is.
Go. It may be appropriate to get into the water and go after the swimmer, but this
subjects you to considerable danger. Consequently, it is the last resort. Take this step

only if you have a res-
cue PFD, know how to
use it and have a team
ready to do their part.
Swimming
As a guide, you ab-
solutely WILL find
yourself in the water
someday. There is a
lot that can be said
about swimming
whitewater, but we’ll
stick to the basics.
First: if you are in the
water, it is likely that
your crew is as well.
You can do nothing Guide Swim! Like it or not, you’re going to wind up in the river
for them until you get someday. Make sure you know how to take care of yourself and
squared away yourself, get back into the boat!
so get to and in or (if
it is upside-down) on your boat. From here you can formulate a plan to rescue
your crew. If your boat is out of sight, or impossible to reach, however, you need
to take care of yourself. Here are some suggestions.
Avoid entrapments. This does NOT mean assume the “victim” position with
your feet downstream and wait for someone to save you. It means that while you are
actively swimming towards your boat, another boat, or an eddy, you should know
where your feet are and keep them near the surface if at all possible.
Just about every technique that you use when guiding a boat can be used as a
swimmer. For example you can catch eddies and ferry left or right. Rocky rapids are
actually easier for a guide to swim because there are eddies everywhere. Get into
one, and make a plan from there.
If you go over a drop or hole, bring all your limbs in close to your body, as the
turbulence of the drop may toss you about like a rag doll. The purpose of keeping
your limbs close to your body is to minimize the possibility of entrapment. Once
you are again on the surface, reorient yourself and make a plan. If you find yourself
sucked back upstream into the hydraulic, you may have to work a bit to get out of
it. First try and get a part of your body or your paddle on the other side of the boil-
line, in water that is moving downstream. You may have to wait for the hydraulic to
suck you under and spit you out again to accomplish this. If you can’t get out on
the downstream side, try to get out to the left or the right. If that fails, you can try
to go deep. Frequently water is moving downstream at the very bottom of a hy-
draulic, on the riverbed. This all sounds pretty scary (and anyone who’s been “recir-
culated” in a hole will confirm that it IS indeed) but be assured that at most flows
there are very few holes like this on the South Fork of the American.

Getting into the boat
So you swam back to the boat. Now what? Getting in requires strength and tech-
nique. The bottom line is that if you cannot get into a boat without a person assist-
ing you, you have no business being a guide. If you do not have the strength to do
it, you must make other provisions: Straps strategically placed to help you for exam-
ple. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
When right side up, the bow and stern of a raft are higher than the sides. So,
climb in from one of the sides of the raft. If the boat is upside-down, the sides will
be higher though. In this case, climb aboard over the bow or the stern.
It’s easier if you are downstream of the raft. Pull yourself towards the boat as op-
posed to straight up. Use the flotation of your pfd to get a little boost by pushing
yourself under the water before lunging up. Kick hard and keep kicking. With both
hands on handles, d-rings, the perimeter line or a strap or two that you strategically
placed there ahead of time, pull yourself up and attempt to straighten your arms
and lock at least one of your elbows. Use the other arm to grasp something in the
Run the bowline run through a d-ring or rig your flipline across the boat to provide
another tool to haul yourself into the boat. This is not ideal because (a) it takes a
long time, and (b) puts a rope in the water when there are swimmers about – a
BAD thing.
Practice getting into the boat when in flat and in moving water. Figure out what
additional bits of rigging and straps you may need to assist you. Make sure you have
this skill!
Flips
There are two kinds of guides: those who have flipped, and those who will. Flips
put a lot of people in the water, so really ought to be avoided if at all possible. A few
things you can do to keep your boat upright include hitting big waves and holes
straight and active
highsiding.
At ordinary sum-
mer flows on the
South Fork of the
American, there are
few (if any) hy-
draulics that, if hit
straight and with ap-
propriate momen-
tum, will flip a raft.
Hit them sideways,
though, and you and
your crew will be
Hospital Bar on the South Fork is responsible for many “fist flips.” swimming with the
There’s a diagonal wave/hole that must be hit square-on, or this fish.
might happen. Notice the guide trying (too late) to climb to the high Especially in these
side of the boat, while the paddlers fall off the low-side. situations though, a

guide should be able to predict which way the boat will flip, and get his or her
whole body on the tube that is going up. This active high siding has kept many
boats upright. And when caught on film it makes a guide look like a superhero.
If a boat is upside down, everyone is in the water. It will eventually have to be
righted, but this is not your primary concern. First you’ll need to make sure you
know where your paddlers are. Get on top of the boat where you can see them. If
there are any you can’t get to. Signal to other boats hgow many swimmers they
should be going after. An upside-down raft absolutely can navigate a rapid. In fact,
if in a rapid, it is smartest to get your crew on top of the raft and wait until a calm
spot. Getting your paddlers out of the water is ultimately more important than
righting your raft.
As noted above, the place to board an upside-down raft is over the bow or
stern, where the tubes are closest to the water. Project GO’s boats have loops of
webbing tied through drain-holes in the front and back to use as handles to pull
yourself aboard. To right the raft, affix a line (this is one of the reasons guides
carry the aptly named “flip-line”) to a d-ring on the downstream side of the boat.
Stand on the upstream tube, grasp that line and lean back. Your weight will be
sufficient to right an ordinary paddle raft with this technique. If the boat is heav-
ier, it may take two guides to do this.
A safety note: since you’re going to land back in the water when you do this,
make sure you know that the water is deep enough, and there are no rocks that you
might land on.
A style note: If another guide is underneath the boat, and holding onto the same
tube that a guide is standing on to right the boat, the guide underneath will be
pulled into the boat by the flipping motion. Not only is this stylish, it can save pre-
cious moments of time and make it possible to get others into the boat that much
quicker.
What flip lines are named after! Getting the boat flipped right-side up is the easy part. For
many, getting back into the boat is a little tougher. Make sure you have this skill, and don’t be
ashamed to rig additional handles and straps to the boat to help you!

A very heavy gear boat may require many people pulling from land. In this cir-
cumstance attach the flip-lines to the tube closest to shore, run them UNDER the
boat then through a D-ring or handle on the far tube, and then back to shore.
When your team pulls, they’ll be twisting the whole boat, not just pulling up one
tube.
Perched?
Your boat will, from time to time, find itself stuck on rocks. Making use of“tri-
focal vision” described in the basic maneuvering chapter can help you avoid this, as
can strategic spinning of your raft and calling “over-left,” or “over-right” to move
weight in the boat away from the rock. The fewer rocks to get stuck on, the better
for the trip and for the boats themselves. here ‘re a few tactics you can use, in the
order in which they should be tried.
(1) As soon as the boat hits a rock, try to spin it. This may prevent you from get-
ting stuck at all.
(2) Being stuck is not always a bad thing. Use it as an opportunity to get your
bearings, and make note of what is directly downstream of you, as you’ll have
to navigate that as soon as you get un-stuck.
(3) “Go slow to go fast.” That is, work deliberately. So long as no one is stuck be-
tween the boat and the rock, and all of your paddlers are still with you, you
are in a safe place, and there’s no need for extreme haste.
(4) DON’T have your crew bounce up and down. This will do nothing to get
you off the rock, may lead to an injury and may damage the boat.
(5) Determine where the rock actually is. You or your paddlers will be able to feel
it through the floor. Note that there may be several.
(6) If the position of the rock suggests success, try to spin the boat. Use guide
strokes and/or a called turn to your crew.
(7) Move people in the boat to get the weight away from the rock. Try again to spin.
(8) Use your flip line from inside the boat be attaching it to one side, and pulling
from the other to “peel” the boat off the rock. There are a few mechanical ad-
dvantage systems you can use to do this, but make sure you understand how
they work before you attempt them. These techniques are beyond the scope
of this manual.
(9) If you can do it safely, get out of the boat to push or pull
(10) As a last resort, you may ask your paddlers to get out of the boat. Make sure
that this can be done safely, and make sure you have a good plan for getting
them back in the boat once it is unstuck.
If none of these work, it will require assistance from others, and possibly
ropes from the shore. Signal your trip to stop, and be prepared to make and/or
follow a plan.
It is beyond the scope of this manual to outline all of the methods and systems
that may be used to free a raft that is really wrapped or stuck. In general, listen
to the head guide or designated incident commander and follow their instruc-
tions. Keep your safety and the safety of your team and guests in that order, as
boats can be replaced, while people cannot. Work from simple to complex.

Throw Bags
A throwbag consists of about 50 feet of floating rope stuffed into a fabric bag
with some sort of closure system, most commonly a draw-string. They come in
many sizes and types, each suited for different circumstance. It’s important that you
find time to practice with many different kinds of bags, so that in an emergency sit-
uation, you’ll be able to deploy a rope and not worry about the type of bag that
happens to be in your hands at the time of need.
A few basic rules about throwbags:

(1) Don’t throw a bag from a boat, unless the boat is securely tied off. Boats are
not a secure platform from which to throw, and a moving rope in a moving
river attached to a moving boat is a very dangerous thing. If you are in a boat,
paddle and/or reach with your paddle to the swimmer!
(2) Never throw a bag unless you are wearing a PFD. It is possible that you may
fall into the river when deploying a bag. Take care of yourself!
(3) Never tie the rope to, or wrap the rope around any part of your body.
(4) If the current is swift, make sure you have a buddy to hold on to you.
(5) Stand on the upstream side of the rope, and make sure no one is standing on
the downstream side. When the victim grabs the rope and begins to swing to-
wards shore, the rope will sweep into people in its path.
(6) Make sure you are throwing from a place with good footing and/or a good
place to brace yourself.
(7) Look downstream at shore the length of your rope. Whatever is there is where the
victim will wind up. Is it safe? If not, move up or downstream before you throw.
Throw it!
Open the closure mechanism, and grab an arm’s-length or so of rope. Hold this
securely in your non-throwing arm. Yell the word “ROPE!” and with the other arm,
throw the bag to the swimmer. You may throw the bag underhand, overhand, side-
arm or like a football as your ability and the environment dictate. Try to actually hit
the victim. If you’re going to miss, it is best to miss slightly downstream, as the vic-
tim will travel faster than the floating rope, and may catch up to it. But better not
to miss. Practice. Practice. Practice.
A second chance
If you miss with your throw, or must rescue another swimmer before your bag is re-
stuffed, quickly haul in the rope and coil it in your hands. You need not pull in the
entire length: only enough to reach the victim, as on your “second throw, you will
throw the END of the rope, not the bag side. Separate the big coil into two coils,
holding one in each hand, the coil with the end of the rope in your throwing hand.
Stand on the rope to ensure that when you throw the coils, you don’t loose the rope,
and as soon as you’ve thrown, reach down and pick it up. Throw the first coil, and
then throw the second one after it. With practice, you’ll be able to throw these coils
almost as far as you can throw a full bag. Try other methods for your second throw
and find the method that works best for you.

Entrapments
Entrapments are the number one cause of death on the river. It is essential that the
safety talk emphasize ways to avoid this. Since guides have begun emphasizing the
“swimmer’s” position, with feet up and downstream of the boat, occurrences of foot
entrapment have actually increased. The data suggests that in an effort to get their feet
up, swimmers may be straightening their bodies as soon as they hit the water. While
the “swimmer’s” position can be appropriate,
getting into it should not be the first priority.
The FIRST priority is staying in the boat.
Should they swim, paddlers should bring
thier limbs in close to their body until they
are at the surface. Then they should see if
they can grab the boat. Only if they can’t get
back to the boat should they assume the
“swimmer’s” position. Encourage paddlers
Rocks like this are why feet must be not to be victims but rather to be actively en-
kept up. At ordinary boating flows, this gaged in their own rescue.
rock is far enough below the surface, and
the water swift enough that a foot could Airway and stabilization
get wedged in the crack. A foot entrap- It takes time to perform a rescue, and
ment in this rock, just below Troublemaker people can hold their breath for only a
on the South Fork claimed the life of a short while. The entrapped victim cannot
young man in 2009. breathe, and freeing them of the entrap-
ment cannot happen before they run out of
air. The first order, then, is to find some way to prop or pull them up so that they
can get a lungful of air. Only once this is achieved does the second stage, that of re-
leasing the entrapment happen.
How this is done will depend upon the location of the entrapment, the environ-
ment, and the tools available.
If the water is shallow, a rescuer or team of rescuers might be able to wade into the
river and physically hold them up. It may be possible to get a pfd, or something that
they can float their upper body on. Anything is fair game, and lots should be tried and
tried again. Successful rescues are usually ones where rescuers can get “hands on” the
victim.
If none of these ways work, the best way to pull the victim’s airway to the air is with
a rope. Regardless of whether the above methods (or others that present themselves)
manage to solve the breathing problem, a rope will be needed to attempt to release the
entrapment. A team should IMMEDIATELY begin work on getting a rope either
across the river, or around the victims chest, as this can allow them to breathe, or serve
as the first step in releasing the entrapment. Once there is a rope below the victim, it
can be drawn upstream, pulling against the current to lift the torso and airway out of
the water. Getting the rope to the right place with the ability to pull upstream is the
hard part. Several methods are possible. Note that any time a rope is stretched across
the river, a hazard has been created for all craft and people navigating the river. Send
someone upstream to stop traffic, or divert it to a safe route.

In an emergency situation, when boats pull over, at least one boat should pull
over on the opposite bank from the others. Having a team already on both sides of
the river can save precious minutes. If the river is narrow, getting a rope across the
river may be as simple as throwing a throwbag. In order to get sufficient angle to ef-
fectively pull upstream, several throwbags will likely have to be joined together.
If the distance is too great to throw from shore, rescuers could wade into the
water from either shore. The ropes neet not be from shore either: there may be ed-
dies or rocks closer to the victim. A strong swimmer with a rescue vest could swim
to retrieve a line, or possibly swim across. A boat could ferry across, pulling a line.
Be creative, but work fast. If you have the personnel and rope, try several methods
at once.
Another method of getting a rope around the victim makes use of a piece of res-
cue equipment found in several of Project GO’s throwbags: the Whitewater Snag
Plate. You can identify a bag containing
a snag-plate by the presence of a yellow-
plastic tag on the bottom of the bag.
One rescuer throws a bag upstream of
the victim, allowing the bag to pendu-
lum downstream around the victim. A
second rescuer throws another bag,
equipped with the snag plate across the
rope that is downstream of the victim.
The snag-plate is plastic, and has hooks
and barbs designed to capture a rope. By
dragging this line, with the snag-plate,
across the first line, it can be captured and brought to shore. With this accom-
plished, there is a rope around the victim. Pulling both ends upstream, even if both
are on the same shore, can be effective at pulling the victim to a place where breath-
ing is possible. It may be necessary to place a rock in the inverted throwbag equiped
with the snag plate to ensure that the snag is effective.
Releasing the entrapment

Once the victim can breathe, the net step is to release the entrapment. This will
not be easy. The rescuers must get a rope around the victim, at the bottom of the
river, as close to the point of actual entrapment as possible. Any of the techniques
outlined above can be used to get a line across the river (equipment and personnel
permitting, several attempts can be made at the same time). To get the rope to the
bottom of the river, weight is required. Filling a throwbag (or maybe two of them)
with rocks, and moving the rope so those weighted bags are directly downstream of
the victim is the best way known to do that, but don’t let that idea limit your op-
tions. The best thing to do is whatever works. Once you have a rope at the bottom
of the river, downstream of the entrapment, pull upstream in the hopes of pulling
the limb out from whatever is holding it. If you succeeded in stabilizing the victim
and they are conscious, they might be able to help get the rope to the right place.

Final thoughts
There is no way to know what is going on at the point of entrapment. All the
pulling in the world may not be enough to free the limb. In the case of the young
man in 2009, once the water flow had been turned off, so there was no more pres-
sure, it required a three to one mechanical advantage and three strong men to re-
lease the limb. In this case, even had the team on the spot been able to get the lines
around him right away, the rising water was so high that even standing straight up,
he could not have gotten air. And even had the team gotten a rope on the riverbed
at his feet, they could not have freed the entrapped limb with the force of water to
contend with. The best rescue is one that isn’t needed. As stated above: Don’t get
entrapped. Don’t let anyone else get entrapped.

NINE
Working with rope

Knowing your way around a length of rope is an important part of being a guide.
There are probably thousands of different kinds of knots, but you need be familiar
with only about a half dozen in order to consider yourself a guide. Practice them
until you can do them in your sleep.
The knots we’re concerned with are tied in rope. There are some knots that are
peculiar to cord and to webbing, but they are beyond the scope of a basic training
manual. You’ll learn to tie a water knot in webbing, and a double fishermen’s knot
and a prusik knot when you take a swiftwater rescue course.
Rope comes in many forms. You’ll find rope of different varieties in throwbags, as
bow lines and in rescue kits. Most of the rope used in whitewater is made from
polypropylene, instead of the more typical nylon, because it floats. The typical
strength varies from 1400 pounds for braided rope used for bow lines to more than
5000 pounds for Spectra kernmantle rescue line.
Cord is made the same way as rope; it’s just smaller. Cord is mostly used around
camp for securing tarps and so on, and is also tied into loops called “prusiks” that
are found in a sweep kit. The 6mm cord used for prusiks has a breaking strength of
1700 pounds.
Tubular webbing, also called hoopie, is constructed of nylon woven in a tube
shape, then ironed flat to make it easier to work with. It is used to create anchors in
rescue situations, and it is an ideal medium from which to fashion a flip line. It is
very strong, with a breaking strength of 4500 pounds for one-inch webbing.
Cam Straps are made from flat-woven polypropylene and finished with spring-

loaded metal cams. They are great for securing items to your raft and require ab-
solutely no ability to tie a knot. Their typical breaking strength, however, is only
about 400 pounds, so they should never be used for any kind of rescue.
Terminology
It’s helpful to have a common vocabulary when talking about anything. It’s espe-
cially important when trying to describe how to tie a knot.
Working end
Loop
Bight
The working end is sometimes called the “running end.” It is the active end of a
line used in making a knot.
The working part is the section of line between the knot and the working end.
The standing end is the end of the line opposite the working end.
The standing part is the section of line between the knot and the standing end.
A bight is a U-shaped bend used in making a knot.
A loop is a circle of rope or cord formed by passing the working end over or
under itself. This is different from a bight, where the working end does not cross
the line.
A coil is a series of loops used to collect a line.
An anchor is an object that provides a stable attachment point for a line. In
whitewater rafting this is usually a rock or tree on shore. This is not to be confused
with a nautical anchor like the one in Popeye’s tattoo.
The Knots
Overhand Knot
This is the most basic knot. In fact, you already know how to tie this knot – it is
what you use to tie your shoelaces. This knot has many other names: Granny Knot,
Thumb Knot and half hitch among them. It is not a secure knot on its own, but is
the basis for some other knots, and is sometimes used to finish knots.
1) Form a loop.
2) Pass the working end through the loop
3) pull to tighten.

1 2 2 3
Overhand knot
The Overhand knot is the first knot you ever learned to tie, and is known by a few other
names: granny knot and half-hitch are the most common. It’s not good for much all by itself,
but is an important part of many other knots.
Overhand Slip Knot

This variant of the overhand knot can be released just by pulling one end.
1) Form a loop by passing the working end over the standing part.
2) Form a bight in the working part behind the loop.
3) Pass the bight through the loop.
4) Pull the standing end to tighten.
To tie an Overhand Slip Knot around an object, first form the loop around the
object and continue as above.
2
3 4
3
Overhand slip-knot
The overhand slip-knot is useful anytime you need a “quick release” system. It’s an integral
part of a “trucker’s hitch,” which is what you’ll use to tie a load to a trailer.

Figure Eight Knot
The Figure Eight Knot is the basis for a family of knots that can meet most every need.
1) Form a loop by passing the running end over the standing part.
2) Pass the working end under the standing part.
3) Pull the end through the loop.
4) Tighten. When you’re finished, the knot will look like a figure eight.
1 2 3 4
Figure Eight
On its own, this knot is useful only as a “stopper” knot on the end of a line. But it forms the
basis for several of the most useful knots there are to a whitewater boater.
Figure Eight on a Bight

The figure eight on a Bight is exactly like a basic figure-eight, except tied on a
bight of rope. It is the easiest way to tie a secure loop to the end of a rope.
1) Form a bight.
2) Make a loop on the bight
3) Wrap the end of the bight around the standing part,
4) Pull the end of the bight through the loop and tighten.
Figure Eight on a Bight
1 2 3 4

Figure Eight Follow-Through Knot
The figure eight follow-through is a very strong knot and is used to secure a rope
to an Object. Once you understand how to tie a Figure Eight, tying this knot is
simple.
1) Start by tying a Figure Eight in the working part. Leave at least four feet of line
between the knot and the working end. Pass the working end through (or
around) the object.
2) Slide the working end back into the knot and follow the line through the knot.
3) Continue tracing the line’s route through the knot.
4) When you’re done tracing back through the knot, the working end should be
parallel to the standing part.
Figure Eight Follow Through
1 2 3 4
No Knot
A very simple and very strong hitch, the unfortunately-named No Knot is indis-
pensable. It is also called a Tensionless Hitch. The No Knot can be used when tying
up a boat at lunch and attaching a line to an anchor for rescue work.
Tying this hitch is simple; just wrap the
working end around the anchor several
times. The strength of this hitch comes
from the friction between the anchor and
the wrapped section of rope. The number
of wraps needed around the anchor is deter-
mined by the diameter of the anchor and
its surface texture. When tying to a big oak
tree with rough bark, two or three wraps
will be sufficient. On the other hand, if
you’re tying to a polished round post, you
should use several wraps. Finish the knot
with an overhand knot, or for rescue work,
a bowline or a figure-8 follow through.

Double Half Hitch
The Double Half Hitch is a simple hitch that builds on the overhand knot. It is
used to finish a Trucker’s Hitch, or for any time you need a quick knot that does
not have to be exceptionally secure.
1) Pass the working end through (or around) the object and form a loop by pass-
ing the working end under the standing part.
2) Pass the working end through that loop to make an overhand knot.
3) Pass the working end under the standing part again, and again pass the end
through the loop. Tighten.
Double Half-Hitch
1 2 3
Double Half Hitch on a Bight

This is just a variant of the Double Half Hitch, using a bight instead of the work-
ing end. If you get stuck, refer to the Double Half Hitch. This is the hitch used to
secure a rolled raft with its bow line.
Double Half-Hitch on a bight

Trucker’s Hitch
A Trucker’s Hitch is really neither a knot nor a hitch; it is a mechanical advantage
system that makes it easy to tighten a line.
1) Run the working end through the tie-down point.
2) As far up as you can reach, tie an Overhand Slip-Knot.
3) Run the working end through the loop of the slip knot and pull hard to
tighten the line over the load.
4) Finish with a Double Half Hitch.
3
4
1
Trucker’s Hitch
Bowline
The bowline is one of the most useful knots you can know. Simple to tie, it forms
a secure loop that is reasonably easy to untie, even when it has been loaded.
1) Form a loop with the standing part running underneath.
2) Run the working end up through the loop, but do not pull it all the way
through.
3) Take a turn around the standing part, and then back down the original loop
and hold it there.
4) Pull the standing part to tighten the knot.
4
1
2
Bowline

Coiling a line
You can use this technique to secure a coil of rope.
Form a coil by stacking loops in your hand, leaving a few feet of line free. Wrap
the working end tightly around the coil a few times, making sure to cross the stand-
ing part on the first, and coil up. Form a bight in the working part and push the
bight through the loops at top of coil.
When you use this technique to secure your boat’s bow line, you should form the
coil so that there is about five feet of line between the coil and the point where the
line attaches to the boat. Then use that section of line to wrap the coil and to form
the bight that secures the coil.

TEN
Rigging your boat

There is a lot more to put in a boat than just people. How you put that stuff in,
where you put it, and how you secure it has a lot to do with the quality and safety
of the experience you’ll have on the river. All this “tying-in” of things is called
“rigging.”
Much of rigging is a question of personal preference, so long as a few rules are
followed. In guide school, to ensure that everyone learns at least ONE way to rig a
boat, it’s common that personal preference be ignored. After guide training though,
if you find something that works and doesn’t break the rules, go for it! Just make
sure that whatever you do, you have a REASON for. Here are some guidelines to
keep in mind when rigging your boat
(1) Rig everything that you don’t want to loose securely enough that it will stay
put, even in the event of a flip.
(2) Put what we call a “positive lock” on everything. That is, make sure that you
are not just depending on the shape of something and a tight strap to hold
onto it. Rather, make sure the strap goes through a handle or strap or some
built-in loop on the item being rigged.
(3) Eliminate or minimize potential for entrapment in the boat. No loops or
holes that an arm or leg might get stuck in.
(4) Try not to use non-locking carabiners, as it is possible that they could clip
onto a person and trap them. If you use non-locking carabiners for anything
it should be for simple attachment to loops so that they can flop around. A
flopping carabiner is much less likely to clip to something on accident.

(5) Rig the same way, every time. In an emergency, you want to know exactly
where everything is, and how it is secured.
(6) Put things that are rigid in places where people are less likely to bump into
them. For example, put buckles in front of thwarts so knees don’t hit them,
and a pump underneath a drybag.
(7) Think about the orientation of items to the person who will be dealing with
them. Arrange cam-straps so they can be tightened by pulling towards the
guide for example.
(8) Put things where you need them: water bottles near the paddlers, throwbag
and spare paddle near the guide.
(9) Allow one item per strap. This way you don’t want to have to de-rig your en-
tire boat just to get to the thing at the bottom.
The tools of the trade are cam-straps and carabiners, ideally locking ones. Every
guide should have a small supply of their own in several different sizes. Make sure
they are marked in some way so everyone knows that they belong to you! Nail pol-
ish is a pretty good way to mark metal items. Keep them all in small mesh bag with
a loop. You can then secure that in your boat to hold small incidental items like
sunscreen. To rig a paddle boat, you’ll need two 6’ cam straps and 2 carabiners at a
minimum. We’d suggest having at least four of each though, and maybe a couple
longer and shorter straps too.
Rigging for specific items.

Water Bottles
Assuming the water-bottle has a loop of webbing or rope attached to it, the sim-
plest way to secure these in a boat is to run a 6 foot strap around a thwart, wrapping
the strap around one side of a LOCKING carabiner twice. Position the carabiner
and buckle in front of the thwart. You can simply attach the loop of the water bot-
tle to this carabiner. In this configuration, you MUST use a locking carabiner and
ensure that it remains locked. An unlocked or non-locking carabiner held in place
with the gate projecting outwards is a dangerous thing, as it could accidentally clip
onto someone and hold them there.
Spare Paddle
This is a tough one. If you need a spare, you are likely to need it in a hurry, and
rigging it securely will make it hard to get. We suggest tucking it blade-down along
the side of the rear thwart opposite of the guide. Tuck it in hard and it won’t go
away unless the boat flips. For a measure of added security a strap from the handle
to the floor or outside d-ring with the cam positioned in such a way that it can be
easily reached is a good solution. Many guides rig it to the top of the rear thwart
with two straps, one on the left, and one on the right. If you do it this way, make
sure that at least one of the straps loop around the handle, to keep it from moving
around, and carefully consider how you rig other things to this thwart so that they
don’t interfere with your ability to get the paddle, and so that the paddle rigging
does not interfere with your ability to get to other things. This method is preferable
on runs where a flip is more likely.

Dry Bags
There are many sizes, types and shapes of drybags. How you rig depends on
many factors. Most drybags have plastic rings near the buckle. This is in some cases
the only location where one can achieve a “positive lock.” When drybags are closed,
the attachment of the buckles creates a loop of sorts, and while it is tempting to run
a strap through this formed loop, it is not ideal, as the plastic buckles are generally
flimsy, and can come apart with pressure applied in certain ways: a carabiner press-
ing against its side, or a knee hitting it as people move around the boat.
A small bag can be attached just as a water-bottle, by making use of the plastic
ring near the buckle. Medium bags can be strapped to a thwart horizontally, with
the strap passing through the plastic ring, so long as the strap can be tightened suffi-
ciently to keep the bag from squirting out to one side as the raft moves, and as peo-
ple move in the raft. A larger bag, or one that can’t, because of its contents, be
rigged horizontally can be rigged vertically – one strap around the thwart and bag
near the center of the bag, and another strap near the top, providing a positive lock
through the bag’s plastic ring.
The above are guidelines, not rules. Just make sure that there is no chance the bag
will go away, and try to arrange it so that it won’t flop around.
Pumps
These are a real pain to rig. They are hard plastic, so will hurt to fall on, have no
convenient attachment points, and thanks to the hose, can create entrapment haz-
ards. Fortunately, only one is needed per trip, so you won’t frequently have to rig it.
Plan “a” is to rig it on top of the saddlebag that contains the rescue and medical
equipment. By putting just below the top, and cinching the top down tight, it is
possible to keep the hose under cover so that it does not become an entrapment
hazard. Another good idea is to put the whole thing in a mesh bag, and strapping
that bag to a thwart. Someone always has a mesh-bag at put-in, and sometimes its
owner would rather have it on the boat than left in a vehicle at put in.
If neither of these are options, you must coil the hose along the length of the
pump, and put a strap around it to keep it in place. Then strap it to the front of the
rearmost thwart using two straps, one at each end. Make sure one of these two
straps, or a separate locking carabiner create a positive lock.
Throwbag
This is the only item to be rigged for which there are some unbreakable rules.
The rules are centered around the extreme danger of a loose rope in the water, and
the need for a guide to able to get the bag quickly.
NEVER secure a throwbag on the outside of a boat. We know many guides do
this, but that does not make it smart. The plastic buckles are flimsy, and the poten-
tial for the bag to come loose and fall into the river when the boat hits a rock, or is
bumped by another boat is too great. And a bag full of rope “somewhere” in the
river creates a potentially fatal hazard for ALL who travel the river.
Make sure that the bag is secured in such a way that there is no possibility of the
rope coming out of the bag. There is a knot at the end of many throwbags, usually a

figure-eight on a bight with a very small loop. Make sure that the knot portion of
this loop is inside the bag, and that the drawstring closure is tight. It is acceptable to
have no knot at all.
An excellent method for securing a throwbag is to fasten the buckles of the bag
through the loop at the end of the rope (with the knot inside the bag!) , and then
attach both the buckle AND the loop to a locking carabiner. Attach this carabiner
somewhere inside the rear compartment, close to the guide.
This system ensures that the knot will not come out of the bag, and provides the extra security
of two attachment points. It’s been noted that to deploy the bag, one need only release the
plastic buckle on the bag, leaving the loop on the carabiner. You should only do it this way if
the boat is tied off to the shore. As a rule, we do not throw ropes from boats.
Another acceptable method is to put the loop or bitter end inside of the bag and
tighten the drawstring. Cinch the throwbag strap as tight as you can to further en-
sure that the rope will not escape. Then attach the bag by its bottom. Almost every
bag has a loop of some sort at the back end. Again, place it somewhere inside the
rear compartment, close to the guide.
Remember that bags should never be thrown from a boat, so your real goal is to
make it easy for you to take from the boat when you go to shore.
Big Stuff
Ideally, big stuff like the lunch cooler will be rigged in an oarboat, and are not
your concern. Nevertheless, there may be times when trip logistics require that you
get the cooler, or something equally large into your boat. This requires some creativ-
ity, and may mean you have to borrow straps from someone. A cooler should always
have a strap around it, keeping the lid closed. If the cooler has molded handles –
that is the handles are literally part of the cooler – you are in luck, because these are
secure attachment points. Most coolers nowadays have flimsy handles that are use-
less for rigging. Putting a strap through these will do nothing more than break the
handles from the cooler.

It is OK for the cooler to touch the floor, but it should not be cinched down onto
it, as this can create wear on the floor of the boat, and may pinch when the boat is
stuck on rocks. Probably the best method is to run two straps, one each direction
around the cooler. One is to hold the cooler closed, and the other is to provide the
closest thing you can get to a positive lock on it. Run two long straps (10-12 feet)
around the rear thwart and the cooler, making sure that they go under at least one
of the straps on the cooler. Most likely the cooler barely fits in its compartment, and
you can count on the pressure of the thwarts on either side to prevent the cooler
from rotating up. If this is not the situation, you’ll also have to come up with a way
to keep the cooler down. A strap from the handles down to the floor drain-holes or
lacing may be the best you can do. Don’t make these straps super taught, as the han-
dles may break, and this would put too much pressure on the floor.

Glossary
air brace to hold the paddle out of the water, as though pushing against the sky to
stay in the boat. Frequently preceeds a swim.
anchor rope or webbing secured to a large rock or tree used in rescue situations
angle an angle of the raft relative to the current. Also called a “Ferry Angle”
backpaddle paddle stroke in which the paddle enters the water behind the paddler
and is pulled towards the bow of the raft to move the raft backwards
baffle the wall between individual chambers in the main tubes of a raft
barrel pump a hand pump 4 or 6 inches in diameter used for manual inflation of
rafts
BFR “Big Frickin Rock.” Big enough that it won’t move when subjected to the sort
of forces in river rescue
bladder plastic “inner tube” that holds air in Aire and Tributary brand rafts
boil current coming up from the bottom of the river.
boil line the seam between upstream and downstream flow in a hole
boney adjective describing a route congested with rocks or with very low flow
bow front of the raft

bubble water released from a dam traveling downstream. To be “in front of ” the
bubble is to start rafting before the water gets to you. To be “behind” the bubble is
to start after the bulk of the water has passed you.
bucket boat a non self-bailing raft. Named after the bucket used to empty the water.
can-opener sharp rock that could rip a raft from bow to stern
CFS cubic feet per second, a unit of water flow past a given point
chafe pad an extra layer of material used to protect the top of a raft from the rub-
bing of an oar frame.
channel raftable route through a rapid
chicken strap loops of webbing buckled to thwarts to provide handles for nervous
passengers
cod a derogatory term for paddler. Also peep, custie, punter or Texan.
compartment the area in-between thwarts where items are rigged and where people
sit. Referred to by location, i.e. “front,” “back,” “middle.”
chamber the air-holding area of the main tubes in a boat. Most boats have 4 cham-
bers in the man tubes.
chute clear channel between obstructions
constriction an area where the riverbed narrows, usually resulting in standing
waves.
curler a high, steep wave that curls back onto its own upstream face; one form of a
reversal
downstream V a convergence of water flow between two obstacles resulting in a
“V” of water pointing downstream
draw, draw-stroke paddle stroke in which the paddle enters water to the side of
the paddler and is drawn toward the side of the raft. It turns the raft without adding
forward momentum
dump-truck when the entire crew swims, but the guide remains
eddy area where the current flows upstream to fill a void behind an obstruction or
bend in the river.
eddy fence or eddy line the boundary between an eddy and the downstream cur-
rent
entrapment refers to a person stuck in the river, usually by a limb wedged into
rocks.
ferry lateral movement of a craft across the current
ferry angle an angle of the raft relative to the current. Also called simply “angle”

flip when the raft turns over.
flipline 8 to 20 feet of rope or webbing worn around the waist of a guide and se-
cured by a locking carabiner. Can be used for flipping an overturned raft, but is
more frequently used for other purposes: tying boats off or together, e.g.
forward paddle stroke in which the paddle enters the water ahead of the paddler
and is drawn toward the stern of the raft (moves the raft forward)
forward sweep a guide stroke used to turn the boat to the non-paddle side.
garbo paddle stroke in which the bow paddlers stretch over the bow and place their
paddles in the water well ahead of the raft to pull through large waves/holes or to
direct the front of the raft. Not particularly effective, but fun in big waves and
holes.
gradient slope of the riverbed; expressed in feet per mile
guide-paddle or guide-stick a paddle with a longer blade and shaft than a standard
paddle optionally used by some guides
hard water water that is not aerated and/or is moving in a different direction than
the boat. Putting the paddle into hard water feels like you’ve planted it in cement,
and grabbing hard water when you don’t expect it can strain or even dislocate a
shoulder
haystack a large standing wave
highside the act of moving to the “high” side of a raft in an effort to keep it from
flipping or wrapping.
hole type of reversal when water pours over a rock or a ledge creating a substantial
backflow
hoopie another name for tubular webbing.
J stroke a forward paddle stroke with a small pry at the end. The paddle stroke sug-
gests the letter “J”
kayak a small plastic craft used to slow rafts. Also known as “speed bumps.”
keeper a hole capable of stopping a raft or swimmer and keeping it there (see re-
circulate)
lily-dipper(s) a non-energetic paddler
lining working a raft through a rapid using lines from shore
LVM a popular type of electric pump that connects to a car battery
mechanical advantage using pulleys, carabiners or loops of rope to mechanically
increase the force that can be exerted on a rope.
NFPA National Fire Protective Association. The governing body that establishes

rescue standards. Whenever appropriate, Project GO follows these standards to en-
able communication with professional rescue personnel.
pillow whitewater that forms on the upstream side of a rock.
pivot to turn a raft from its existing angle to another to miss an obstruction
pourover a barely submerged obstacle, usually a rock, that water pours over
prusik the knot used to attach loops of cord to a rope. Also the generic name for
the loops themselves.
recirculate to be caught in the water in a hole or hydraulic
peep(s) a derogatory term for paddler. Also cod, custie, punter or Texan
pod a term describing a discreet number of boats that travel the river together
portage to carry all equipment around an unrunable rapid
positive lock a term that refers to rigging an item in such a way that it can not es-
cape. Usually this means putting a strap or carabiner through a loop on the object
being rigged.
probe as a noun, the first boat in a pod. As a verb, the act of running first.
pry, prystroke paddle stroke in which the paddle enters the water close to the pad-
dler and is pushed away from the raft
punter a derogatory term for paddler. Also peep, custie, cod or Texan.
reversal place where current swings back and breaks on itself
reverse sweep guide stroke that turns the boat to the paddle side
river left left side of the river as you face downstream
river right right side of the river as you face downstream
snag plate Plastic insert in throwbags used for capturing a line in the water.
SRT Swiftwater Rescue Technician. The basic certification for professional rescue
personnel
stern the back of the raft
stopper a reversal capable of stopping a raft
strainer branches, logs, rocks, debris which water can pass through but people and
rafts cannot. Considered very dangerous.
surf to purposely or accidentally keep a boat in a hole or wave
swamped full of water
sweep the last boat in a pod is he sweep boat. Named after the puch brooms that
follow a parade, cleaning up any mess.

sweep kit the collection of rescue equipment that is carried on each trip, usually in
the last, or “sweep” boat.
swimmer - what you become when you fall out of a raft.
table rock rock just under water surface on which you can “park” your boat.
technical water a rapid or section of the river with many obstacles and critical,
narrow channels
tri-focal vision the constant act of changing ones field of vision from close to far in
order to determine where the boat should go
Texan a derogatory term for paddler. Also peep, custie, punter or cod.
thwart the crosswise tubes in a raft. These are not seats.
tongue the smooth V of fast water at the top of a rapid
typewriter to surf across the front of a wave
upstream V a splitting of water flow as a result of an obstacle. The V points up-
stream directly at the obstacle which is sometimes submerged.
vector pull when a taught line between two attachment points is pulled at its cen-
ter, great force is applied to both ends. May be useful in un-sticking a stuck raft.
wrap to pin a raft flat around the upstream side of a rock.
Z drag, Z rig, Z system mechanical advantage system using pulleys, static line and
prusiks to tension a line or lift a load.

Basic Guide Training Manual

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Basic Guide Training Manual

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Basic Guide Training Manual

This manual is dedicated to

May your memory inspire all

Project Great Outdoors, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 5

One Personal Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Three Guide and Paddle Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Four Commanding a Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Five Basic Maneuvering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Seven Ride the Back of the Mighty Dragon . . . . 59

Eight River Rescue and Safety Basics . . . . . . . . 65

Nine Working with Rope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 11

Drysuits are a great option for cold

12 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

In selecting a PFD for your personal use,

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 13

14 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Other Rescue Gear

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 15

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 17

18 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 19

Valves Pressure Release Valve

Seam Handles Rub Strake

20 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Pumps and inflation

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 21

Rules concerning inflation of a raft:

Paddles and such

22 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 23

Guide and Paddle Strokes

Sitting in the boat

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 25

26 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 27

Not like this! There is no skill more

28 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 29

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 31

32 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Training your crew

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 33

Motivating your crew

34 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 35

36 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 37

45° Upstream 45° downstream

Angles are described relative to the current, and can be

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 39

40 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Hold a 90° angle

Line it up and feed it

Backing away from danger

42 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 43

44 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Project Great Outdoors ©2012 Basic Guide Training Manual 45

46 Basic Guide Training Manual Project Great Outdoors ©2012

Class III: Rapids with moderate, irregular waves