The first thing we needed to do was find the boat! We’d been given a pretty good description but we needed to see the situation for ourselves to work out what we might need to do, if recovery was even possible.

Can you spot the kayak?

For those who know the river, the boat was in the gorge between the base of Rhaeadr Mawddach and the confluence with the Afon Gain. It was wedged underwater closest to the river left bank – the opposite bank to easiest access. The group who lost the boat had obviously tried to unpin the boat themselves, and had left a rope attached to the front grab loop which was closest to the left bank (the line had been tied off out of the way of anyone coming down the river).

The boat had wrapped around the rock so we needed to pull diagonally upstream to create a peel and pull effect; which meant the rope was already attached to the optimum point in terms of leverage.  We identified a suitable anchor which would create the angle of pull we required. We made sure it was strong enough to take the kind of force we were going to be putting through our system. Unusually, in this instance our anchor was a giant pipe!

The big anchor pipe

Our plan was to anchor the line, then set up a piggyback system to provide mechanical advantage. We chose a piggyback system (rather than a 3-to-1 using the line already attached) because it means the boat won’t float off anywhere once it’s freed, even if your pulling team let go and it allows you to take in the slack, preventing the boat slipping back and losing any progress you make.

Andy heading across to get the line

The pipe was quite a way from the boat so we’d need some extra length on the line, plus we needed an anchor. We used one throwline as both the anchor and to provide the additional length required to reach the line currently attached to the boat (from here on in referred to as the ‘main line’).

We used a bowline to tie the line around the pipe creating the anchor and then a clove hitch onto a carabina at the length which allowed us to then attach the main line to the same carabina using an italian hitch. This set-up allowed us to adjust the position of the carabina so that whoever was managing the italian hitch was stood in a safe place. The italian hitch allows you to take in slack and lock-off as and when you need to. When locked off we tied a couple of half hitches to secure it, both the italian hitch and the lock-off hitches are shown here.

Once we had the main line secured, it was time to set up the piggyback system. Firstly we needed another anchor. There was a partition preventing us from putting the second anchor right next to the first, so we didn’t have an ideal angle – but at least the anchors were independent in case of failure. This time we used an open sling tied with a tape knot (aka water knot) to create the anchor.

We then put a 3-wrap prusik hitch on the main line, as far towards the boat as we could. After taking the bag off a good, strong throwline we made a loop by tying a figure-of-8 on a bight and clipped it to the prusik with a locking carabina. The piggyback line was then taken to a locking carabina on the sling anchor point and back through the carabina on the prusik, thus creating a 3-to-1 mechanical advantage (aka Z-drag).

We were now all set, time to start pulling! We had two hauling on the piggyback 3-to-1, while one took in any slack on the main line using the italian hitch.

1,2,3 PULL

1,2,3 PULL

1,2,3 PULL

***SNAP!***

The line that had been left on the boat snapped, presumably weakened by 6 days wiggling about in wind and water.

So we set about clipping another line to the boat, making sure it was a good condition rope with high breaking point! Once we’d got it clipped and back across to river right, we set up the same system with our new ‘main line’. Time for more pulling…

1,2,3 PULL

1,2,3 PULL

1,2,3 PULL

Hmm, we’re not getting anywhere!

We clearly we needed to change our angle of attack… onwards and upwards! We moved our set-up to a sturdy tree at the top of the river right gorge-side with the intention of rotating the boat by pulling the front end up.

Try again…

1,2,3 PULL

1,2,3 PULL

1,2,3 PULL

Success! The boat came free of the rock but was still pretty much submerged. The boat was being really awkward and floating vertically with only about 20cm of bow out of the water. Turned out the whole back-end was full of rocks!! And this time I don’t think it was Tom Parker playing pranks.

Emptying out the rocks. This took a while!

Daz shows the tattered remains of an airbag next to the warped boat

Feeling proud of ourselves, we hiked back to the car dragging our prize. Time for tea and medals!

If you want to learn more about setting up these sort of systems, check out our Safety & Rescue course dates.

What do I put it in?

I use a Lifesystems Compact First Aid kit pack. I find it a good size and fairly water resistant.

I put this inside a 10 litre drybag with a few extra things (I will come on to them later). I have clearly marked the dry bag as FIRST AID, so other people can quickly identify it in an emergency. You may want to purchase a sticker to put on your dry bag / peli case.

Inside the red pack…

If you open the pack shown above, you will immediately see 2 pairs of non-latex gloves. When an incident has taken place it is all too easy to rush in to try and help. Make sure you protect yourself and others from cross-contamination – WEAR GLOVES. Putting them here means you cannot forget!

So what else?

• A range of hypo-allergenic plasters
• Some stretchy sticky fabric tape (hypo-allergenic)
• Micro-pore tape
• 3 sizes of sterile dressings / bandages
• A range of sizes of adhesive dressings
• 2 tubes of sterile water
• Face mask
• 6 alcohol free antiseptic wipes
• Triangular bandage
• Ducktape
• Scissors

I keep everything in little sealable plastic bags, just to give extra protection against getting wet:

I keep the ducktape on a bit of old broken pen. This allows me to store a good amount in a compact yet easy to dispense format.

Also in the dry bag…

I carry some waterproof paper, with a small IKEA pencil tucked in the coils so I can note down any details such as the casualty’s name, what happened, what treatment has been given, vital stats etc. Along with this I carry a little prompt card, cos even the most well trained can find themselves forgetting everything at the sight of a loved one in dire medical trouble. You can use these to record on, but I find that in our environment a waterproof pad is much easier. Pencils can withstand being wet, pens to write on laminated card don’t tend to like it.

Savlon spray is a great antiseptic that also handily dries wounds – very handy in wet environments. And Compeed is fab for blisters / rubbing – the Savlon spray can be used first to dry out the area. these are not essentials, but pretty useful I think.

I also carry a “Blizzard Vest”, which is a like a big corrugated, hooded foil jumper that you can stick over anyone getting cold. It’s vacuum packed, and if you have to use it you can send it back to be re-packed!

If someone is injured they get cold really fast, especially outdoors. However, don’t forget that the rest of the group might be getting cold too. This is why I have another dry bag…

The other drybag…

I carry a separate dry bag for what I would call “group kit”. In there I have a group shelter, some emergency foods and spare clothing. The reason I have this separate is because there are some places I don’t feel it is necessary to carry these things, like at managed sites such as Canolfan Tryweryn. At these sites I would still usually carry a first aid kit though, just in case.

The call for help…

I cannot recommend strongly enough that every group take a mobile phone with them on the water. Put it in an aquapac and carry it on your person.

Yes, there isn’t always signal in the remote and mountainous regions we go to, but it’s usually nearer than the nearest payphone or house. And those things will be there whether or not you are carrying a phone – so why not? If you don’t want to be disturbed, just turn it off. If you are worried about damaging your expensive smart phone, buy a £10 handset and put a pay-as-you-go sim in it – just make sure to check the battery before you leave!

Conclusion

White water kayaking is an adventure sport – one which involves an element of risk and many risks of the elements. Hopefully anyone who goes paddling regularly can see that if something were to go wrong, you are likely to be a little way from help. In my opinion, all paddlers should attend a good first aid course at least once every 3 years. Rescue Emergency Care courses are good because they are not restrained by HSE First Aid at Work and are designed for people who will be operating in the outdoor environment. There is quite a difference between the potential seriousness of a broken leg in an office carpark and one beside a steep-banked river in Scotland in the middle of winter, for instance.

I hope you never need to use first aid; but if you do I hope you are equipped and trained appropriately. I’m sure your friends and family would hope the same.

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

The problem with ending up sat on one of those inviting rocks or in the eddy behind it is that you are unable to get out due to the sheer sided river banks. It is at this point that Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue, the fire services or another suitably skilled and equipped rescue team has to be called out. In the last of these incidents, a member of Ogwen Valley MR was seriously injured.

So why is it that so many people end up here? Well, I think there are several factors: if the river is high the takeout eddy is the middle of a fun and bouncy rapid; the large Penmachno bridge that some people presume they will see is actually virtually impossible to see from the river; some people do not walk down to see what the take out looks like from the river so do not recognise it when they get there; and occasionally there will be further circumstances such as a swim in the rapid above. Many guides to the river make note of warning makers (wooden posts at 200m, 100m and one at the take out eddy) – but over time these old posts, which were originally painted bright white, have become faded, dull and hard to spot.

There has been much discussion about what could be done to help reduce the number of incidents and often that discussion ends up focusing on the moral issues of whether something should be done at all. Here at FlowFree, we felt it was time that talk was turned into action. We respect that the river is a natural environment and paddlers should be responsible their own safety, and the safety of those they are paddling with – but we also could not sit back and watch more paddlers getting into trouble on our local river.

Rather than putting up new warning signs, we decided that the best course of action would be the make the existing warning markers brighter and easier to spot. Here’s some photos of our work:

We left the 200m and 100m writing on.

200 metres to go!

100 metres to go!

TAKE OUT!!

Please note that although we hope that this will help people to spot the markers more easily, it is should not replace the need for all groups to be familiar with where the take out is, especially on a river where it is so critical. If you plan to paddle this section of the Conwy, please take the time to walk down to the take out eddy (from Conwy Falls Cafe, walk over Penmachno Bridge and turn left onto a well-worn path then follow the path down to the river and then walk upstream of the yellow mark a bit to familiarise yourself with the view of the eddy from upstream). The section has two harder rapids, usually graded as Vs: immediately after the second of these, there is a grade III+ (fairly chunky in high water) which eases to grade III – stay alert and start looking for the markers and your take out eddy as early as possible in this rapid . If you are not familiar with the river, you may consider hiring one of our local river guides to ease the worry of missing the take out and let you relax and enjoy the river.

We hope this helps to prevent further accidents on this fantastic section of river.

An unfortunate sheep takes a closer look of a syphon under Penmachno Bridge