Friday Morning, Mike McKay and I decided to go for a bit of paddling at Blakeney Rapids in Amonte, ON. We got there to find the levels really high, with alot of sticky mean looking holes everywhere and it was -15 celsius..We decided to not get too wet and play in some little side channels.. We walked upstream to check out a drop and decided not to run it. I put in right above a class III rapid and noticed the current led into a nice big undercut rock on the right..Told myself I should put in below it but then somehow decided "Hey..I'll still put in here! I'll just paddle away from the undercut.!" Well I missed my seal launch/ferry attempt and plugged the bow of the Villain right in the undercut rock. After a bit of a struggle, I managed to squeeze myself out and went for a gnarly little swim. Lost my paddle and my boat stayed there overnight. Mike was already downstream at the time and just saw me swimming wondering what was going on. The boat was under an overhanging cliff and access was very limited and rappelling gear was needed to get to it.
I called a bunch of fellow paddlers that night and we headed there for noon on Saturday.
It took us about 20 carabiners, 10 pulleys, 400 feet of rope, rappelling gear, 16 guys and 5 hours to get the boat out. Most intense rope work we've ever seen on the river.. Once the boat was out, we noticed how bent it was..We also noticed that if it wasnt for the Jackson Kayak crosslink plastic's strength and Bulkhead system, Both my legs and ankles wouldve broken right away and I most likely wouldve stayed trapped in the boat and died. The plastic held for almost 10 hours before it bent around the Bulkhead. We had attached the tow ropes to the grab loop handles to pull the boat out and they witheld an estimated pressure of over 7000 pounds and didnt move an inch. I will be honest here and say that if it would've been any other creek boat on the market with regular foot peg system, Im pretty sure I would'nt be here today to tell the story. I sent an appreciation letter to the Jackson Kayak guys and they posted it on the front page.. Pardon my frenchyness and hangover from the celebration mistakes!
Here it is:
Villain Bulkhead Test = Success!!
Although I am glad to have come out with only a few scratches and bruises, I am bummed out to have scrapped a relatively brand new 1200$ kayak and lost my paddle. I worked real hard for a few months and saved every penny to buy this beast and im out without a boat right before creeking season starts here in Ontario and Quebec.. It wont be anytime soon that I will be able to buy another one but one thing is for sure.. It will most certainly be a Jackson Kayak! Its a hard learned lesson and some of the things I learned this weekend are : Always carry a whistle and a knife on your PFD, Follow your first instinct, Analyze your surroundings and don't care about what other paddlers might think if you walk a rapid.
Here are some pictures :
The boat pinned in the undercut
Paul in the water setting up some pulleys
CJ Rappelling down the cliff to access the boat
Me looking down at CJ
About to go for the final pull
Its out!!!
Its scrap :(
Ouch!!
Smiling on the outside.. crying on the inside! haha
