Trip Report: Trip Coordinator Day on the Clackamas
Every time I coordinate something, I learn a thing or two. This day was intended as an orientation for any club member who might coordinate a trip sometime and wants to find out more about how we do it. It turned out better than I expected.
I was a little worried that we wouldn't have any takers, even with the pizza bribe, but we ended up with 11 total, which was just one shy of my limit. Not all TC's limit the numbers for their trips but I do, because I despise the chaos and disconnection of oversized groups, and when you're the TC you get to do it your way.
The hardest part of coordinating for me is keeping track of who is in and who is out. I screwed up this time and left Dave out of the final meet information email. I've decided that for the NEXT trip I will start with a list on paper and just add and cross out names on that same piece of paper the whole time.
Only 3 people responded to the initial post. Then signups trickled in. Late in the week when I posted "this trip is a go" I got a few more. Will posted to the board saying "you all should know this stuff" and that got me a maybe that later dropped out. Then I lost track and sent the trip details to everybody but Dave (sorry). Another maybe also dropped out to attend Erin's birthday paddle, and a few more joined at the very last minute, leaving us with the perfect final count.
What a great crew it was! I felt more comfortable than usual because I could tell that everyone present had the bandwidth to not just survive the river, but to also pay attention to the whole group and make the effort to stick together. I'd been too busy that morning to remember to check the gauge but several others did, and the flow was around 2,300cfs at Three Lynx on this day, March 16.
Everybody was early to the meetup spots. This is not normal; there's usually a lagger. I attribute our promptness to the fact that all of these people have the experience to consider maybe coordinating a trip someday. They know how valuable it is to have the whole group there in person and not be hunting for someone when you should be loading up and going. Rookies and newbies take note: being early sets you up for a good day!
We used Memaloose for our takeout, and had two launch points and a circle and discussion at each. The more aggressive boaters needed a couple of big rapids to put a smile on their faces, so they launched at Big Eddy. At that launch we all circled up and discussed the "Denny talk" which was the #1 lesson for the day. Developed by one of our most veteran TC's, the "Denny talk" is a combo of the required-by-insurance Safety Plan, and a statement of Personal Responsibility that is at the core of LCCC philosophy.
Personal Responsibility and Safety Plan Points
You are responsible for your own safety. Other participants are not.
If you get into trouble other participants may choose to help if we can stay within our personal risk tolerance, but it is not our responsibility to help.
Line suggestions are just suggestions -- it is always paddler's choice. There may be safer lines. If you choose to follow someone, that is your choice.
Safety plan. The generic plan is get to a road, get to phone, call 911, tell them incident location, describe problem, but the actual plan may vary with trip location and other details.
Communications device survey. Find out who has a Spot or inReach GPS signaling device.
Review likely routes to the road and/or mobile phone reception.
There are a lot of different styles of river running, ranging from bomb-down-the-river to catch-every-eddy-surf-every-wave. In our group we had both styles, which is a risk factor for getting split up. Often some surfer would drop off the back of the pack, and the group would get strung out a bit before everyone noticed and stopped. This accordion action is normal. Keeping a group together only happens when the boaters in the front (usually the bomb-down-the-river folks) NOTICE that the back of the pack isn't coming, and willingly stop.
Keeping groups together is one of the hardest tasks of a TC, and larger groups increase the challenge. IMO the best way to assure it is to designate the right person to be lead boat. A good lead prevents trouble by showing folks a reasonable line while also getting them to stop when needed to wait for the slowpokes. The best lead paddlers will take conservative lines instead of confusing folks by catching weird eddies or surfing. Ideally they'll hit the big eddies and stop the whole crew when the back of the pack is too far behind. Paddlers who want to surf and play will be unwilling to take on this role. The lead boat has to be someone with river knowledge and boating skills, but who is NOT going to "play" unpredictably.
Often LCCC groups go with no lead boat because we all want to play, but when we have novice paddlers along, I think we should reconsider. The TC does not have to lead OR sweep, they only need to recruit folks to fill these roles.
At the second launch spot (below Toiletbowl) we got out for a stretch break and circled up for another discussion, this time about signaling, and especially whistles. Everyone had things to contribute but our basic consensus was that we don't use whistles except when they are really needed. For example, a single blast is supposed to be a "heads up" but some people blow it even when heads are already up. If someone is swimming and folks are already rescuing, there is no need to blow it. But if someone is pinned in a dicey spot, blow your whistle hard and persistently to recruit help.
Besides a Safety Plan, the other thing that is absolutely required is having a designated sweep boat. On this trip Will volunteered to sweep, then had a hard time staying in the back because David kept catching waves. At our second meeting we talked and David and Will agreed to Co-Sweep. This strategy is unique to the LCCC, as far as I know, and it is basically that TWO people are jointly covering the back of the pack--and each other. This makes us all feel better as being the last boat is one of the riskier positions in the pack because nobody is behind you to swoop in for the save.
It was a lovely day with a fluffy water level and we all enjoyed the paddle down to Memaloose. The log at Nemesis was so far under water that you couldn't see it, but we talked about how if someone might swim above the log you should probably take them down the bony far right sneak.
We had pizza on the club at the Hitching Post in Estacada which turns out to be a great group meeting spot. What I learned from this mission: we have a bunch of great folks with the right skills and knowledge to coordinate a club trip whenever they get a round tuit.
