CHATTOOGA 5.5’ CLUTCH

[@josiatokirina1788]

Wow, definitely very high water. Expert level! Back in 1993, just before the blizzard of the century, I paddled section IV at 4.5 ft in my whitewater canoe. My friend and I are from Michigan, and were able to join up with two local kayakers, one Mike was an expert and ran this section many times, and the other Mike said he was an experienced kayaker and he was celebrating his new business and his 40th birthday by taking the day off to paddle a new river. Unfortunately, birthday Mike over estimated his skill level and kept flipping almost every time he tried to eddy out, and could not roll his kayak. We all recommended he take out at the midway point, because Five Falls would be too challenging for him. He said that he would portage and wanted to see the rest of the river. When we got to Entrance rapids, we leaped frogged from eddy to eddy so Mike could stay safe and be able to portage. Unfortunately, Mike panicked and instead of following us down the right side and eddy hop, he blew down the middle all the way to the first big drop, and too far left to eddy he flipped and went over the falls. We all chased after him as fast as we could and caught up to him in the big pool below still upside down. His boat was shaking like he was trying to get out of his spray skirt to bail, and two of us tried to help him right himself before he floated into the next rapid Cork Screw. He did not help us and did not bail and washed through the rapid still upside down. We all did our best to follow him to help rescue. 15 minutes later we found his kayak upright in an eddy below the last waterfall, his spray skirt still attached with the pull strap tucked under the skirt rim. He was lying another ten feet away, blue and unresponsive. I gave him CPR for ten straight minutes, but Riga mortise had already set in. His arms and hands were frozen in a kayaking position. Sadly, since I had a 13ft canoe, it was up to me to take him down river. I deflated the front airbag and we placed Mike's body in front with is legs straddling my knees. It was a very somber paddle out. After the police report and the doctors autopsy, they said that he dry drowned. Meaning his throat was closed up tight. Doc said that panic and extreme fear can do that. Also that is why, even with only 15 minutes till we got to him and the cold water, CPR failed. To finish off this emotional experience, My friend and I were caught in the blizzard the following day. We were lucky, because we did not camp out that night, but found a small motel to recoup. I guess I needed to share this experience. Thanks for listening!

[@boroblueyes]

40 years ago we made the mistake of running this in canoes at 5'. We started with 11 canoes and finished with 8. It was very early in my whitewater life and it was terrifying.

[@tonyhowes669]

It looks like most of the time there is a clean easy line... where dane isn't. Looks like fun. Also looks like if you are a good whitewater canoer you could get down too

[@angrybeavers1775]

Would love to see you down cain creek/north chick in the early spring next year!!!

[@michaelburroughs7494]

Only ran the Chatooga 4 times back in the 80s. Section 4 is definitely an experts only run.

[@mcpheonixx]

I learned how to paddle on that river lol I had the advantage of living thirty minutes away over in Sautee. Any time we got rain I'd be hauling ass to Clayton. As a general rule we'd never run the Chatooga that high. Other places that were normally too boney were running nicely that we'd much rather run.

[@briandentz1707]

lol thumbnail of Dane out of the kayak seemingly in the water is definitely clickbait.

[@danejacksonkayak]

Haha I didn’t even think about that

[@christiantscott]

@@danejacksonkayak dude I thought he swam for sure

[@iandingwall8196]

water way above my capability, but what I like about Dane is the safety of others is right at the top of his mind. See around 60 seconds into the video

[@RappRipper22]

Long Live Chatooga

[@ddMcDd-yl4td]

When you're scouting, can you tell a keeper hole just by looking at it?

[@lineofbestfit7551]

Look at the edges of the hole. If they are both upstream of the middle of the hole and there is not a seam going through then there is a chance that it will want to keep you.

[@earth-2-ethan]

Yep, with a trained eye you can assess how 99% of the river will effect your kayak.

[@EJ-ht9oh]

Spending so much time in the air : are you riding a kayak or a plane ?🤪

[@samuelWx]

Hurricane Helene, git sum!!

[@CrefloMack]

So what happens if you lose your paddle?

[@danejacksonkayak]

Where the problem was with the branches it just wouldn’t be ideal. If you lost your paddle you may be able to have someone throw you one, but the main problem was afterwards the tree sticking out from shore.

[@pedroromano73esporte]

👏👏👏👏👏📽️💯💯💯💯💯

[@MichaelChanslor]

00:50 - Bull Sluice - Dang!!!!

[@Chompchompyerded]

First!