Entering and Exiting Eddies as a Team

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[@nathanpitney7111]

New boater here. Good advice. Thank you and keep them coming

[@seanfraser7738]

Great video Zach. A note I have, on the GC we had a 3 boat trip. We felt it made more sense for the 1st boat in to park near the downstream end of eddy, to set a limit /goal for the next 2 boats, and keep together if other trips arrived. Worked for us.

[@NewWaveRafting]

Well done Zach! We'll be discussing this exact content at our first staff meeting of the season 2022.

[@GearGarageTV]

Yep we are constantly training on this too

[@dgiroday1]

Great video! The example of the hi fiving before other boaters have made the eddy is what I call the "Premature Celebration". It is like in volleyball when someone hits the ball over the net and thinks they made a great play, the team celebrates, but the point hasn't been made. The other team then returns the ball and you lose the point, because of you and your team lost focus. I always wait until after the ball has hit the ground, before I celebrate. Having the boaters who got into the eddy first get ready to pull in any boaters who are having troubles is a part of containment and reduces the likelihood of someone drifting downriver alone. The last boaters are more likely to find themselves on the eddy line (wedge) aka. the danger zone. My measurement for my boat control is my ability to consistently catch eddies, often when I don't know what is ahead. The catching of the eddies is essentially like having brakes, without them, you just head downstream. Keep the drive alive!

[@danrichmond7611]

Really great video, Zach!

[@chrisutley6756]

I was/am a fan of leap frogging boats, as general best practices. (Southeastern class V trip leader). Numerous reasons that would take paragraphs.

[@GearGarageTV]

It certainly depends on everyone you’re boating with being solid

[@andrewwatkins6109]

Great vid

[@chrisavila2788]

Thanks Zach. Will you comment on what close spacing is in terms of feet or boat lengths? Also, how should that spacing change in relation to the difficulty of the run?

[@GearGarageTV]

The exact distance depends on a lot of factors. What I can tell you is that you want to be close enough that you can effectively rescue swimmers while minimizing the chances of collisions. I would personally choose to err on the side of being too close (and potentially colliding) so that you can provide a quick rescue of a swimmer.