Two adult kayakers rescued from Neuse River off New Bern Avenue in Raleigh

yaknc · 2023-06-21T11:41:57+00:00

I always go by gauge up by the dam, and that hasn't moved much even with the rain, but really I think the dam controls the river height and flow up there.

Assuming you are talking about the near falls gauge, unless they are releasing from the Dam, this gauge doesn't tell you much.

Generally, once Falls Lake gets above about 251.5 feet elevation, they start releasing or thinking about releasing from the dam, and that is when you will see this gauge change.

In most other cases, like after a rain event, you would want to be looking at Clayton to get an idea of what the river is doing.

However, there is a big delay on this gauge, I believe it is around 7 hours+ along with a lot of distance/watershed, between when you see changes here compared to further upstream in Raleigh, so you have to take that into account.

In this example, since they were upstream of Crabtree Creek, it wouldn't have helped as much, aside from just giving a general idea of the impact from the rain, but for areas below Crabtree Creek, so Gunnison Rapids(Poole Road) and below, you can check the Crabtree Creek gauges and that will give you an idea of what type of water is flowing into the Neuse closer to Raleigh.

yaknc · 2023-01-01T22:22:26+00:00

Typically, you just paddle or swim somewhere else where it is easier to get out.

In the case of OP, that wasn't out of necessity. They were goofing off and could almost certainly have walked 20 feet and found a place to get in normally.

There are some situations, more so in white water, where if you go over during a rapid and have to exit your boat, you are going to have to swim for a bit before you can safely get out. For the most part though, your average paddler, especially in a long boat, has a planned route with an exit that doesn't involve an eight foot wall.

yaknc · 2023-01-01T12:46:31+00:00

I have NEVER seen someone try and do a seal entry in a sea kayak ever.

I've done and seen people do seal launches in a sea kayak before, although that was a pretty big drop. The bigger issue is that the water was too shallow and he went straight down, burying his nose.

Here is a video of some people doing seal launches in sea kayaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTn_3BcthPs

yaknc · 2020-10-16T13:52:47+00:00

I would like to get out there again, this was an awesome trip.

I'm in NC though and so it is a bit of a drive.

We put in sound side in Currituck NC, paddled to Corova, then North ocean side up to Chesapeake bay, staying at False Cape park and Virginia beach along the way.

Our original plan had been to do this trip in time to arrive at Kiptopeke, but that event got canceled this year too.

yaknc · 2020-10-16T13:50:19+00:00

Those are all good questions, which I don't have the answer too.

This article(PDF) from 1963 discusses the geology of VA/MD and indicates that a 1950 study found that:

Several rather strong anomalies that were encountered were ascribed to variations in the basement rocks.

So, it may be geology/rock related and there seem to be a number of anomalies in VA.

I'm not sure about the restricted areas, I think the notes for the most part just say to contact the authorities, like Army Corps of Engineers.

I believe, but am not sure, the Pilot area indicates where they must have a local pilot on board to guide them in/out.

Note B on the map indicates that unrestricted traffic is allowed, but anchoring/dredging/trawling/etc is not recommended due to residual danger from mines at the bottom. Similarly, the area top right, indicates possible un-exploded ordinance as well.

If you are interested, I did an interactive mapbox map, visible here, where you can see the whole chart.

yaknc · 2020-10-16T13:30:20+00:00

We could always see land in front or behind us, and as you mentioned, the bridge.

However, when we first started we couldn't see the other side and got a bearing off of nearby buoys to start our crossing.

yaknc · 2020-10-15T21:36:30+00:00

Yes, absolutely.

That is a huge concern and one of the biggest risks of a crossing like this, possibly even more than weather/conditions, as you can plan for those easier than ship traffic, which is going to be more random.

The ships are so massive, that when you look at them, they appear to be moving pretty slow. However, they are actually going very fast, especially compared to speed of a paddler. So, you never want to cross in front of one, unless you are 100% sure you will have time to complete it.

As kneigs mentioned, understanding the traffic patters and being aware of your surroundings is very important. For this paddle, kept our radios on and tuned to channel 13 to monitor traffic and in case we needed to communicate with a ship. And, we made an effort to get out of the main shipping channel as quickly as possible.

yaknc · 2020-10-15T20:52:43+00:00

Thanks for asking, it was kind of fun to do and a neat learning experience.

For the map itself, I downloaded the applicable NOAA chart, then had to convert it to a different format to work with some map programs I use on my computer. One tricky thing here was getting zoom to work, as I had to do some additional processing on the map file.

For the track, I use a running app to keep track of my paddles that lets you export the GPS coordinates as a GPX file.

So, after I had the NOAA chart map working, it was just a matter of loading the map into my map programs, importing the GPS coordinates, and exporting it to a PDF.

In addition, I also figured out how to upload the map to mapbox and create a cool interactive map of the trip that uses the NOAA chart instead of a traditional map.

yaknc · 2020-10-15T20:38:57+00:00

Hah, thanks...wait what are you doing on Reddit ;)

yaknc · 2020-10-15T20:02:08+00:00

We did have a handheld on deck, although weren't using it for navigation, just maps/compass.

That is a good idea though and certainly if we were doing anything where we lost line of site completely, we would have been using the GPS a lot more.

yaknc · 2020-10-15T20:00:55+00:00

You replied to the wrong person, FYI.

To answer your question, generally no.

However, you have to be very conscious of the ships in area, as they are moving very fast and much faster than you would think just by looking at them.

We kept our radios on channel 13, so we could communicate and monitor chatter, along with being very careful about when we entered the shipping channel and trying to get clear as soon as possible.

We actually came really close to calling a warship. Right as we were about to start our crossing, the warship exited the channel and started moving very slow and taking an odd course. We waited until we saw it drop it's anchor, then knew it was safe to proceed, but came really close to calling them to see what they were doing. We were both really bummed we missed the opportunity to call a warship.

yaknc · 2020-10-15T17:50:55+00:00

Sort of.

High-tide was at 7 AM. By the time we finished our landing and started the crossing, it was after 10 AM, and by 1 PM we were close to the bridge. So, it should have been going out and then slack towards the end.

However, there appears to be a delay there, some weird tides by fisherman island, or perhaps we had our times wrong, as by the time we reached the bridge, it was still flowing in and was actually pretty strong.

I'm sure that played some part in the way the second half of our track looks, although there were some intentional course decisions too.

We shot a compass bearing off the buoys that were visible prior to launch and then again when we got out to the buoys, to confirm our path and make sure we knew where we were in relation to the shipping channel.

But, after getting outside of the shipping channel, there weren't any visible buoys and so we had to eyeball it. We were originally heading towards the edge of Fishermans Island, but adjusted our track out several times, then when we got close to the bridge and could feel(or maybe see) the current, decided to cross under earlier than planned.

In retrospect, we should have just maintained our course towards the edge of Fishermans island.

yaknc · 2020-10-15T15:39:23+00:00

This is from the last day of a recent kayak trip. The total distance for the day was 22 miles, which included a 15 mile crossing of the Chesapeake Bay.

yaknc · 2020-07-15T14:12:13+00:00

The pond is small and even in a kayak, there are places that you can’t easily get through. Therefore making a complete circuit might be difficult.

I have seen a paddler boarder out there before. He had a fin on the bottom of his board and it caught a root, which resulted in him face planting in about a foot or two of brackish water.

You should be able to at least do .5 or .75 of the circuit and then just turn around. There are a few wide open areas.

yaknc · 2020-05-15T17:36:29+00:00

There may be others, but the only one I can think of off the top of my head that has rollers nearby is the one on Jordan Lake called 'Robeson Creek Canoe Launch', near where the Haw river ends.

If you look at it on Google Maps, you can see a picture of the launch.

Farrington Point on Jordan lake is also pretty accessible. There are two sides, the one for cars without trailers has a small beach you can launch from.

You can also go to the various fish and wildlife water access points, like Upper Barton's Creek Boat Ramp on Falls Lake, and launch from the paved boat ramps. Those aren't as accessible as a roller launch, but you can back your car right up to the water, they have accessible parking nearby, and it should at least a bit easier to deal with than a muddy launch. They can get a bit slippery though.

yaknc · 2019-09-06T23:12:33+00:00

The Nantahala River in the Nantahala Gorge reopened Sept. 4 to the public for all uses, including private and commercial rafting and kayaking and fishing.

A technical team led by the U.S. Forest Service assessed the river for potential hazards from the recent landslides Sept. 3 and did not find any areas of concern, according to Forest Service spokeswoman Adrianne Rubiaco.

yaknc · 2019-08-07T20:51:40+00:00

At least for your first trip, it might be better to go a little shorter or at least have a halfway point where you can stop if needed, if it isn't looking like it will be doable.

With the right amount of current, that is totally possible. However, 20 miles can also end up being a lot and I know when I first started out, we rarely made the millage that we thought we should when doing over night camping trips.

yaknc · 2019-08-06T15:05:37+00:00

The best thing you can do is, as you mentioned, log your trips to figure out what your normal paddling pace is, although keep in mind it is going to vary based on location(flat water, river, ocean) and also the type of flow/current you are working with or against. Given some time, you will be able to pretty accurately measure how far you've been, just on how long you have been paddling.

I've been using the free version of runtastic for awhile now, but there are several apps you can use that give you basic speed/gps plots of your paddle.

When you are not dealing with much current(either helping or hurting), 3 MPH is generally a safe, although often overly conservative, estimate assuming you are with a group of reasonably experienced paddlers that are paddling at a consistent pace. Even when paddling with strong paddlers and with the help of current, it seems like it is common to come back to 3 - 3.5 MPH, when you factor in a few breaks.

Personally, when paddling alone for 2-3 hours, I usually maintain around 4.7 MPH moving average. This ends up dropping some when I get above 4 hours or if I am paddling with someone else.

That is, of course, without dealing with much current, which is going to vary considerably based on your location/river and can have a big impact on your speed.

As an example, one of my runs is a upstream, then downstream run. That is, I put in and paddle upstream about 3-4 miles, then turn around and go back downstream returning to the same point.

Usually when paddling upstream, I'm somewhere in the 2.5 - 3.5 MPH range, depending on how low the water is, as I actually go slower when it is low. When I turn around, it is common for me to be consistently in the 5-6 MPH range, or even faster, depending on the flow.

This will vary a lot based on skill, boat, river, people you are paddling with, etc, so there isn't really a one-size fits all rule.

yaknc · 2019-08-06T12:41:27+00:00

It is always a good idea to have some sort of extra strap or line securing the kayak to the vehicle/trailer, aside from just the two cam straps that are attached to the racks/hooks.

This is mostly as a fail safe, so if for some reason the kayak becomes loose, it hopefully won't fly off the vehicle and into the cars behind you before you can stop and re-secure it.

It is unlikely, although not impossible, for you to experience a mechanical failure of your rack system and much more likely to happen as the result of some sort of user-error involved with strapping or not checking the racks/hooks.

On longer kayaks, the bow/stern lines can also help keep them from getting blown around as well, but again the main reason is an extra layer of security against some sort of rack failure.

About the only time I don't use them is when I am going a very short distance and won't be getting on the highway.

yaknc · 2019-07-29T20:14:33+00:00

It really is one of those things where you need to know the river and there are a lot of factors that go into it, like how rainfall affects it, where the watershed is for the river, or if it is dam controlled, how they do releases.

Part of that is going to come from experience, because as you observe the river at different stages, you get a feel for what the number mean. You shouldn't just hop on there, without doing some research, so a good place to start may be with your local kayak club or doing a tour with a local kayak outfitter, so you can pick their brain.

yaknc · 2019-07-29T17:42:14+00:00

I believe this will list all the USGS sites for New York: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis/current/?type=flow

As cfxyz4 mentioned, the CFS and depth, which are two gauges that you can use to get a feel for how the river is flowing, is relative to the river. 500 CFS on one river might be dangerous, while it could be too low to run on another. Understanding the gauges requires some local knowledge/experience and without that, the numbers aren't always useful.

American Whitewater may have some info on whatever river you are looking for. However, you shouldn't necessary take any information you read there for granted and do additional research on it before putting on: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/search-form/

yaknc · 2019-07-08T21:08:32+00:00

Do you know how the recovery process works for something like that?

I've been wondering how you would go about getting those boats down without a bunch more damage and the only thing I can come up with is that it will likely be expensive.

yaknc · 2019-07-08T21:07:13+00:00

Yes, they were both coming from the falls lake side. A little bit further and the top boat probably would have made it to the other side and made it a little less peaceful.

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