Читать книгу Carolina Whitewater. A Paddler's Guide to the Western Carolinas онлайн

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a. Is it much greater in difficulty than anything I’ve attempted before?

b. If I try it and don’t make it will I place others in a difficult or dangerous situation as they try to rescue me or my boat?

If the answer to either one is yes, don’t try it. Experienced paddlers will never accuse you of being “chicken” when you back off, but they will respect your good judgment.

4. Be adequately equipped. Have an extra paddle in the canoe, if not an extra one for each paddler. Have bow and stern lines 8–15 feet long tied securely to the ends of the craft.

Never tie the ends of these lines in the boat. At the same time, be sure that no lines are positioned so that they might entangle the canoeist’s feet. The author observed a canoe swamp in Nantahala Falls, which in itself was certainly neither unusual nor very dangerous. But the paddler came in for what was a terrifying moment when he came up wearing his bailer line around his neck—with the other end still tied to the boat. He simply had far too much line tied to his bailer.