Might as well just stick it up. this is the unwieldy report. it's written from the memeroies of 3 people so there's slight discrepencies in it.
On the 31st of December I organized a trip down the Upper Caragh, I organized several rescue paddlers and 2 level 3 instructors. I had my trip organised according to the Code of practice but unfortunately the rescue paddlers took ages to eat their breakfast and load their boats. time slipped away and then one of my instructors pulled out. We were seriously short on cars and by the time I'd sorted out every person with a lift it was getting late. I didn't have time to find a second level 3 instructor. Looking at the rescue I had I decided to go ahead any way. At the river I spoke to tom and Dave Byrne. We looked at the water level and at the time and our rescue and this is what we had. The water was high, but there are only 3 Rapid sections, all of which are easily portaged. Discounting these rapid sections the River would Be with in the capabilities of the freshers. While Tom was a level 3 instructor, Dave and I am not, We are only level 3 trainees, However I respect Dave Byrne's ability and judgement on the water. He has spent the last 2 summers working for the ICU in France and lead trips on the Nile In Uganda.
He was in my eyes fit to lead the trip.
I knew it was getting late but we had 2 hours to run a river that should only take 45 min to 1 hour to run. we put on at three O'clock. If it did take longer to run than we had daylight we would be able to walk off quite easily, as the road follows the river and crosses it often. there is also a path that follows the river from the take out upstream. there are many fishing huts along the river, which the path goes by. so I knew that this river was very accessible. Also I ws unsure of how much paddling the freshers had done so far in the week and knew that this would e their last chance to get on the water as rescue would be hungover on the first and heading home on the second. They had all paid 100 euro and traveled 200 miles to go paddeling so I reckoned they deserved the option of getting on the water.
We ran the trip. tom took one group and Dave took the other.
Tom's group went first and reached the bottom ahead of dark, Dave's group went second. here is what each had to say about their trips.
The 31st December 2006 I led a group of beginners down the Upper Carragh in County Kerry. I had 8 beginners in my group and had the assistance of David Cox, trainee instructor.
Having approached the first few rapids cautiously but it became apparent at one of the rapids that the river was a bit hard for some of the weaker members of the group. From this point on I scouted all rapids and made a judgement call with regard the difficulty of the rapids.
At one particular rapid, which opens with a foot bridge, I noticed that the time was approaching 3 o'clock and running this rapid was going to put the group safety in jeopardy not only due to difficulty of the rapid but also to allow the group to finish the river in proper daylight. As a group we portaged this rapid.
As time neared 4.30pm, we approached the final rapid of the river; due to difficulty and time restraints the group walked the short remainder of the river.
All members of the group were happy with the river trip and were safe.
Tom Bannon
Upper Cara- Sunday, 31st December 2006
At the river I was asked to take charge of one group while Tom Bannon took charge
of the other. While evenly divided my group actually ended up consisting of
sixteen people. As far as I'm aware the other group had ten. In my group eight
of the people were more than capable of looking after themselves on the river
and would provide rescue for the weaker paddlers, meaning each of the weaker
paddlers would be looked after by a stronger paddler, a ratio of 1-1, with myself
looking out for the safety of the whole group in general.
The river got off to a late start due to the size of
the groups and the uneven landscape at the get in, which meant only one person
could get on at a time. Having run the river the day before, I was confident
that we would have enough time to complete the river before dark, but would
have to move quickly.
The river trip was slowed down further by unstoppable
incidents, that is, people swimming. The biggest factor in slowing us down was
Brian Cox injuring himself on the second major rapid. This is the nature of
the sport and nothing could be done to stop this. He capsized on a shallow part
of the rapid and hit his head on a rock. We had to keep the whole group in the
big eddy at the bottom until we cleaned up his cut and covered it up. Had it
not been for this incident we would have made it off before dark.
We had run the second last rapid when it started becoming
dark. There was a long walking track along the river left bank so I made everyone
get off the river and walk with their boats to the cars at the end. By this
time it was dark.
I strongly believe that this trip was run in a safe
and controlled way. At no point did anyone display signs of worry or fear for
their safety. I constantly asked the group members individually if the were
ok, everyone replied that they were happy and having fun. At no point did things
get out of control. I saw no problem with the safety of my group at any time.
The members of my group were aware of my qualifications and of
my abilities and were more than happy to paddle the river under my guidance.
I see no problem with Dave's decision to allow me to lead a group. Everything
was done safely.
I believe the biggest problem with this trip was the late start. As
far as I am aware the other group made it off before dark and my group were
only minutes away from completing the trip. The two groups should have been
at the river and on the water an hour or two earlier to give a bigger comfort
zone, time for any problems that might occur. This said, I knew the capabilities
of every member of my group and was confident that we would make it down in
time. Unfortunately this did not work out. Also the size of the groups was an
issue but it was the safest option with the resources that we had. Making more,
smaller groups would have put extra pressure on the rescue paddlers.
Kayaking is a dangerous sport by its nature, but the
rescue and I dealt with every incident that occurred on the river quickly, efficiently,
and safely.
Dave Byrne.
