Sketchy Times on the Witte River

At the start of last season we had some good water in the Western Cape province of South Africa. After drying out for a few months during our hot and dry summer I hadn’t been in a boat for 7 month and 2 days, but our finest creek was running nicely so without further ado I jumped into one of my Fluid kayaks and headed down.

The day was chilly but lovely, with the sun peeking out – a rarity on this river. With just a few mates we cruised down the Witte River which drops almost 400 metres in the 7.5km section that is most commonly paddled. For the American readers used to imperial units this translates into continuous rapids in the class 3+ to 5 range. The rapids are all boulder gardens and there are a few mean undercuts and loads of siphons. But you can drink the water, the rapids are all good to go and the shuttle simple enough to do. A firm favourite for most experienced paddlers in the area. The level that day was fairly average, tending to low.

Being out of the water for a while I was a fraction rusty. I had kept fit bodyboarding and windsurfing during the summer months but perhaps paddling wise I was a bit out, having not surf kayaked too much. Generally things were going quite well, until we reached Pilkington Falls, a clean drop of about four metres with a tricky lead in. My mate messed up the entry and ended up going backwards down the left side, which is not good. He landed on the rock which hides in the base (it’s a must boof drop) and crushed the stern of his kayaking, breaking some outfitting. Luckily he wasn't injured. I went down the right side and completed the drop, almost getting caught in the small hole at the base.

Then the very next rapid is a rather unpleasant one, with two siphons to be aware of, and avoid and multiple drops. This short section is sometimes portaged by the more skittish paddlers. As I dropped down the first set of boulders my kayak got too much speed and the bow slotted to the left of a boulder, with all the water going right. The boulder to the left is undercut and while it not a problem it does tend to take one more left than is ideal. For a moment I was contemplating my next move and then the boat twisted around and I went backwards, the stern of the kayak getting pinned under another rock at the base of the small hole. I went half upside down and while holding my head above water in a roll position my paddle was knocking against a protruding boulder. This was bad, very bad. Swimming was not an option as there was a siphon directly behind me, followed by another one shortly after that. I could probably swim away from the first siphon but had no intention of swimming through the drops that followed. Luckily I got out rather quickly from my precarious position, but at the time it felt like an age. As I righted myself and stroked for the plume of water river left of the first siphon (the only route) I felt a knock into my boat as a mate of mine clattered into me, swinging my boat perpendicular to my chosen route – crap! Through a little luck I managed to stay upright, compose myself and then head through the rest of the rapid. My heart was beaten, my eyes wide. Jeesh that wasn’t fun I remember thinking. That rapid has always scared me, and I’ll always have a great deal of respect for it! This episode leaves no doubt in my mind that no matter how good you are, and no matter how many times you paddle that river, it will always be the boss.

Stuck under a boulder...

About 500 metres downstream another member of our group was pulled right through a siphon, boat and all. Luck really was on our side that day, and he came through unharmed. It was just one of those days where you’re very thankful that everything turned out ok... Be safe!

Video link to this moment:
http://vimeo.com/24266298

-          Adrian Tregoning
http://adrian.playak.com/