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Sunday, January 30, 2011
costa rica kayak
Rafts in white water are very different vehicles than canoes or kayaks and have their own specific techniques to maneuver through whitewater obstacles.
Punching - Rafts carry great momentum, and on rivers hydraulics that are dodged by canoes and kayaks are often punched by rafts.
This involves the rafting crew paddling the raft to give it enough speed to push through the hydraulic without getting stopped.
High Siding - If a raft is caught in a hydraulic it will often quickly go sideways. In order to stop the raft flipping on its inside edge, the rafters can climb to the side of the raft furthest downstream, which will also be the side of the raft highest in the air leading to its name.
In this position the rafters may be able to use the draw stroke to pull the raft out of the hydraulic.
Dump Truck - Rafts are inherently stable crafts because of their size and low center of mass and often they will shed gear and passengers before they actually capsize.
In the industry if a raft dumps some or all of its passengers but remains upright, it is said to have dump trucked.
Left Over Right or Right over Left - Rafts almost always flip side over side. If the left tube rises over the right tube, the raft is said to have flipped left over right and vice versa.
Taco - If a raft is soft, or underinflated, it may taco, or reverse taco. Rafts are said to have tacoed if the middle of the raft buckles and the front of the raft touches or nearly touches the back of the raft. This often is a result of surfing in a hydraulic.
A reverse taco is when the nose, or stern of the raft is pulled down under water and buckles to touch the middle or back, or nose of the raft.
End over End - Occasionally rafts will flip end over end. This is usually after the raft has dump trucked to lighten the load, allowing the water to overcome the weight of the boat flipping it vertically before it lands upside down.
Rafts will usually taco and turn sideways, making an end-over-end flip a very rare flip in most rafts.
The guide will take a loop of webbing that has a carabiner on it and attach it to the perimeter line on the raft, Standing on top of the upside down raft they will hold the line and lean to the opposite side from where the flip line is attached, re-righting the raft.
This involves the rafter holding the webbing on the underside of the raft, and pushing their knees into the outer tube, and then lifting their body out of the water, leaning back to overturn the raft.
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posted by manuel antonio rafting : 10:03 PM
 
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