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1 dead in kayak accident in Geneva
Posted: 25 Apr 2014, 16:08
by Ghurkin
Sorry to report this but we need reminding that we have to be careful on the water.
Aurora Beacon-News April 19, 2014 8:48PM
A man died in a kayak accident Saturday on the Fox River in Geneva.
Geneva Fire Lt. Ted Sciaky said a kayak carrying two young men got too close to the dam near Route 38 and Water Street, and their kayak turned sideways, and the rushing water then pushed it over the dam, plunging its occupants into the river.
Sciaky said one man was ejected from the kayak and the other was stuck in the kayak.
With the help of two bystanders, one of the victims was pulled out of the Fox River and taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva good condition.
“The second victim, because of his entanglement with the kayak and the hydraulic boil of the dam, was unable to get free,” Sciaky said.
Crews recovered the young man’s body from the Fox River at about 6 p.m. Saturday.
In all, six people had been traveling down the Fox River during the kayak trip, Sciaky said.
He said he believed the young men were about 25 years old and were visiting from downstate Bloomington.
Re: 1 dead in kayak accident in Geneva
Posted: 25 Apr 2014, 19:27
by Justo
Yeah if you search on "low head dam' in Youtube there's a massive number of videos on how dangerous the rolling boil after a dam spillover is. There's a lot of references to them as a "drowning machine".
I never knew how bad those things were until I came across some discussion about them online a while ago. I would guess that even the space behind a fallen tree in a river might hold similar (albeit lesser) properties.
Re: 1 dead in kayak accident in Geneva
Posted: 25 Apr 2014, 19:48
by MickS
I got to say that today i got very close to being run down by a boat, dont know if the d*ck steering the boat did not see me or simply did not give a f*ck, but he went flying passed me not more then 5m apart. I had seen him heading straight for me, and i just froze, couldn't even scream, was so scared
and he just slightly steered away but not by much.
From what i could see, looked like an old fart with his wife heading out. With the flag (bright orange) and me sitting in PA14, bloody hard not to see, so i assume the f*cker just did not care!
Re: 1 dead in kayak accident in Geneva
Posted: 25 Apr 2014, 21:23
by Jenko
At Mallacoota I was talking to a man & his wife (in their late 40s to early 50s) who said they were paddling some river (forget where) when the flood gate opened and both were tipped off the kayak (double)....I think from memory the husband remounted but the wife was stuck, luckily a guy on shore (apparently the local cop) seen it and rang SES who arrived in no time. They couldn't get the wife into the boat as her life jacket was caught on a submerged branch and the water was rising, they ended up cutting the life jacket off and they still couldn't get her in as she was now suffering from hypothermia and couldn't help to get in the boat, so they held onto her and dragged her to shore. She is very lucky to be alive.
Re: 1 dead in kayak accident in Geneva
Posted: 25 Apr 2014, 22:22
by laneends
You never know when the unexpected freakish accidents can happen and effective help wont always be right there.
As in MickS's case if they had run him over, would they notice, and even if they did an old bloke and his missus are probably not capable of hauling him to safety..
Tinnies with there nose's up in the air scare me
Re: 1 dead in kayak accident in Geneva
Posted: 03 May 2014, 07:44
by l2andom
Sounds like it was in Illinois. The fox river there has some pretty nasty sections. I used to fish it quite often when I was younger and lived next to it great fishing, but I don't think I would take a kayak anywhere near the dams.
Re: 1 dead in kayak accident in Geneva
Posted: 03 May 2014, 10:30
by Matt.A
laneends wrote:You never know when the unexpected freakish accidents can happen and effective help wont always be right there.
As in MickS's case if they had run him over, would they notice, and even if they did an old bloke and his missus are probably not capable of hauling him to safety..
Tinnies with there nose's up in the air scare me
Dont worry mate, it's only the underpowered ones who sit up in the air so no damage done if they do nudge you by accident at 5km/h
Sad to hear about the yakker
Accidents happen so fast and there's not much you can do, just gotta be as safe as you can be out there.