Float Down

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Guest

Re: Float Down

Unread post by Guest »

Guest wrote:The Coast Guard discourages it only because it’s not a safe, controlled event. Just read the statistics from the event.
1) 3 lives saved
2) 168 life assisted
3) 2 arrested
4) 2 missing, located later

…………and the Float Down was slower than usual due to the south wind.

The event was not sanctioned, authorized or approved by any structured organization that could set safe guidelines and regulations that would include the Coast Guard guidance and required support staff.

25 law enforcement agencies with over 60 boats assisted throughout the day including the Canadian Coast Guard, Ontario Provincial Police, St. Clair County Sheriff Marine Division, Port Huron Police, Port Huron Fire Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, St. Clair fire and police departments, Burtchville Fire Department, Marysville police and fire departments, among others.

As it was very well written earlier:
Last but not least, cost and resources diverted. There is a HUGE cost to the Coast Guard, local law enforcement agencies, and homeland security. They are trying to maintain the safety of the participants, which is great. But in doing so, they are compromising the other duties they are normally tasked with, and subsequently, compromising security we might normally take for granted if the Float Down never happened in the first place. Never mind the potential risks of a boater elsewhere who needs assistance.

Without all the assistance from the agencies listed the statistics could have easily read 171 lives lost and 2 arrested 2 missing, located later.

With the information above I believe this should help answer your question.
On a practical level, how could it be stopped ? Unless laws are being broken, this will continue.
Mike

Re: Float Down

Unread post by Mike »

Just a lot of people having fun on a hot August day !
Rob

Re: Float Down

Unread post by Rob »

Thanks. These replies provide more clarity. The only reply here that I don't understand is the issue of drifting into shipping lanes. I understood that the river was closed to shipping during the float down. Am I mistake on this?
hausen
Posts: 803
Joined: July 2, 2010, 1:36 pm

Re: Float Down

Unread post by hausen »

Guest wrote:
I don't think there is a "River Rafting Association" anywhere who would/could sanction it but there isn't, so what is the problem?
The problem is that the very nature of the event is so ill advised that it is unsanctionable, and would be even if there was some kind of association to put its name on it.

The entrance to the St. Clair River is where outflow from three of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world squeezes itself into a narrow channel at the top of a long downhill run. This is not the Apple River in Wisconsin, this is not the Deschutes River in Oregon. Those are the types of river where a float down makes more sense and can be a lot of fun and much safer even if people are using alcohol. The St. Clair is a different beast; it's not the best place to be doing a float.
Guest

Re: Float Down

Unread post by Guest »

The Coast Guard discourages it only because it’s not a safe, controlled event. Just read the statistics from the event.
1) 3 lives saved
2) 168 life assisted
3) 2 arrested
4) 2 missing, located later

…………and the Float Down was slower than usual due to the south wind.

The event was not sanctioned, authorized or approved by any structured organization that could set safe guidelines and regulations that would include the Coast Guard guidance and required support staff.

25 law enforcement agencies with over 60 boats assisted throughout the day including the Canadian Coast Guard, Ontario Provincial Police, St. Clair County Sheriff Marine Division, Port Huron Police, Port Huron Fire Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, St. Clair fire and police departments, Burtchville Fire Department, Marysville police and fire departments, among others.

As it was very well written earlier:
Last but not least, cost and resources diverted. There is a HUGE cost to the Coast Guard, local law enforcement agencies, and homeland security. They are trying to maintain the safety of the participants, which is great. But in doing so, they are compromising the other duties they are normally tasked with, and subsequently, compromising security we might normally take for granted if the Float Down never happened in the first place. Never mind the potential risks of a boater elsewhere who needs assistance.

Without all the assistance from the agencies listed the statistics could have easily read 171 lives lost and 2 arrested 2 missing, located later.

With the information above I believe this should help answer your question.
Odysseus
Posts: 76
Joined: December 7, 2014, 8:11 am

Re: Float Down

Unread post by Odysseus »

Rob wrote:I'm curious as to why the float down is considered such a dangerous activity, why the coast guard discourages it. I'm sure alcohol is involved in most of the mishaps, but is there some inherent danger? I'm almost afraid to ask this, but is it just pure idiocy and lunacy at play here?
From an observers point of view, there are several factors at play whicj I'll try to share and I'm sure I'm not covering all of them nor are they in a specific order:

1. Alcohol Abuse. You mentioned this and it is a real factor for a lot of the rescues from what I've heard. I go to Lighthouse Beach every year to watch the spectacle and this is the first year I've not seen someone actually laying on the beach passed out or worse.

2. The lack of people using personal flotation devices. So many people relying on their "vessel" alone as their only means of flotation.

3. The stability of their vessel part one. There are a lot of home made flotation "vessels" that might be great in a swimming pool or gentle inland lake, but not so great in the current under the bridge.

4. The stability of their vessel part two. Lots of people use flotation devices that are intended for their home pool, or for a tent (air mattresses for example) and these are hard to control in currents under the bridge or when there is wind.

5. Last but not least, cost and resources diverted. There is a HUGE cost to the Coast Guard, local law enforcement agencies, and homeland security. They are trying to maintain the safety of the participants, which is great. But in doing so, they are compromising the other duties they are normally tasked with, and subsequently, compromising security we might normally take for granted if the Float Down never happened in the first place. Nevermind the potential risks of a boater elsewhere who needs assistance.

That in a nutshell would be the big factors why the agencies consider it dangerous.
Guest

Re: Float Down

Unread post by Guest »

I was wondering what would make an "un-sanctioned" event into a "sanctioned" one?

This wording seems to be used over and over by the Coast Guard and others, but why?

I don't think there is a "River Rafting Association" anywhere who would/could sanction it but there isn't, so what is the problem?

Just let it be.
Pete in Holland MI

Re: Float Down

Unread post by Pete in Holland MI »

1) You can drift into the shipping lanes with no directional control to your craft.

2) You are in a fast moving river that is upwards of 3/4 mile wide, and can be far from shore.

3) It's not an organized event, thus no real support vessels in the area, nor any "roped off" areas that other boaters will not be in, nor restrictions to your craft or requirements for life jackets.

4) You can drift over the border.

5) And yes, alcohol, which impairs judgment when in trouble.

These are just a few......
Rob

Float Down

Unread post by Rob »

I'm curious as to why the float down is considered such a dangerous activity, why the coast guard discourages it. I'm sure alcohol is involved in most of the mishaps, but is there some inherent danger? I'm almost afraid to ask this, but is it just pure idiocy and lunacy at play here?
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