Richmond, VA river accidents

[UCanoe_2]

12 paddlers were involved in an accident on the James River on Memorial Day. They were swept over a low head dam in high water. 10 of the paddlers were rescued. One woman's body was recovered on Wednesday, but a second woman has not been found.

The river gauge was at 9 feet, or over 20,000 CFS, on Memorial Day. At that level, Richmond requires river runners to have PFDs and permits.

PHOTOS: What happened at the river in Richmond on Memorial Day?

The search continues for two women who went missing on the James River after a group of 12 people went over Bosher’s Dam on flotation devices on Memorial Day. The ten other people in the grou…

www.wric.com

Police recover remains of one woman, one still missing after Memorial Day accident at Bosher’s Dam on James River

A day spent enjoying the outdoors quickly turned into a nightmare on Memorial Day after a group 12 of people on the James River ended up needing to be rescued when they went over a Richmond dam. Tw…

www.wric.com

In a second Memorial Day incident several miles downstream, two stranded tubers were rescued by a paddleboarder.

‘I thought I was going to drown’: Richmond couple rescued from James River after tube capsizes

A Richmond couple is thanking God for their lives after a day on the water celebrating Memorial Day turned into a near-death experience Monday afternoon.

www.wric.com

 

[Erica]

What is a "float?" The women were on floats, per article.

 

[UCanoe_2]

Journalists don't always understand our sport, Erica. The first report I read referred to the victims as "kayakers." If you look closely at the aerial photo of the dam, there appear to be a kayak, a paddleboard, and an inner-tube-like object trapped in the backwash. I think the last of these is a "float." Looks to me like something that belongs in a kiddie pool and not on a large river.

 

[pblanc]

Per Google maps it is about 4 miles from Robious Landing, where the women planned to take out, to Bosher Dam. It is kind of hard to imagine that the pair was unable to get to shore within 4 river miles assuming they recognized they had passed the landing and knew the dam was there.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

20,000+ cfs is monster water, more than the average release of the Colorado River into the Grand Canyon. The water was likely in the trees, possibly making getting to shore difficult with a danger of tree or branch entrapment drowning. Novices like tubers have no idea of dangers of such powerful waters or low head dams.

 

[alsg]

Sounds like the two tubers were sharing one tube. They would have little or no chance of steering to shore in that kind of flow and probably didn't see the dam until it was way too late. I'm guessing the paddleboarders in the group were not experienced, either. Sad. Surprised this was not covered by the Paddle Prattle board, which usually covers paddling accidents in the MD/VA area.

Paddle Prattle

 

[awdriven]

What is a "float?" The women were on floats, per article.

"Float" is just mid-atlantic vernacular for a river outing where you're tubing or paddling. It might be used other places too. I was never a fan of the term because it sounds kind of passive and paddling isn't passive!