Is Rockport all that safe??? Not Today!!!

[ScottH]

Sometime before the summer Rockport season, unauthorized alterations were made to the upper Rockport ledge. They have been pretty fun but have been deteriorating all summer. Up until today, the quality of the feature was the only thing that was dwindling. But today, Rockport was handing it out!

Today I watched at least a dozen different kayakers (many of them seasoned Rockport regulars) swim out of both the ender/cartwheel hole AND the river left wave/hole. Every recreational tuber (dozens) that got near the river left hole got sucked in, surfed, flipped and some got re-circulated. Several small children on tubs got surfed and then re-circulated because of their lifejackets. Some required minor rescue. Many cried.

Not sure what has moved/changed, maybe someone has been making more changes recently, but would guess rocks are falling off the ledge from the spring build into the hole and could be creating foot entrapment hazards and is definitely making the hole stickier. Everyone that takes their kids down there and lets them swim through the rapid may want to look for themselves and decide if it is still safe for their kids to continue to play in.

I have seen a couple of posts and heard comments about “just taking a trackhoe and moving some rocks down there” to build the feature at the lower ledge. What I witnessed today, is exactly why a professionally designed and built feature is the only thing that should be done there. With professional guidance, a feature could be built that is safe at any level and for everyone. And it would last for decades instead of months. This is what I, as a member of the committee that the Arkansas Canoe Club appointed to work with the City of Malvern on the lower ledge project, am working toward.

Scott Hanshaw

[anthony]

My son wanted me to swim the rapid with him before we left to today. We lined up on the river left hole and me and my 5 year old got worked. He loved it, myself on the other hand, now have an ice pack on my swollen knee and it is also smeared down with triple antibiotic. I am not sure what is in the bottom of the hole but it sure did a number on my knee.

[Michele Jackson]

I wasn't there on Sunday, but even on Saturday the cartwheel hole seemed different to me. I commented a couple of times that I got held in there and worked (upside down) longer than I ever had. So I don't know if it was my imagination or not.

[Sir Kayakalot]

no michelle it wasn't your imagination. i was
experiencing the same thing and witnessed a
few swims too. i want the wave back that we
had there last year. but i still had a great time, jeremy is really good at what he does
with the hometown throwdown, so thank you
to jeremy and the guys that put that together.


tommy

[rickyrod]

Scott,
I wasn't crying, I had something in my eye. It does need something done about it. I like it but it's not to floater friendly.and thanks for looking out for the kiddos,and us.the kids love it as much as we do.

[JTarver]

I agree with Scott on the professional design of the features. This is what they do for a living, after all.

The way the hole is now happened over the span of about a day. I was there on last sunday and it was the way it has been, flushy and forgiving, then came back tuesday and it was the way alot of you have seen it now, non-flushy and much more..interesting to watch. So I have no idea what happened, but it happened within the span of about a day.

Boat ramping doesn't help the degradation of the features, I wonder if it could've been a factor.
Who knows.

Joe

[paddlinggoddess]

I have been going to Rockport for over 7 years now and it changes all the time. I do know that the hole that most boaters refer to a** Mrs. Frothy has gotten very sticky. I have seen kids get worked, adults, and kayakers. Sunday ws a swim and carnage fest. The rocks have moved and I have hit the upstream rocks several time and spent some quality time in the hole. I am with Scott we need to get the pros in to figure out how to make several features at Rockport not just people throwing rocks in the river.
Just my thought. One other thing we need to figure out how to stop the boat from jumping the wave. I am very worried that a small child or adult swimming can't been seen from a boat running up river at a high speed.
Sabrina

[Jim Krueger]

Sabrina,

Since you mentioned the observation of upstream boaters not being able to see kids in the wave, I wanted to also comment. In the years I've been coming down from upstream, the etiquette system of downstream folks surfing, yielding the right-of-way to upstream boaters, has worked very well. Except when Cowper wants to intentionally dart in our way to , to increase the panic factor :)
Seriously though, you have brought up a good point. It's only been the last few times I've made the float this Summer, and run the Ledge at the end, that I've noticed quite small kids on foam boards of some type body-surfing the ledge with no PFDs, or concern with traffic, and little visibility. One of the last times I floated, after running the Ledge and waiting for the rest of my group coming down from upstream, I saw one lady in my group very nearly careen over a child in the wave. We were both about mortified :shock: Little or no way to see someone that small laying prone in the wave. I think we'll certainly be more cautious in the future, maybe even pre-arrange a special signal... I wonder where those kid's parents are, and at the very least, what they're thinking about with regard to the lack of PFDs for them. 'Jimminy Christmas', rules of etiquette or not, no boater wants to run over anyone downstream, but what's to do when nothing is visible from above? My comments aren't so much about the structure of the ledge but the fact it will always be a drop, and swimmers will always be hard to see for those floating down from above.


Best Regards
Jim

[SteveGabbard]

We were at the lower ledge and had at least two motor boats come flying through. Are these guys crossing the upper ledge as well?

[Michele Jackson]

Yes, the motor boats were crossing the upper ledge as well. Rather scary, I thought, a couple of times.

[jvickery]

The motor boaters are crazy, but it is their right to be on the river as much as mine. I just think it is crazy when they fly down the river with people in canoes nearby. I watched a guy on a wave-runner come up the river and hit a underwater rock which tossed him in the air and it had to of cracked the craft. He was so drunk. He got right back on and continued up river where I heard him hit another rock and then heard it start up again. Then he came back down and nearly hit a tube city (large group of toobers). All part of river living. We just had a helicopter fly down the river directly over it only 15-20 foot above it while folks where on the river! Scared the hell out of them and my two kids. just another day...

[Lazer]

Here is a link to the boating law handbook

http://www.boat-ed.com/ar/ar_specific_i ... entire.pdf

Pages 38 and 39 references Reckless and Negligent operation

[Jeremy M]

Thanks for posting that Lazer...Its not just something we have to deal with and sure they may have a right to be on the river, BUT NOT RUNNING UP AND DOWN THE LEDGE...That could be considered a swimming area would you run your boat in a swimming area on the lake at 30 miles an hour? NO...why? Because you'd get a ticket...

Will it be just "part of river living" when its one of your customers that gets killed? Will it be just "part of river living" when a child is injured or worse?

You should be the one up in arms about it JVickery, being that your livelihood is based on this part of the river...I'd be contacting anyone possible to get this stopped, instead of just chalking it up to "river living".

[ScottH]

Here is a link to the boating law handbook

http://www.boat-ed.com/ar/ar_specific_i ... entire.pdf

Pages 38 and 39 references Reckless and Negligent operation

When I saw that Lance posted, I thought he was going to tell the account of his latest rescue but instead he just added fuel to the hijack of my original post. That’s ok, Motorized boat traffic is another major danger that needs to be addressed.

On Tuesday there was another incident and Lance had to paddle into the river left hole to rescue a young boy, who was wearing an ill fitting life jacket and was getting re-circulated while mom yelled to “GET HIM!” from the sidewalk. He went around a number of times and was in there 20-30 seconds. He did not look like he was washing out either when Lance got to him.

[Sir Kayakalot]

Question: has the wave changed since
Saturday 14th, are the 2 sticky holes
worse, better, or about the same. In other
words, is the ledge/rock still shifting or
does it seem to be staying as it was at home-
town throwdown 3?
I don't know what the solution is regarding
the motorized boats, but something needs
to happen. I witnessed a few scary incidents
Saturday with boats coming thru the wave,
but the one that stands out most was the
Triton bass boat coming downstream while
at least 7-8 paddlers were sitting in the eddy
below the big rock. If he hadn't gotten hung
on said rock I'm not too sure someone wouldn't
have been run over.


Tommy