Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

The catch 22 here is that a Pfd ordinance would be next to impossible to enforce and there is not a life jacket made that would keep someone's head above in an entrapment situation in the current. That will always be the largest danger out there with strainers flushing down stream and a constantly shifting riverbed. It is a natural environment and is uncontrollable, however man made it may be.

Correct. That 'rope' situation was an anomoly. Trying not to think about all the time I spent upside down floating through that same area Sunday. **Gulp**

Lifeguards! :)

Maybe they need a Game and Fish substation up there to issue tickets for no pfd's on kids in vessels (tubes) and to ticket adults for public intoxication, operating a vessel while under the influence, drinking in a city park, etc.

When I've seen tubes rented elsewhere, I thought everyone was given a pfd.

Good luck with solving your problems and developing your community. These issues are present at Rockport every time it runs. Kids with no pfd swimming the ledge, tubes, drunks... Recently there was someone with a large tube tied up to a tree on the bank. The rope was above water but was still obnoxious.

At the very least the City needs to put up some warning signs... swift currents, swim at your own risk and no lifegaurd on duty etc.

Signs have been erected to notify users of the dangers of the river. There are three throughout the park that say "swim at your own risk" and "life jackets strongly recommended".
Additionally, the City will utilize the City's webpage, social media pages and regional media to help push the importance of personal flotation devices.

The signage really looked great today. Everything is looking great out there.

Thank you.

That's a step in the right direction. Just curious, how far are the signs from the waters edge
and how big are they?


Tommy

I agree with Ryan. Somebody is going to end up with a TBI or dead, and then that will be the end. I was there Sunday and watched children without lifevests, diving head first down the face of the waves. At one point, a little girl came back up saying "my teeth touched the bottom".
As I understand it, the city only has control over the land, not the flowing water. But as I understand it, the land under the water belongs to the city (State v MCIlroy). Can rules not be put in place to govern the wearing of lifejackets when on city property, ie the rocks around the bank and in the streambed? Also many of the folks were standing on the bottom between the waves. Not everyone is aware of the laws and signage and official presence once in a while could go a long way. When I pulled away for the day at about 1600, a state trooper in a red cruiser had pulled up to the loading area but that was the only official presence I saw there at all. I certainly don't want the police there all the time, but it was nice to know they can get there if needed. Maybe AGFC could put this area on their list of places to patrol as well. My.02

It seems to me that the city has control over commercial licenses... the tube concessionare could provide pfds for a nominal fee. And require renters to at least have them like canoe rentals do.

Is a tube a vessel under the law like a canoe? If so, shouldn't there be one pfd per person and kids have to wear one?

Issuing tickets would help educate the public :)

Of course that line of thinking leads down the rabbit hole of not needing a pfd while swimming but needing one while paddling or tubing.

Requiring PFD's would be bad. Signage is all that is needed. Stupid is a stupid does, and liability stops at the ordinary high water mark for the park. That is all.

Natural Selection-M-

I'm curious. The wave features were designed (well) by a company known for creating exciting paddle sport "parks". By mixing it, through the benevolence of a publicly minded foundation, with a city park where families and kids come out to enjoy swimming and being in and near water, has it somehow morphed into a potentially dangerous place? Looking at other whitewater kayak and raft parks (http://www.borntopaddle.com/whitewaterparks.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) it seems rare to have it mixed with a place where children and non-paddlers, with no protection, can readily access potentially dangerous features. It's actually an invite for them to jump in. The smooth concrete slab is a great attraction to youngsters to get a run and slide. Forget the once in a while collision between us paddlers and the tubers/swimmers. It's the unprotected unknowing enjoying a potentially deadly force of nature enhanced at the hands of talented designers and proffered by a City as a family park who can only distance themselves with "At Your Own Risk" signage. Maybe lifeguards are the answer.

One fatal incident can change the perspective on most of this. IMHO the signs were an excellent start to a solution. I guess we'll see how things progress this summer. And "darwinism" is a poor metaphor for preventable deaths and injuries. It is certainly not one I see used frequently when tragedy strikes a member of the paddling community.

Codger - I'm full of "poor metaphors". My only badly made point is, that at some point it's each person's own responsibility. -M-