le Voyageur Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 Setting anchors in rock cracks for Z drags, or pulley systems to pull pinned canoes off of the rocks, can cost a bit of change if using the traditional chocks and nuts found in a climber's rack. A cheaper way is to head down to the local hardware store and buy steel nuts in different sizes and sling them up. My heavy duty set for real serious cranking are lug nuts from 18 wheelers, and can be found at truck stops, or junkyards. Just remember, don't let scouts use them for repelling or climbing, okay....only for unpinning boats... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmbowen Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 THough I have used z-drags for inflatabls (and for practicing cravasse rescue) I have not done canoes. How much force can a pinned canoe take? The usual system for a broached raft, after you equalize the D-rings is to try to run a line around the boat at the point where your 'best pull' angle will do the most good...but those things give! Do you do the same with a canoe? (Which oughta make since?) When do you stop and try something different...I would hate to pull a livery boat apart with a Z! My last canoe broach was solved by the 10 "boyscout" pull which is of course more gentle than the Z. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le Voyageur Posted January 30, 2002 Author Share Posted January 30, 2002 The amount of force often depends on how the boat is pinned, how the canoe is built, what the canoe is made of, and volume and flow rate of the water. No easy answer to a lot of variables. But basically, I employ two lines, the first is the "dump" line which will flip the craft over and help get some of the water out. Here, I like to use a 3 to 1 pulley system. And the other line, using a z drag is used to pull the boat into the main current so that it will wash out. The other problem is direction of pull, often times (it seems) that the river will pin a boat in places that require an off axis pull (here a vector pull with either a z or a 3:1 may help). I guess the best advice is when cranking is to keep the direction of pull as straight as possible, and carefully keeping an eye on the boat, and backing off before something breaks. As a safety measure, a PFD can be attached to the line a short distance from the boat in the event of breakage. This'll keep the line from snapping back and smacking someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le Voyageur Posted January 30, 2002 Author Share Posted January 30, 2002 Forgot, a quick way to release a line under tension, should that be required is with the Mariner knot. However, I agree with you. The first pull should be done by trying the "10 Boy Scouts" technique first before heading up the scale. On a side note, I don't know which is worse. Breaking a livery boat, or leaving it pinned in the river and letting the rental guys worry about it (if the boat is pinned hard underwater and in an undercut rock it's left, not worth it if it puts people's lives at risk). Either way, I don't think you'll be getting your deposit back.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo2 Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Sounds like we're missing out on something here in the Midwest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmbowen Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Hi again guys. Hi Buffalo2, this is of course jargon stuff that one gets from going to too many swift water rescue clinics, or having to do it for real on the river. I have been lucky with Scouts and have never had to unwrap any boat when they are involved...but just like WFR...it is better to 'be prepaired'. Voyager! I am not familiar with the Mariner Hitch but believe it has to be similar to a hitch called the UMIT (which stands for something that I have forgotten). It was developed by Canadian and US (USFS etc) SAR people for releasing tension on very highly tensioned ropes, as in high angle rescue where the rescuer and victim are being lowered simotaneously...or on a z-drag. THis is basically 2 carabiners which have some high tech line looped through them twice so as to make a simple double pully system. The rope is then hanked around the loops between the carabiners back toward one side, and tied off using a slip knot. As you want to release the tension, all that is necessary is to unwrap the hank lashings until the unit slips. Works really well. The advantage is that it is a made up unit, and the disadvantage is that being already made up it is an extra gadget that you have to carry around. My stuff like that goes in an ammo box with the Z-drag equipment. It works well for rafts and I assume canoes. I can try to make up a diagram to send if you are interested. Can you send me a discription of the Maraner?? Thanks JB PS at present I am in OK, and running trips in MO in April...prior to heading back to Wyo for the summer, are you guys near for some river fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le Voyageur Posted February 1, 2002 Author Share Posted February 1, 2002 Take a look at http://www.rescue70.org/roperes.htm I use this on a seperate achcor independent of the haul line. My set up is anchor, biner, mariner knot, biner, pursik brake on the haul line.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le Voyageur Posted February 1, 2002 Author Share Posted February 1, 2002 JB A post note (trying to do too many things at once) That Canadian systems sounds interesting...would very much like to see it. Somehow, I get the impression that this is rigged around a Gurada knot....thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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