# Lost raft



## whiteh2o

Light Blue raft, maybe Aire or Maravia, flipped in the eddy, river left, approximately 1 mile downriver of Dewey Bridge. This visual was as of 12:30 this afternoon.


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## summitraftgirl

whiteh2o said:


> Light Blue raft, maybe Aire or Maravia, flipped in the eddy, river left, approximately 1 mile downriver of Dewey Bridge. This visual was as of 12:30 this afternoon.


When we were getting ready to launch at Dewey Saturday morning, a guy pulled up telling us about this. Apparently, this boat flipped in Funnel on WW and they were never able to retrieve it. The boat that's stuck in the Room of Doom right now is also from the same group. The guy thought the blue boat would have shown up at Dewey yesterday. We thought today, and sure enough it's there. He posted contact info at Dewey, but we'll give him a call now and let him know that it's been spotted. Thanks for the post!!


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## CBrown

Ouch. My buddy had to unrig his boat in the room a few years ago and haul it up the cliff and downstream to get it out of there cause the current was too strong to get out. They finally got out exausted in the dark. I hope you guys are reunited with your gear soon. Good luck.


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## CWorthy

For over a week now, I've been waiting to hear more about this trip :shock:. One boat stuck in the Room of Doom and another floated all the way down to Dewey Bridge. Someone, tell me a story, please!


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## bula

They'll tell you once they're back from hiking out!


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## pasta

The beginning of this story, Starts with Alvin trying to talk the group out of launching. " So none of you have been here before"? Maybe 10,800 isn't the best level to first time Westwater!
Response; "We'll be alright" We watched alot of trips on you tube.


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## lmaciag

I'm interested, too. The story almost caused me not to run it the next day. Seeing the boat in the RoD gave me some butterflies before running Skull. 

Like to know the story behind what caused me undue stress .


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## pasta

*Gotta ask*

How did you see the boat in the "Room" before you ran "Skull"?
Scout?


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## lmaciag

Scout Skull... not this chick. Did it once many trips ago and never plan on doing that again. Makes getting right tough.

No, you can see into The Room from above. The abandond, flipped raft was moving around pretty good. One of our kayakers that didn't know it was there entered the rapid thinking it was someone from our group. Thankfully, not.

I was surprised to be able to see in there from above, too.


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## summitraftgirl

Well, when we were approached at Dewey by the guy from that group, who I'm assuming might have been the trip leader, it seemed as though he had done WW before, but maybe not anyone else in the group. He wrote down his contact info on a piece of paper that had all sorts of tips, rules, etc. for their trip. We thought it seemed weird and knew immediately that they were probably in over their heads. I would assume is was a sh*t show, or at least that's what it sounded like. The guy that spoke to us looked pretty beat and exhausted. Then again, it was something like 7am and he, literally, woke us up while we were sleeping on our trailer to talk to us about it. We called him after we saw the original post and left a voicemail. We never heard back, not even a simple thank you. Makes me wonder if they ever retrieved the boat at Dewey. Like I said, it was pretty clear to us that they were totally in over their heads. I'm anxious for an update as well!


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## lmaciag

I floated down from Ruby Saturday morning, but most of our gang was at the putin Friday night. Sounds like the group didn't make it back up there until almost midnight after the fiasco. They heard that the flips were in Funnel. Went too far left. I was thinking that perhaps they thought they were in Staircase with the river moving so fast and the upper rapids washed out. 

And now, the rest of the story... Someone?


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## CWorthy

Has anyone been down recently (in the last week)? Just wondering if the boat has washed out of the Room of Doom yet... Bummer


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## summitraftgirl

Yep, the guy we talked with said the first boat flipped in Funnel. They got the guy, but not the boat. Then someone else from their group flipped in Skull and that boat ended up in the RoD. He said they pulled over to hike back up to the RoD and while doing that, saw another group flip a couple of boats in Skull. I think he said that's when they decided to abandon the boat in the RoD. He seemed very panicked and we were half asleep trying to wake up so we could comprehend what he was telling us. He was sure that the boat that flipped in Funnel would be coming by at any second. We knew that it would at least be another day and told him to go on down to Hittle and Takeout Beach and post his info. Sure enough, the next day it was spotted around noon or 1230pm, right after we had taken out at Takeout Beach. I think he said that a few in their group kept going past Cisco to try to catch up to the boat that flipped in Funnel. In my half asleep state, I do remember seeing two cats on his trailer. One was purple, I think. Sounded to us like there were two groups with major difficulties on WW that Friday.


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## summitraftgirl

I've also been wondering about the raft on the RoD, and if it's gotten out yet.


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## Mut

We did a trip last friday-saturday and there was no raft in the ROD. Too bad, I was hoping to score some river bootie (or beer in exchange).


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## raymo

summitraftgirl said:


> I've also been wondering about the raft on the RoD, and if it's gotten out yet.


Just so happened that I flew over WW yesterday in a friends plane and did not see a boat in RD.


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## skiersteve3

Ran Westwater on the 4th, no boat in the room. In fact, with the exception of a commercial group day trip that put in that morning, we were the only group that put in that day (was thinking maybe people got spooked by these stories). Didn't see a sole from put in to take out the following day, pretty sweet.


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## pasta

Boat was shredded! Flushed,then Sank!
Yes, One of the guy's had been in Westwater before.
@ 3,000!


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## summitraftgirl

pasta said:


> Boat was shredded! Flushed,then Sank!
> Yes, One of the guy's had been in Westwater before.
> @ 3,000!


 
Bummer, I was hoping it'd be good news. Now I really hope they got the raft back near Dewey!!


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## lmaciag

It had lost a chamber when we saw it on 4/23, so does not surprise me. There's gotta be a lot of booty at the bottom of the RoD! Hope I never contribute


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## calendar16

I hope their raft was insured? :/


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## wildh2onriver

Big Dave, where did your info come from? I've had conversations with Alvin and several others over the years, who all have told me that they intervene in those situations and help extricate the boat(s). 

Which brings up the question of: why didn't they and their group members hike up and over into the room to at least de-rig the boat for salvage later?




pasta said:


> Boat was shredded! Flushed,then Sank!
> Yes, One of the guy's had been in Westwater before.
> @ 3,000!


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## pasta

*[email protected] D"*

Not a chance! Spring of 94' We all looked on as "Monty" Circled- Round-n-Round then he went under??? We all thought that was the last we saw of "Monty Schoolie"? 
A Minute-Maybe 2, Went by, Then, There he was in "Champagne Alley" Of course he couldn't swim there. So we pulled him out!


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## studytime

Was it this boat?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhWtGeGYwsw

I dont know how to embed videos.


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## Jensjustduckie

Holy eff, it's that shit in the video that made me terrified of WW. If the person who rowed me down had not been a raft guide for 20 years and had that not had been his blackjack run on WW I'd have never gone. When I saw he didn't bother to tie down his cooler and had his gf with I knew we were keeping the black side down.

It's obviously healthy to have some fear of high water.


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## gnargnar

This just reaffirms why I only boat with people I trust. WW is no joke at these levels


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## mountainjah

Crazy footy of that junk show but a ballsy attempt at rowing out....summitraftgirl, was your party lappin' the daily and staying at onion? We camped at Dewey sat night but didn't see folks at the ramp early am...there was also rockfall Friday night that shut one whole lane of 128 off with boulders just south of Dewey bridge.


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## OleMissBoater

studytime said:


> Was it this boat?
> 
> YouTube - Room of Doom rescue Westwater Utah, Harold Flips Out
> 
> I dont know how to embed videos.


Yes that was the Same boat that was in there on sat the 23rd. I have a pic of it as we watched it getting trashed from the river left eddy below skull. 

The aqua boat had writing down the gunwales of the raft like it was a commercial rental, or something. Obviosly we couldn't read it from afar and upside down.


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## summitraftgirl

mountainjah said:


> Crazy footy of that junk show but a ballsy attempt at rowing out....summitraftgirl, was your party lappin' the daily and staying at onion? We camped at Dewey sat night but didn't see folks at the ramp early am...there was also rockfall Friday night that shut one whole lane of 128 off with boulders just south of Dewey bridge.


We stayed at Dewey on Friday night and launched Saturday morning. We did not camp at Onion, but at an island camp lower down.


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## MountainMedic

Holy hell......
That video is crazy.


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## whiteh2o

So to make it clear, I seriously hope no one was hurt by this adventure on WW even though it looks, and sounds like, quite a fiasco. As noted earlier, WW is no joke at this level. Know the people you are with and make good decisions.
Is it just me or is anyone else wondering A) when the unfortunate oarsman realized this is about to go really badly for him or B) he crapped his shorts. My guess, B happened somewhere between the 6 and 16 second mark in the video when he was thisclose to flipping on his first close encounter with the wall. If this is indeed the case, then that would make A a moot point.
Be careful out there and if nothing else, use this thread/video as a reminder how quickly things can go wrong. Stepping of my soapbox now.


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## ric

*Westwater is no joke!*

Yep, went through yesterday we got on it was 12,000 when we got off i think it went up to 16,000, lots of fun, make sure you know who your going in there with, you really do not want to swim in there.
5 O is happening, 10 sec surf


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## slavetotheflyrod

He quits at :53

3 more strokes and he might have been home free.

Never can tell though.


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## BLM_Moab

I believe that this situation was a group from Salida, CO and they did recover their boat just above the Hittle Bottom campground nearly one week after their launch. That week there were three rafts taht escaped from their owners in Westwater Canyon. All three boats were recovered and returned to their rightful owners...

With water flows on the rise just a heads up reminder for all that 'high water happens'!! Please do youreslves a favor and be both mentally and physically prepared to enter any river during high water. In many cases self rescue may be the only option - have contingency plans and be sure to communicate them with all the participants in the group. Thanks for taking the extra efforts to ensure that you have a safe and positive experience during this high water season!!


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## Destun

*Salida, Group*



BLM_Moab said:


> I believe that this situation was a group from Salida, CO and they did recover their boat just above the Hittle Bottom campground nearly one week after their launch. That week there were three rafts taht escaped from their owners in Westwater Canyon. All three boats were recovered and returned to their rightful owners...
> 
> With water flows on the rise just a heads up reminder for all that 'high water happens'!! Please do youreslves a favor and be both mentally and physically prepared to enter any river during high water. In many cases self rescue may be the only option - have contingency plans and be sure to communicate them with all the participants in the group. Thanks for taking the extra efforts to ensure that you have a safe and positive experience during this high water season!!


 
We were able to recover our raft but still have equip. somewhere in the river. A blue Watershed bag,A yellowoutcast bag, and another blue dry bag. I can be contacted @ [email protected] oor 719-530-1327


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## Destun

We were able to recover our raft but still have equip. somewhere in the river. A blue Watershed bag,A yellowoutcast bag, and another blue dry bag. I can be contacted @ [email protected] oor 719-530-1327


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## raymo

Destun said:


> We were able to recover our raft but still have equip. somewhere in the river. A blue Watershed bag,A yellowoutcast bag, and another blue dry bag. I can be contacted @ [email protected] oor 719-530-1327


Good job getting everyone out of WW at that water level. Sometime's the river wins when you run the big shit. Hope you recover your river gear.


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## summitraftgirl

Destun, glad to hear you got the boat back and that everyone is safe. Good luck finding the rest of your gear, and we'll let you know if we spot anything!


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