Anyone know what happy below high bridge today? Boat launched at Big Eddy, news says pinned against a rock and one dead. Be safe, even an easy drift can get ya.

I know that rock.

GOLD BAR, Wash. -- A 57-year-old man from the Sultan area died Saturday morning after the boat he and another man were in flipped in the Skykomish River, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.


The two fishermen launched their boat from the Big Eddy Boat Launch early Saturday and just half a mile downstream, the current pinned their boat against a rock. It flipped over and both fishermen ended up in the water.


********** no PFD, 45 degree water. One guy made it to shore, NO PFD!!!
Wear your F*(&*^*&^%& PFD! [Bleeeeep!] happens fast, be safe out there.

Sunday Herald says they kicked off at 4:00 am, o dark 30. Probably in an effort to get first water at Duffy Creek. The rapid under the train tressel is pretty straight forward. The tailout of the next pool can be tricky in the dark. Go right and you have to navigate a boulder garden with enough grade to cause problems if you don’t know a path. Go left and after you cut over the tailout there are two large boulders that in the dark you might not see. The current is fast enough there that if you hit one of those, especially the first one sideways…..

Did the upper Sky yesterday. I failed to mention in my previous post that there is a third option in this tail out. It’s hard river left. It’s a fast narrow channel that has a blind 90 degree right turn at the start. When I say narrow I mean most times you have to tuck in your sticks. Two guys in a new Pavati went that way yesterday (I did the softer middle left) and said there is a wrecked boat there. Trying not to be judgmental but the call (after the accident) came in at 5:00 am….

Later in the day I found a newer pfd just above the doctor’s house several miles downstream. Guess I’ll turn it in to the Sultan’s police dept. unless someone knows where else I should take it.

I think we all have memories of dumb stuff we have done. I bookended my work career by trying hard to drown doing dumb things. In both cases, it was one second safe, the next......

I sometimes complained about all the "safety" gear that work required. Like many have said, wear that PFD.

A last thought, though. I, and many others here would probably say that these guys may have left too early (not enough light), tried a new route, or whatever. A sad part of life is that to learn you must try. Obviously, the "Here, hold my beer" crowd may need to think but all of us grow by trying new stuff. Life has risks. Just think, plan, and be careful. But even then, stuff happens.

Gary, I really, really wish I'd have checked this thread again, or called you. You know what they say, you've either had an incident in your drift boat, or you will. Well, last Saturday was my day. I hadn't floated high bridge down in a few years. Massive change at that second tailout. I didn't think there was enough water hard left, and in the time I had to make a decision, I chose soft left on the right chute. That was when I noticed the Willie wrapped around a rock like a rag. That's the same boat I float, and it was like seeing a ghost. I banged a rock pretty hard staying soft left in that low water, and the new leelock anchor rope lock I had just installed, let my anchor go - not a good place to have this happen. Thank God an old friend taught me years ago to have a knife tied right to the anchor lock. I had a split second to cut that rope, and get back on the sticks to avert a certain dumping. The Pucker factor was 15 on a scale of 1-10. This is a far more difficult channel than used to be up there. There are also a couple jams down below that are tricky at these low flows. I broke rule #1, and almost lost a boat and perhaps worse. If you own a leelock anchor line lock, be damn sure you're using 7/16" or 1/2" rope. I had an old 3/8" rope, and it will not hold. Please be safe out there.