| River: | Ocoee |
| Section: | Middle Ocoee - #2 Dam to #2 Powerhouse |
| Location: | Double Suck |
| Gauge: | 6500-10,000 cfs |
| Difficulty: | IV+ |
| Accident Code(s): | Long Swim (L.S.) |
| Injury Code(s): | Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal |
| Age: | 43 |
| Private/Commercial: | Private |
| Boat Type: | Raft |
| Number of Occupants: | 6 |
| Number in Group: | 6 |
| Number of Victims: | 2 |
| Other Victim Names: | Unknown |
| Hazard Codes: | High Water |
| Summary: | May 4th was a high-water weekend through most of the Southeast. The popular Ocoee River in Tennessee was running at 6500 cfs that morning (the normal flow is 900-1200 cfs), forcing the cancellation of all commercial rafting. A group of four Florida firefighters, including a former Ocoee guide, decided to run the river in a borrowed raft. A second guide joined the group in the raft while a third guide, Jeremy Perry, paddled safety kayak. Perry wrote an excellent account for Boatertalk.com that served the basis for this write-up. While the group was on the water the river surged to 10,000 cfs. Logs and debris were floating all around. Their raft, a "bucket boat," swamped in "Moon Shoot". As they tried to paddle it ashore they washed into "Broken Nose". They hit a meaty ledge hole about 30 feet from the bank and surfed for several minutes. Suddenly the raft tilted on its side. The two guides held on, but the three other men fell into the river. The hole recirculated two of them, and one man was recycled three or four times. Perry sat in an eddy, waiting for them to float free. The pair was unresponsive initially, but then began begging to get onto his kayak. Perry resisted, but after floating through "Hells Half Mile" he relented and allowed one of the men to grab hold. That man washed off the deck in some big wave holes in "Double Trouble." He was carried into some shoreline trees on river left where he body-pinned. Perry turned into an eddy and grabbed his throw bag. There was so much brush that it was difficult to get a clean throw, but he finally hit his target and pulled him ashore. As he did, his kayak was pulled out into the current and carried downstream. Hours later, after being ferried back to the river right shore by rafters, Perry learned that another man had been killed. The body of Edgar Mauss, 42, was spotted near Goforth Creek, some miles downstream, and brought ashore by a passing kayaker. Perry's kayak was last seen in thevicinity of "Hell Hole," headed for the lake. |
| Link: | http://boatertalk.com/forum/BoaterTalk/173470 |
| Report Status: | Completed |