I thought I'd provide some additional details and also raise a question about where Carl Keaney got stuck. I paddled with Carl often over the past 5 or so years, I was also boating with him on that tragic day. It was only the two of us, though a friend of mine, Benjy Darnell, showed up soon after Carl disappeared. In terms of experience, Carl had probably run the Sinks & Meanies > 200 times and I've paddled it > 100 times. The rapid has shifted over the last year and the standard line on far river left which allowed you to boof into a small but relatively calm eddy is largely out of play. As a result, Carl and I spent some time scouting out alternative lines. We'd run it together at a similar level a week earlier and decided to take essentially the same line: the small boof on mid river right. It's a tricky line since the landing area is small and about 1/2 of it is very turbulent. Indeed, the previous week I had ended up continuing through the eddy and sliding down the exposed rock ledge downstream of the landing area. Carl went first and he looked like he nailed it. He was in the right place to hit the boof and I saw his paddle stick up above the rapid in a manner that suggested to me he was in control and paddling towards the eddy on river left.
I followed suit and overshot the landing area and slide down the rock ledge. As I went over, I was surprised and concerned to see Carl's head sticking out above the water as he was now out of and next to his boat on river right. I saw this a few seconds before he went over the second meanie. I quickly ran the second meanie and as I exited it at the bottom, I encountered Carl's boat and paddle in the hole at the bottom of that rapid. I quickly grabbed a large eddy on river left below the outflow of the second meanie. I looked around and saw no sign of Carl downstream, so I climbed up the rocks on river right and saw no sign of him there either. I was aware of the fate of the open boater who drowned while swimming that exact section, so I emptied my boat and ferried across to see if I could see anything at the bottom of the second meanie. I couldn't. After a few minutes a tourist asked me if everything was alright. I told him, "No." He asked if he should call for help and I told him "Yes". A few minutes later, I saw Carl's helmet emerge from the outflow of the second meanie and at that point I knew things were very bleak.
It was around this time that Benjy happened to show up. He wisely set up safety just below the second meanie in case Carl flushed out. Maybe 10m later, Carl's PFD and then, sometime later, his sprayskirt floated by. The park service soon showed up and jumped into action. I stumbled around and eventually contacted my paddling buddies via a text messaging group that Carl was also part of so one of them could contact his partner.
That's pretty much it. If you have any questions on what happened, I'm more than willing to try and answer them.
Regarding what happened to Carl when he submerged, my understanding was that his foot got entrapped near the center of the base of the meanie. That's where he went over, that's where I understood the other openboater was entrapped, and that's what I heard from one of Carl and my paddling friend who is a local attorney and was told informally by his colleagues who reviewed the situation for the county's District Attorney and concluded no charges should be filed in relation to Carl's death. Foot entrapment at the base is also consistent with Carl's helmet, PFD, and sprayskirt eventually flushing off of him. All of this is circumstantial, but I wanted to share this information.
Mike Gilchrest
Posted on Knoxville Area Whitewater Visuals FB site by Damon Wooten
Accidents happen in all sports including whitewater padding. This was an experienced paddler, evidently a local. Name has not yet been released, nor has the body been found. The area where he came out of his boat is above the Sinks waterfall (the meanies rapids). Sending love and light to the family and the whitewater community.
