Thank you Jeremy Wells and James Lloyd, Tim Wallen. I had a bad swim. I Nearly drowned in a keeper hole on the Cooper River and had to hike out a steep canyon with my kayak. I messed up the entrance rapid and went too far right of a boof rock which caused me to eddy out on the right just above the ledge forming Norm's Resort a natural feature that creates a river wide hole similar to a low head damn at certain levels. I had not run the Cooper for a few years and forgot about the significant consequences in this drop. I got some quick beta from friends who had run it the day before at a lower level and went for it. Turning out of the small eddy put me too far river left without enough speed to make the line on the right. I was sucked out of my kayak in the hydraulic immediately as I tried to brace. My spray deck was stripped off me and i was recirculating in the hole. It never let me quite get to the surface to get a breath before driving me down again. I have been in holes before-I have always been chundered then spit out. The only way out of Norm's is to be pulled out with a throw bag. I did get a story from another boater who was stuck in Norm's who managed to make a tight ball of their body and get driven to the bottom and flush out downstream. Thanks to Jeremy Wells for quickly acting. I thought I was done for. I was in the hole for at least a minute before He hit me with a rope at my last breath and had to pull very hard to get me out. My boat stayed in for 20 min. What I learned is to always paddle with a crew that knows their rescue skills and keep an eye on each other. I should have also popped out to scout the entry rapid because I did not follow the quick directions correctly. I was a bit uncertain of where to go even though I have run the Cooper at least 6 times before, but the river was higher than I had ever run it. Glad to have competent friends. In 40 years of paddling this was the first time i needed this kind of rescue. I also have never had my spray deck stripped off in a violent hydraulic before. I climbed 400 ft out of the gorge.
