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08-25-2002
FRONT PAGE
Boater drowns on Payette River
Man thrown from cataraft at Jaw Rapids
A 35-year-old North Idaho man drowned Saturday morning while rafting a treacherous stretch of the North Fork of the Payette River along Idaho 55.
Boise County Sheriff Sgt. George Erskine said the man was operating a 16-foot cataraft at Jaws Rapids about 20 miles north of Horseshoe Bend when he was thrown from the raft and into the river at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The man, described as an expert rafter, floated downstream for almost a mile before other boaters pulled him to shore. Emergency workers and boaters performed CPR for an hour before the man was pronounced dead at the scene, Erskine said.
The man´s name was withheld Saturday night pending notification of relatives.
He had 25 years of whitewater experience and was wearing a life jacket, helmet and wet suit, Erskine said. He was boating with a large group of friends.
It was the man´s first trip on the North Fork, where the rapids have an advanced-level rating of Class V. The North Fork is described by guidebooks and experts as boulder-dense and horizontal with steep drops.
Saturday´s accident was the second drowning on the Payette in 10 days.
On Aug. 14, a 27-year-old New Zealand woman drowned while rafting the Class IV Staircase Rapids on the South Fork of the Payette. Caroline Granger was with her sister and a friend in an inflatable kayak when she fell out of the craft and into the water. The three women were not wearing life jackets or helmets.
On Aug. 16, 1999, a 30-year-old man died while kayaking the North Fork of the Payette below Smiths Ferry. The man, Richard Thomas Carson, was a Briton working in Memphis, Tenn., at the time of the fatal accident.
Kayak instructors offer the following tips for river paddling:
Prepare for cold. Even a hot day doesn´t noticeably change the water temperature of most area rivers. Dress in layers.
Have a working knowledge of any river or lake before boating, or travel with an experienced guide.
Use a proper life jacket at all times.
Don´t drink alcohol.
Don´t take on stretches of river for which you´re not qualified.
Edition Date: 08-25-2002
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