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A play boat to practice in
A river with some tight slots to navigate
How to properly execute a low side
When to use this technique
How to avoid flipping in the slot
Rigging to low side
In this lesson, Trevor and Kailee are discussing a creek boating technique called the Low Side. This technique works well in narrow boulder filled creeks and low volume rivers and can help you make the most out of a low water trip. This is a handy technique to add to your tool kit anytime you encounter a slot which is narrower than your raft.
The low side is a weight management technique similar to the high side but with a very different purpose in mind. Where high siding prevents a tube from sinking deeper into the water, the low side is by design creating a deeper draught on one side of the raft. By moving your weight to one side of the boat and sinking that tube deeper in the water, you will lift the opposite tube out of the water allowing you to slide over a rock. When you have a slot which is narrower than your raft, you can still slide through the slot by effectively decreasing the width of your raft which is in contact with the water. With this technique it is possible to slip a gap with is only the width of your tube so it makes a powerful addition to your low water skill set.
Low side maneuvers are highly dependent on several factors:
The amount of weight in your boat
Your boat’s momentum
The stickiness or slipperiness of your raft’s material
Dour boat’s dimensions (especially width and waterline)
The rock’s composition and surface
The width of the gap
The amount of force of the water moving through the gap
Since there are so many factors it can be tough to get the move down effectively unless you take the time to practice on your local rock formations. Sand stone for instance can me much more sticky than polished granite, thus it may be more difficult to pull off this technique properly if the rock is stickier.
Rigging the raft for a low side doesn’t require much extra beyond placing one or two pieces of gear on the thwart in front of you. A simple handle strap works well alternatively placing something that someone can grab to stabilize themselves like a dry bag is a huge help.
Before you even enter the narrow gap that you are trying to pass through, you will need to build up some speed so your momentum can carry your boat through the gap. As we mentioned above your boat’s ability to slide over rocks in general is predicated on several factors, but every boat will lose momentum due to the friction of the boat sliding on the rock. To counteract this and make sure you are not using a ton of energy unpinning yourself, you want to build up as much momentum as you can before you slide over the obstacle.
When you’re ready to execute your low side, the person or people on the high side will need somewhere to go. Anyone on the low side will have to make some room either in front of or behind you for crew on the high side to move into. Since controlling your raft is somewhat more difficult when there is something behind you, it can be a lot easier for the person on the low side to just slide back so they are sitting even with the thwart behind them. This opens a gap in front of you to allow the person to slide on top of the thwart and shift their weight to the low side.
If you properly rigged you boat, the high side paddlers should have something to grab onto across the thwarts or even reach out for the perimeter line. Making sure there are points to grab will ensure that your potential pin situation does not turn into a potential swim scenario. If you are the one reaching across, make sure you are making multiple points of contact with the raft. Handles, gear, perimeter lines, and foot positioning all help to stabilize you when you are about to take a hit.
Another point to mention here is be careful when you are shifting your weight rapidly, especially if you have a narrow boat like a play boat. Narrow boats are particularly prone to flipping if you may move a little to quickly and pull the raft over on top of you.
If you are on the low side of the boat, you should prepare yourself to help control the boat. In an R2 scenario this will require you to throw in strokes to make sure the boat doesn’t slip one way or the other and get pinned on the rock. You also will want to make sure that the raft will be properly lined up to shoot through the gap without getting stuck. Once you are sure the raft will make it through you will want to keep paddling or stroking to make sure the raft maintains as much momentum as possible. In an R4 (or larger) scenario someone will still need to guide the raft through the slot while the rest of the crew helps to maintain either momentum or prevent the boat from sliding to one side or the other.
Making an effective low side technique work for you without turning into a pin takes a lot of time on your equipment and a bit of practice. You will need to time your weight shift for a couple of seconds before you reach the gap. if you execute the weight shift too early you risk going off course and being pulled the wrong way since you boat will quickly stop tracking properly. If you pull the move too late you will not get the high side tube up high enough to make the move causing you to pin anyway. Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule for exactly when to execute the move since it is dependent upon so many factors.
