In the blink of an eye

I’ve told this story before, but it’s true and happened as told. Now that we are in the summer, open-water season, a reminder of how quickly a boating accident can occur and how potentially fatal that accident can be serves as a wake-up to be alert and aware of what can happen when boating on our Valley’s lakes and rivers.

I had the sensation of flying as I was thrown out the port side of my riverboat on the hard right-hand turn. I hit the cold Susitna River waters back-first and went totally underwater. I bobbed to the surface minus my hat and watched the riverboat heading downstream, driverless, with all my gear on board. I immediately realized I was in a life-or-death situation, with no readily available help, as the ten-knot currents swept me downstream in this wilderness Alaska setting.

I was out on the river alone to check a spring bear bait site about a third of a mile up a slough on the western side of the Susitna River. I had had difficulty getting into the slough earlier that day because of overlapping sandbars at the mouth and knew I might have to try some fancy maneuvering to get back out onto the river.

After checking the bear bait and finding it undisturbed, I headed home. I untied the boat, put on my float coat, and started the jet-unit outboard. I figured if the boat was running on-step at the slough’s entrance, I could maneuver between the sandbars and come out on about a 30-degree angle headed upstream to the river current. I would then need to make around a 120-degree sweeping right-hand turn to head downstream to the main channel I would follow back to the boat launch.

Everything worked exactly as I had anticipated except the tunnel-hull boat made the right-hand turn more sharply than I had expected. I lost my balance, and my momentum carried me over the port side as the boat executed its sharp turn. Watching the unmanned boat speed downstream, I mentally wrote off everything as lost (rifle, binoculars, game bags, knives, etc.) and concentrated on working my way toward shore – about 50-yards away in either direction.

My float coat kept my head above water, despite the extra weight of my hip boots and holstered revolver on my belt. I prayed as I “swam” with the current. I could not touch the bottom with my feet. I had gone maybe 50-yards downstream when I suddenly saw the riverboat headed back upstream on a diagonal toward the western bank. I was elated and horrified upon seeing the boat. My cell phone was in my pants pocket and was now useless. The radios on the boat were my only way to call for help – if I survived to get to them. That was the elation part. Possibly being run over by the driverless boat was the scary part!

The boat crossed about 15 feet in front of me and ran aground on the western bank. The engine died seconds after the boat grounded. I continued working my way toward the western riverbank and within about 10 feet of shore my feet finally touched bottom, and I could stand against the current. I grabbed a handful of brush to help pull myself out of the river and up the bank. I had reached the shoreline about 300-yards downstream from where the boat had grounded.

I had only been in the river between five and ten minutes, but the cold waters had taken their toll. I barely had the strength to climb the three-foot riverbank. After reaching the top, I emptied my hip-boots and caught my breath. I then made my way to the grounded riverboat. A call on the VHF radio had help on site in about 15 minutes. My rescuers first made sure I was okay and then towed my boat back into the river. The outboard fired right up, and I drove the riverboat back to the launch site with the rescue boat following behind.

The boat repairs cost me a few hundred dollars and replacing my cell phone added a couple hundred dollars more. The one priceless piece of gear I had that day was my float coat. I have absolutely no doubt that this PFD, and the fact that I was wearing it, saved my life! Big outboards and fancy GPS units are great to have but that bright orange float-coat is now my favorite boating accessory!