Strainers

Picture a pasta strainer, used to retain the noodles while the water drains out. Now picture an unlimitied amount of water (like a river), and how that pasta would go nowhere, being continuously stuck by the force of water. That is the danger of a strainer on the river. It will catch obstacles and keep them in the water for a near indefinite amount of time. As a paddler, and potentially swimmer, it’s not a place you want to be. People can get pulled into strainers, have their limbs get stuck, and drown. Strainers can be among the most deadly things on moving water.

A strainer is defined as an obstacle on moving water that can accumulate floating debris, holding in in place. Often, that obstacle is a downed tree, roots stuck in the shoreline with the branches handing out in the water. The branches will strain out twigs, garbage, and even paddlers. A subcategory of strainers is sweepers. What’s the difference? Strainers are submerged, sweepers sit on top of the water. Strainers will trap underwater, where sweepers will sweep you off your boat.

Avoid strainers

The easiest way to avoid problems is to avoid the strainer all together. Awareness is key. If you can spot the strainer with plenty of time, you can just maneuver around it. Being able to read the water and shoreline as you come around corners on a river allows you to be prepared for what you have to dodge, and which way the water is taking you. That’s why there’s not much talk of strainers on flat water, like lakes. A strainer hazard is twofold, both the branches and the current combing to cause the danger.

If approaching a strainer, the rule of thumb is to stay wide. There might appear to be gaps under or by the shoreline, but there can also be submerged branches that you just can’t see. Steer clear and stay away. If you are rapidly approaching one, try to backpaddle or ferry yourself away from it.

That being said, there are situations where you might not be able to escape. Sometimes there’s a blind turn and you are right in it. Maybe you flipped previously, are already floating and are getting pulled towards it. Maybe you are in a stretch with multiple hazards and dodging the last one set you up to get grabbed by the next one. What do you do if you are going to hit one directly?

As the main danger from strainers is being held underwater, it’s important to get as high as you can. If floating towards a strainer, you’ll want to assume an overhand swimming attack position and throw yourself as high as you can onto whatever branches you can get. This is different than what most moving water safety training dictates. Normally you would assume a defensive foot first position, floating downriver. When facing a strainer, your feet can entangle in branches, and get you stuck, hence the reversal.

You might be wondering “but I’m wearing a PFD, I’ll be fine, right?” Hopefully. The weight of moving water can easily submerge a life jacket, depending on the angle of the strainer. PFDs are important, but it’s not a guarantee.

Now that you are aware of the basics, let’s jump into a real life scenario:

On a cold day in May, I was on an overnight trip in a remote stretch of northern Iowa with two friends. We came into a stretch of curves with obstacles littered throughout. It started simple enough, with a few shoreline obstacles and a quick current. Towards the end, there was a fallen tree in the middle of the river, with a narrow skinny chute to the right, and a wide-open path to the left. Just around a curve from that, lay a recently fallen tree, blocking 85% of the river. The current was pulling all the way left, directly into the path of the strainer.

I was lucky. I spotted the fallen tree hanging over the top of the valley we were in. My two paddling buddies, not as much. They chose left because it was a wide open path, which normally is the right call. The first one got pulled into the strainer, while the second had the foresight to get over an eddy line and into dead space. I skimmed the narrow right channel, and made it past the strainer. The first stuck paddler got flipped sideways, but was able to go high to pull up and avoid drowning. Once I got through, I got to the left shore, climbed out and eventually helped pull both paddlers out of the water. We caught our breath, cold and wet.

As we were wet in a remote area with a stuck boat, we had to contact authorities for help. 3 different fire departments came with power boats to get us out. About an hour later, we were in an ambulance, heat all the way up, trying to dry off. Not a good end to the trip, but we got out of it in one piece.

I tell this story to emphasize that a freak strainer accident can happen to anyone. I paddle hundreds of miles a year across different rivers at all kinds of heights. One of the paddlers I was with is racer, who has won some well known kayak races. The other paddler is an accomplished sea kayaker. Point being, no slouches. How did we get caught up? There were multiple factors.

Leading into the strainer, there were was a quarter mile of squiggly curves. The river would go left, right, left, right. Being in a valley, we couldn’t see what was around the bend. The river was smaller with steep banks, not giving us much room to get out and scout, or get out in case of accident. The water level was higher, leading to reasonably strong current and eddies going around these turns. Additionally, there were several obstacles in the river and on the sides. There were some downed trees on the banks acting as strainers, and there were a few boulders and tree stumps in the middle of the river. All of this is to say, we were very preoccupied with hazards.

When we came around the fateful turn, the current was towing hard to river left, straight into the strainer. With our downriver vision impacted by the blind turn, we didn’t have a lot of time to get right. Additionally, with us dodging hazards previously, we were scattered all over the river. While I sniffed out the fateful strainer and got around it, it’s not something I boast about. I got lucky, plain and simple. My training and experience was a factor in staying to the inside of the curve, but there still could have been hazards in front of me coming out of that turn.

All of this is to say, it can happen to anyone. Keep your eyes peeled, and don’t take a river for granted. Awareness is the best way to avoid a strainer.