Whitewater rafting in Minakami

I added a video clip of our whitewater rafting on Saturday in the previous post, but in case you had trouble seeing it here are some pictures. This is the same scene as in the video; I'm in the front in the red life vest and my friend Emi is behind me:

See how much fun I'm having? Of course, this was before the boat flipped. Check out my face--and my tight grip on the rope--in the picture below (I'm now on the left, second row):

Looking a wee bit less thrilled. That tends to happen after you face death.

What happened was this: we went over a big wave and got caught in an eddy, which was pretty cool for a few seconds, until I found myself shooting through the air. When I met the water again I went under for what seemed like forever (seeing as I had my life vest on it couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but you know how funny time can be). It was long enough to swallow a big gulp of water though. And as I struggled to clear my lungs and keep my head up, I remembered the instructions for this situation: if you're too far from your raft for your boatmates to rescue you, float flat on your back and keep your legs straight out so as not to get them caught or banged up on the rocks. Also, swim for the nearest boat. At the time of our safety briefing, this all seemed sensible, but as I was struggling in the water it occurred to me that it would be a bit hard to do both. So I went with the floating option, and after what seemed like an eternity another raft paddled up and pulled me  and another girl in.

Afterward I learned that only me and the other lady (who is behind me in the picture above, looking less freaked out than me but definitely not as thrilled as everyone else) were shot far from the boat; the five others merely fell out and were able to scramble back into the boat when the guide righted it. When I got back into my original raft, Emi and the others seemed rather nonchalant, and I realized that being thrown from the boat probably didn't seem like such a big deal. But I swear to god I was terrified at the time.

Of course I was never in any real danger, what with my life jacket, all the other rafts in the area (each equipped with an experienced guide and a 20-metre rescue rope) and a rescue kayaker on duty. And it also seems that a boat flipping is not a terribly unusual occurence; at least it's common enough for this rule: any guide whose boat flips has to by beer for all the other guides that night (although I think the dunked passengers need a beer more than the guides).

The company we rafted with was Canyons Outdoor Adventure Experiences in Minakami, Gunma, and despite the near-death experience they were great. We had chosen a full day combo package of white water rafting and canyoning, so after rafting we sat down to a hearty lunch (included in the package) before heading to the canyon. I'll cover the canyoning in the next post, but you can see the pictures now in my Gunma Adventure Album on Flickr.

Comments

[carlyn]

Amy;
EEEKKKKKKKK!!!!! You're braver than I!!!!!...looks like fun, though....tee hee

[Mom]

What great adventures you had on the week-end! No wonder you were sore. The canyoning looks awesome, can't wait to hear about it.
Glad you got home safe and sound.

[Fiona]

Wow Amy....you're one brave woman! I white water rafted in N.Z with my Dh to be (this was 10 years ago) and it was neat but your pics make my wee journey down the river look so mild!

[Absolutely Tokyo!]

Unbelievable! Just looking at the video and pictures gave me an adrenalin rush! These are the kinds of things you'll look back on someday and say, "wow! I did that!" I used to race a Porsche 911 in time trials in California years ago, and remember the first time I spun out. It scared the crap out of me, but once I stopped shaking I couldn't wait to go back and do it again! Although for me, I'd much rather be skidding around on dry land than bobbing between boulders and getting smacked in the face by whitewater! You're a brave gal, Amy!

[Amy]

This was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again. Although racing a Porsche sounds pretty fun too.