Ghost Boats Leave Group for a Night
On Thursday, July 7, 2016, a Canyon Explorations concessions river trip in
Grand Canyon National Park pulled their five rafts and one paddle boat into
the popular Stone Creek camp at the foot of Deubendorff Rapid. The river
trip set up camp and kitchen, tied all their boats together and anchored
them to shore, had lunch, then went for a hike up to the popular Stone Creek
waterfall.
A concessions two boat motor trip pulled in at the Deubendorff Rapid scout.
Seeing the river party at the Stone Camp below, they motored their tour
boats upriver ½ mile to the Below Bedrock Camp and set up their camp for the
night. The flow of water in the Colorado River was rising, due to the day
prior’s water releases from Glen Canyon Dam, almost 150 miles upriver.
Sand anchors are a common tool to secure a raft to the shoreline. They
consist of a simple aluminum angle roughly two feet in length with a hole
through one end and a point on the other. The sand anchor is driven into the
shore sand, point end first, deep enough that only the hole on the other end
is showing. Ropes from the rafts are then tied through the hole in the
angle.
While the group of twenty four people were hiking, the rising river water
loosened the rafts, which pulled on the sand stakes. At one point the sand
stakes pulled free and the entire fleet of watercraft, including a paddle
board and two inflatable kayaks, floated away downriver. The departing
watercraft were unseen by the passengers and crew. The river term for a
floating watercraft with no occupants is a Ghost Boat.
Later in the afternoon, a do-it-yourself river trip ran Deubendorff Rapid
and, seeing no rafts, pulled into the Stone Creek camp where they set up
their camp. The Canyon Explorations party returned, and one of the crew
members took a life-jacket and began walking downriver. The do-it yourself
river trip had a satellite phone, which the concessions crew used to notify
the National Park Service of the situation. Another commercial river trip
was camped at Owl Eyes, almost three miles below Stone Creek. Their group
was hiking and spotted the ghost boats passing by late in the day and also
notified the Park Service. The do-it-yourself group fed the concessions trip
dinner and breakfast.
At first light the next morning, four and a half miles downriver at Deer
Creek Falls, the hiking crew member spotted the ghost boats ½ mile further
downriver on the opposite side of the river and close to shore. He swam
across the river and found one of the dragging sand anchors had become
entangled in rocks and was holding the fleet. He then secured the boats.
When the two boat motorized concessions party arrived at Stone Creek, the
Canyon Explorations party was ready and loaded all their kitchen and
personal gear onto the two 30 foot long motorized rafts, and proceeded
downriver to Deer Creek. After a visit there, the gear and trip participants
were all dropped at the ghost boats, and the trip resumed its journey.
River runners are reminded that when securing watercraft, at least one line
to shore should be secured to a large boulder, fixed anchor or suitably
large riverside vegetation. Should your watercraft float away, waiting for
the next trip or trips to arrive is a perfectly good way to handle this
unanticipated situation.
The National Park Service monitored the situation, but as this was not a
life threatening emergency and was being handled appropriately by the river
community, did not respond.
Tom Martin
PO Box 30821
Flagstaff, AZ 86003