On April 12, 1981 Skip Holmes, an experienced paddler and an employee of High Country in Atlanta, was paddling an open canoe with an inexperienced parner when they lost control of the boat just above the upper ledge of Bull Sluice, the last major rapid on Section III of the Chatooga River in northern Georgia. Holmes, 30, elected to jump out of the canoe sothat he could pull the canoe into a better position. Instead, he landed in a pothole that went completely throught the lip of the ledge and became trapped. He let go of the boat, which shot over the ledge and capsized, Holmes was nowhere to be seen.
Shore based safety saw Holmes' forearm appear above the water. They threw him a line, but he could not hold on as the rescuers tried to pull him in. On a subsequent throw from the Georgia side the line became wedged beneath a rock. Using the snagged rope as a lifeline, several rescuers attempted to wade out to the pothole. A large local man reached the spot and probed the pothole with his arms. Holmes's body washed out at the base of the ledge. Estimates of the entrapment time range from 20 to 30 minutes. CPR was not effective.
The coronor found rope burns on Holmes' arm and bruises on his face. This suggest s that he may have hit his head and became disoriented, and thus was not able to work his way to safety.
Jumping out of a canoe into fast moving water is a serious mistake. Even when no potholes are present, the possibility of foot entrapment exists.
