![]() ![]() Taking young children and animals are the responsibility of parents The Dordogne River requires basic canoeing skills, such as balancing, steering, turning and tandem strokes if canoeing with a partner but the Pompiers of Sarlat (10 kms from the main tourist canoeing part) are out every day in the summer pulling their pneumatic boat behind them. Most speak English and 'Lady Luck' won't help! Most parts of the Dordogne river are Class 1 but certain parts are Class 2 moderate and, if in doubt, and with common sense, ask at the nearest 'depart canoe' rental sites for more information on security before setting off. Only swim from/near the small 'beaches' where one can stop and pull up the canoes and do not venture into the deeper waters or out of one's depth. There have several incidents in the past (young English boy 17, caught in wirlpool and drowned) but one of the important information I have given to friends intending to go out on the River Dordogne, is to be aware and avoid of those parts of the river where there are 'whirl-pools' can be seen. ![]() no address, no details whatsoever.is this normal? I was surprised that the pompiers didn't take any details other than the family's name. Has anyone had or heard of similar incidents? How does one judge a river level scientifically (rather than just looking at it - after all, parts of the river look pretty dangerous even in summer when other parts are so shallow one has to paddle and pull the canoe along!)? The people concerned do not speak french very well at all. They were lucky and were rescued from a deep water situation by the pompiers on jet skis, but no one took anything but their name, no report was made and the whole exercise seemed very haphazard and relying on 'lady luck' to me. ![]() The family involved, which included a child of 11 and a small dog, survived due to a lot of common sense, their life jackets, an ability to swim and a lack of panic, and a mobile phone to allow them to phone for help. The water levels when these people went out were high, but was the level in fact too high, ie how does one find out in advance how 'dangerous' the river is at any given time? I've tried googling and not found anything yet. I recently heard about a canoeing incident on the river Dordogne in early April that made me wonder about the safety of canoeing on rivers in France. ![]()
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