In the world of white water the buzz word has become the Futelaufu for both kayakers, rafters, guests and guides! Everybody is talking about rafting the Futaleufu, preferably with ace talented safety kayakers, and safety catarafts as part of the crew!
What is essential in this fast flowing river is to have a solid crew that reads each other like a finely choreographed dance troupe! The timing of running the Futaleufu rapids where all crafts want to be close but not tangled is paramount!!
We shout out “buenas lineas” as we enter the big rapids to both positively frame the upcoming event but also to remind one another that we are there for each other.
Futaleufu means big river and the fast current means think fast and trust your instincts! I have been studying disaster and it occurs to me that most are preceded by hesitation.
It is the moment you can not afford to lose that can make all the difference. We teach our younger guides to act quickly and decisively as we believe in this firmly as the elders of the crew.
The epitome of team work, rafting the Futaleufu is really fun when you have full confidence in your team. It is palpable, tangible as you can just tell right away that there are many layers to a good team and the depth of a solid team is both youthful exuberance and years of hard earned experience where being in the right place at the right time is no accident!
The reason I write this is that when searching for the right outfit to go with, do a little research on the “team” that will be leading you and you will learn that experience counts the most where it matters!
I humbly admit this as just on man’s opinion, but I have been guiding for 40 years and pause to reflect.
Raft the Futaleufu and have fun!!
The Bio Bio manual reads: page one: have fun, as you read on, get lost in details on page 17, where at the bottom of the page is the asterisk *, when in doubt, refer to page 1.