Great American River Clean-up

Sunday, September 27, 2020
by Brad Freelove

Another Great American River Clean Up is over and done with. When forty or so divers and helpers left the water at River Bend Park, we had near 35 sacks of garbage with us. I estimate about 300 pounds of glass, cans, plastic, radios, clothing, umbrellas, anchors…….and a few cameras, watches, wallets, cell phones, several crawdads, and other assorted forms of treasure were removed from the river.

While the American River Parks Foundation did not have their annual clean up this year, they were supportive of our efforts and wished us well. Rafts were supplied by the folks at American River Raft Rentals. Going on several decades now, ARRR has been a supporter of keeping the river as clean as we can get it. Manager Kent supplied us with all the boats we could use and came down to our departure area to make sure that we had everything we needed. Without his help, this event may not happen.

Once again, Mike Johnson and Dolphin Scuba were there to help us out. As with American River Raft Rentals, Dolphin Scuba has been a strong believer in keeping our waters clean and friendly for all. Mike has donated equipment to both the Parks Foundation and Dolphin Divers to help us pull out all the trash that is left behind by users of the river that just don’t care. This year Mike helped us out by letting his customers know that the event was taking place. As always, THANKS MIKE!

This year we were fortunate to have a new diving group join us on the water. Two local divers, Steve Gilmore and Gordon Kuhnle, have started an informal diving club called “Outlaw Divers.” Without their help, we would have fewer divers and helpers…..and a lot less trash removed from the river. Steve and Gordon were all over the place during our event. Gordon was taking video both above and below the water. Steve recruited over half the divers for our event and provided a barbeque at the end of the trip. I have made a couple dives with this group and Steve and Gordon know what they are doing. If you want to check out their dives and videos, here is how to contact them. You will not be disappointed if you do.

Steve Gilmore steve.gilmore@dolphinscuba.com
Gordon Kuhnle gordonstech@hotmail.com

There is a lot of work that goes into making this river dive a success….or a failure. We were lucky to have the help of Jack Millard, Ken Takata, Sandy Cooper, Maridee, Kenny, Owen, Sandy, Ray, and many others that got up and out of bed before the sun did. I met them all at 7 am at River Bend. We handed out parking passes, transferred equipment from one truck to another, and headed to Sunrise.

We got our rafts delivered at 8:30 am and started our dive brief around 9 am. By 9:20 we were in the water and thinking of that GoPro HERO9 camera that we were going to find. We made our brunch stop at the San Juan Rapids. This gives everyone a chance to get their equipment adjusted and grab a quick bite to eat and something to drink. We had about 15 divers that were on their first clean up dive. I was expecting a few problems. I was disappointed! Nothing went wrong! Everyone made it to the rapids safely and no rafts flipped over. NICE!

After a short break, divers and rafters headed down the river towards River Bend, a cold drink, and home. Our new divers did learn that it is hard to keep track of where their boat is and what to do when you find a set of rapids right in front of you. I was fortunate enough to have Owen, Sandy, Ken, Sandy, and Nick with me. We had tied 3 boats together as we went down the river and assisted any diver needing help. We pulled divers out of the water when they were tired, got cramps, needed water to drink, gave them empty bags for more trash and helped them through several sets of rapids too shallow to dive. It was a learning experience for many but all handled it without panic.

At 2:30 pm we arrived at River Bend Park and started the unloading process. Bags were emptied of trash so they can be used next year. Just about all the recyclables were taken away. Crawdads went back to the river.

Everyone gathered up their stuff and made their way home. Well, almost everyone! I left the river about 3:45 pm. Steve Gilmore, along with family and friends, were still there passing out burgers and drinks to any of our group that wanted something. Thanks Steve and Gordon. I wish you and Outlaw Divers great success. I know that I will join you during your events.

Thanks to all those that participated this year. Special thanks to Brooke and Steve. They were on the river longer than most and made sure that no diver got left behind. Always nice to have good help. THANKS YOU TWO! Thanks to Julie Stonehocker for helping out and volunteering to get a raft trip set up for next year. Julie helped us out in February for our Wet Ninja event. She is going to set up a few more events for our members and diving community. Thanks Julie!

I spent the rest of Sunday and part of Monday cleaning up my equipment and cleaning up the 130 bags that we will use next year. I did get a couple text messages from some nameless members. It seems that they had too much fun on the river and need copious amounts of Tylenol, tequila, and rest for their tired and aching bodies. Well, I hope they recover fast! Still lots of diving weather left in the year.

GET OUT THERE AND DIVE!
Check out some photos from the event below:

LABOR DAY CAMPING
September 4-7, 2020, Ocean Cove, CA

Article forthcoming. In the meantime, check out some photos from the weekend below: