boatman's quarterly review - Grand Canyon River Guides

into shock. So that was going on, we got them taken care
of, got them warmed up, got people looking after them, and
everything was reasonably stable, at which point Martha
was standing there like a wet cat, I remember, and
Suzanne said [in Southern accent], “Ah want to talk to you
down the beach.” And we went down the beach. We got
down well out of sight of the passengers and Suzanne
looked at us and she said, “I almost died. That one almost
got me.” And she began to shake a little bit, then she
started to cry. Not a lot, just a little. She said, “I was
trapped between the frame and the boat.” We’d gone out
with improperly prepared boats. These Maravias weren’t
ready, they weren’t made right. And she had been thoroughly
wedged between the frame and couldn’t get out. I
don’t know, she took off her jacket or did something, got
out of there finally, but she almost died. But the thing that
I was struck most by, she did that, then got in the boats,
then towed them to shore, then saw to everybody,
controlled the entire situation until it was totally safe, and
then, only then, did she allow herself to feel anything.
There’s a good boatman right there.
Yeah, there are a lot of Suzanne stories, there are a lot
of them. There’s so many different experiences down
there, different people—some of ’em short, some of ’em
long. But that’s one I’ll never forget. A very brave person, I
think. (long pause) Lost a lot of grapefruit that day.
Not-so-easy motor run through Crystal at approximately 75,000 cfs.
Photo: Joanne Nissen
page 34
grand canyon river guides