Drowning on Yellow Breeches
Tuesday's drowning in the Yellow Breeches Creek along the York-Cumberland county border really shook me up. I can't tell you how many times I tubed on that exact same stretch of water growing up.
Now that I spend most of my water time in a kayak rather than an inner tube, I've been itching to hit the Breeches, but haven't because I don't have a stream map (like I do for other area waterways) and I don't feel comfortable going without knowing where lowhead dams and other dangerous obstructions lie.
I thought this might be a good time to remind everyone of some tubing safety tips experts shared with me in July 2004 when I wrote a story about great spots for local tubing excursions. Here's what I wrote then:
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said there is no state agency that has jurisdiction over tubing. The Fish and Boat Commission only goes so far as to prohibit use of inner tubes at the more than 300 public access areas and boat launches at the lakes and rivers it oversees. Otherwise, he said, it's not illegal to tube in local waters unless there is a specific property regulation.
He recommended tubers wear life jackets while floating down local creeks. The inner tube itself could keep a wayward tuber afloat, but if you get separated from your inner tube or it hits a rock and deflates in deep waters, you're out of luck.
"Most creeks around here are relatively shallow and you could just stand up," Tredinnick said. "But it's better to be safe than sorry."
Steve Swope, owner of the former Codorus Creek Outfitters in York Township, advised tubers to wear helmets as well. "You could fall out of the tube headfirst into a rock. You never know."
He also suggested tubers scope out the route beforehand to check water levels and any obstructions or possible hazards. "It doesn't hurt," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Capital Region Vacations Bureau said tubing is a "do-it-at-your-own risk" activity.
"Local people might be familiar with the waterways, but visitors coming into the area could easily get themselves into trouble pretty quickly," she said. "Here in the Susquehanna, there are undercurrents in certain spots, and some of the creeks have debris and rocks in them sometimes, so there is a safety issue there."
