ALLEGAN, Mich. — According to the Allegan County Sheriff's Office, there's been an increase in kayakers needing to be rescued from the Kalamazoo River compared to last year.
"This year, we've seen an uptick over the last couple months of kayakers that have either ran into problems or just were not familiar with the area," said Marine Administrator Todd Wagner.
What is typically a spring issue has now moved on to summer.
"I think the rainfall has certainly kept the water levels at a certain height and velocity," he said. However, Mother Nature is not the only one to blame. "The biggest problem that we find is where, first of all, kayakers might not be very familiar, or this is the first time they've ever kayaked the Kalamazoo River."
Other problems include people not wearing life jackets and not knowing how to navigate difficult areas with tight bends.
Depending on where kayakers get stuck, it's hard for rescuers to access them. "It is a very natural resource; there's not a lot of state-owned Department [of] Natural Resource[s] boat access sites," he told FOX 17.
While flipping over in the river is scary to some, it's a typical weekend for Mack Turner. "If you go out on the river and you don't expect to flip over, then ... you don't know enough about the sport to be out there," he said.
As an avid kayaker, he is used to it and prepares for it. "There's going to be times when you go out after a storm that there's going to be trees down that weren't there before," he said. "I actually carry a handsaw and a hatchet with me everywhere, you know, whenever we go out on the river."
Wagner and Turner both encourage people who are not familiar with the river to wear life jackets and check the weather before getting on the water.
Allegan
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