Inexperience in high flow lead to kayakers missing their pullout on the Bow River and they required the assistance of the water rescue team of Cochrane Fire Services to get back to shore.

Three people, two men and one woman, found refuge on a small island east of Cochrane around 3:30 p.m. on July 16 after they were unable to negotiate their kayak to a predetermined spot by the River Ave. bridge. The second man was from an accompanying kayak and had swam out to offer assistance. He soon discovered he was unable to help pull them to shore and instead floated downstream alongside until they safely landed on the small dot of land.

Meanwhile, the fourth kayaker, disembarked and phoned for assistance from the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre. Three firefighters responded on the services' river jetboat and from start to finish it was a 37-minute operation.

Cochrane Fire Chief David Humphrey says the couple were a bit cold and wet but otherwise in good condition. The person who swam to the kayak was wearing a wet suit. All were equipped with lifejackets.

The original plan was for the kayakers to paddle from the Hwy. 22 bridge to the River Ave. bridge, explains Humphrey, a distance of about 1.5 km.

Flow rates of the Bow are determined by the Ghost Reservoir and at that particular time of the day the water flow was at its peak.