Kayak JONG question

[stantonbum1]

What is a vortice?

A friend of mine (an experienced kayaker) drowned last year in New South Wales after getting caught in one.

[Yeti]

Sorry to hear of your friend. NSW must have some crazy waters.

Vortices is the plural of the word vortex, a center of rotation, or something spinning that may pull you in.

In the North American kayaking context, I'd call it a whirlpool, or maybe even just a nasty hole.

Around here, a vortex is what you see after eating too much cactus by the fireside after a day on the river.

[Tye 1on]

Ya, sorry 'bout your bro-
Like Yeti says, likely a 'nasty hole'. If the rocks and other features are shaped just the wrong way, it'll produce a feature that just recycles anything caught in them. I've been in itty bitty ones, and it's still scary. The worse ones can be tremendously wicked. People have been known to take their life jackets off to try and escape by diving deeper, below the surface hydrology. Typically that ends up with not a great ending either...

[stantonbum1]

thanks for the explanations

[backcountry1pr]

again, I am sorry for the loss of a friend. I had a buddy get caught in one running a section of river through the Black Canyon CO, eventully got out, but lost his paddle, sleeping bag, tons of shit, had a rough time getting out, the BC is (i think) 3rd biggest vertical wall in US, good for climbing with a rope, not a boat.