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13y 1984 Georgie, now at age seventy-three, had made some concessions to age. She seldom led hikes in the side canyons but remained with her boats, and she avoided most of the nighttime partying enjoyed by the boatmen and passengers. Soon after supper, while others sipped the traditional blackberry brandy and coffee, Georgie would slip away to her raft to unroll her pad and sleeping bag. By 8:30 P.M. she would be asleep. But her love of the rapids was as strong as ever. In August 1984 Ray and Norine "Nori" Abrams embarked with Georgie for a trip through the Grand Canyon. This was Ray's sixth trip with Georgie and Nori's second. Ray was almost like a boatmanhe enjoyed helping in every way he could. They were a fun couple, both heavy set, but Nori more so. On the night of August 24 the party camped at Fern Glen Canyon. The next morning they had "egg break" at about 10 A.M. Some of the passengers went on a hike, but Ray and Nori stayed with the boats.! The trip had gone wen up to that point. Their crew was very safety conscious. They made sure everyone wore their life jackets and told them to hang onto the safety lines through the rapids. Georgie always took precautions with passengers who she thought might have difficulty. This included having them switch to a seat on the center pontoon rather than ride on the outside sections ofthe raft. For added safety she would have the boatmen lash them to their spot with a socaned sling Georgie had devised many years before. The sling was made of rope tied in such a way as to hold the passenger in place in 227 WOI/(t{1{ of{AI 'River case he or she lost their hand grip on the rope. At the same time, it could be quickly released if necessary. Lud Fromme said, "Georgie, myself, and Jose Couce, the other boatman, practically insisted that Nori switch to the inside section and allow us to put her in a sling."2 However, she adamantly refused to move from her favorite outside seat. Abrams said neither he nor his wife wanted to take the risk of her being tied to and possibly trapped under the boat in the event of a flip in Lava Falls. The two smaller triple rigs left camp first, followed by Georgie's big G-rig. The seating order of passengers on the left pontoon was as follows: Don Scott, Ray Abrams, Nori Abrams, Craig Bosson, Cathy Couce, and Jose Couce. Fromme was positioned on the rear of the right-hand pontoon. As Georgie approached the head of the rapid, her passengers were instructed to hold onto the safety lines with both hands and not to wave to the folks on shore. The boatmen had double-lashed all the river bags to the boat and double-checked everyone's life jacket. As usual, Georgie did not stop to scout the rapid but plowed right down the middle. As they entered the first drop, Georgie turned off the motor and crouched down in the motor well holding onto a safety line. The raft plunged directly into the "ledge hole," with the bow of the boat facing down river, not sideways as was practiced by the smaller triple rigs. As the boat hit the hole, it was momentarily stopped, and swung so that the bow was facing the left bank. At this point the pontoon on the left side was tucked under and a wave swept over it, washing four or five people into the river. Fromme said he was not aware of the trouble on the other side until he heard someone screaming for help. He scrambled over as quickly as possible, still not knowing that Nori Abrams was overboard . He soon became aware that a young teenager who had been sitting about amidships was overboard and screaming for help. Fromme got to him and pulled him back on board. Fromme said, "If he had not panicked, he would have realized that all he had to do was to hang onto the ropes alongside the raft until he could pull himself back on, or be helped. But with his screaming, I had to go there first." Fromme then became aware that three people, including Jose Couce, were trying to help Nori get back onto the boat. Ray Abrams said he was under water approximately twenty to thirty...

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