Some frightening moments Friday for a local family on the Colorado River. Rescue workers said a father was canoeing and kayaking with his three sons when he went over a dam and couldn't get out of the water.

It happened at about 12:30 pm in Southeast Travis County near Blue Bluff Road.

Rescue crews said a 36-year-old man was in a kayak alongside his three sons, ten-year-old twins and a 13-year-old, who were in a canoe -- when they came upon a dam.

EMS workers said the children took the canoe to shore while their father paddled the kayak through the dam, then walked back upstream along the river bank. When he tried to paddle the canoe through the dam it capsized.

"He was stuck in a recirculating hydraulic which is behind the dam where water recirculates and you’re not able to swim out of it and so he was basically stuck in that hydraulic," said Casey Ping, the program manager for STARFlight.

The children called 911 from the river bank.

Rescue workers used STARFlight to pluck the man from the water and carry the children to land.

Emergency crews said the boys' father did suffer hypothermia symptoms, but refused treatment. He was wearing a life jacket.

If you ever find yourself in this situation, emergency workers said the best thing to do is take the canoe or kayak out of the water and walk it around the dam.