An Unscheduled Swim

Another post about our boys' trip...

On the third day of our trip, I did something I haven't done for years. I managed to swamp my canoe.

We had just started paddling for the day. I was commenting on how awesome the scenery was, and how cool it was that we were starting the day off with some fast water. We rounded the corner and were immediately greeted with log that ran virtually the entire width of the river. The only way around was to the extreme left of the river. Unfortunately, I was going first, the water was running too quickly, and I couldn't get far enough to the left. I T-boned the log, right in the middle.

I knew that I was going to hit it, and began weighing my options. The only option that I saw was to try backpaddling, hoping against hope that I could paddle fast enough to get upstream and work my way around the log. Once I hit the log, I started backpaddling and immediately realized this was not an option. I understood pretty quickly that the only thing I could do was save my strength and wits for what would inevitably happen next.

I quit paddling, and the canoe immediately swung around parallel to the log. I tried to lean into the log, (the only way to prevent swamping in this type of circumstance) but the current was too strong, and my canoe immediately tipped. In less than a second, I was under water, under the log, and popping back up... my canoe full of water, and my gear floating downstream.

My canoe is homemade... constructed of plywood and fiberglass. It will float by itself, but not with any weight in it. My gear was stowed, primarily in waterproof containers. But I didn't have enough waterproof stuff for everything. Part of the gear was stowed in rubbermaid containers, strapped shut with bungy cord.

My camp chair was one of the items that wasn't in a bag. It's heavier than water and immediately sunk to the bottom... never to be seen again. Fortunately, these chairs aren't too expensive. Unfortunately, it was brand new. I also lost my sunglasses, and my baseball cap, but I found my cap later on downstream.

One of the rubbermaid containers wasn't rubbermaid... it was a cheap imitation. It filled with water, and shattered on a rock. It also had most of our dry food. We lost our mac-n-cheese, oatmeal, cocoa and instant tea.

My sleeping bag, clothes, camcorder, wallet, and keys were secured in waterproof bags. They were fine. My cot and matress pad were wrapped in contractor bags. They got damp, but weren't soaked. They dried in less than 3o minutes in the sun.

Since we went south for this trip, the water was warm, so the swim wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, it was kind of fun. But we were swept about 1/4 mile downstream before I was able to make it to shore and before we coralled our gear. After the initial shock wore off, I laughed my @$$ off!

The moral of the story is that even experienced paddlers need to pay attention and not become complacent. It's also good to remember that no matter what, the river will occasionally win.

I've got some video footage of the trip. I plan to make a youtube video sometime in the next week or so. At that time, I'll write more of a review about the trip and some of the gear we took.