This isn't really scary, but it happened in May, the water was freezing, and I learned a valuable lesson.

I was camping with a large group and we needed to take fish "parts" to the next island so the gulls would do their thing. It was my first time canoeing and I had never paddled by myself. It was a short trip so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to try it out. I borrowed the nearest canoe, which was empty, except for a few odds and ends.

On the way over I noticed just how tippy an empty canoe was. Half way back, when I caught a whiff of the pan, I stopped to rise it out. A gust of wind caught the bow, spun me around and before I knew what was happening I was tipped. As I watched things start to float away I decided to jump out before everything was lost. I tipped as much water out as I could and rescued the things were floating.

Until this point, I was just embarrassed and glad that no one could see me. As I slowly made my way to shore, I noticed that I was drifting faster than I was swimming and would soon be past the end of the island and into the big part of the lake. Now I was more scared more than embarrassed. I angled with the wind and luckily made landfall with a few feet to spare.

I walked the canoe back to camp, but by the time I got there, the breeze had dried my clothes and hair. If it wasn't for my blue lips and uncontrollable shivering (and the fact that the pan was now at the bottom of the lake) no one would have known.

Posted by db on January 17, 2000 at 01:28