Last week I wrote about canoeing, and you should always know the skill of the person you are canoeing with and here is the reason. Many years ago, while having a few beers at Rugger’s landing just north of Mercer, I was asked by the owner if I would like to take a half day canoe trip. Even though I have canoed before, know the basics of canoeing and can “kind of” read rapids, I am NOT an advanced canoer by no means and replied, NO. Then this person I was with thought it was a great idea. At this point I asked this person if they had canoed before and was told, yes and I have white-water rafted in Colorado also. So, against my better judgment I agreed to take the half a day trip. The next morning, I chose a lower skilled route that I had taken before, (AND THANK GOD I DID).

Before we departed, I was told to make our adventure even better I should take a cooler with a few items in it and I reply, “it’s only a short trip, and cooler was not necessary”. Then I saw a cooler being placed into a small innertube that was then filled with air and was told because it was an easy trip, just tie the cooler to the back of our canoe and let it drift behind. The cooler was filled with ice, few plastic bottles of water and a couple of beers for a relaxing day of canoeing. After we were dropped off and were preparing to start our 4-hour trip, I was told by the person I was with, “I’ll take the back”, and with all the white water rafting this person said they did, who was I to argue. The first hour went fine and I remembered that a CLASS II rapid was coming up and although these rapids are wide, they had large to medium rocks to the left and middle that needed to be maneuvered round. The only problem was the water level was higher than normal, and not only was the water running faster, but some of those boulders I remembered were not visible. I told my canoeing partner, I believe if we just to stay to the RIGHT side, and we should be fine. Well, at the head of these rapids, we started to the right and then started to turn sideways.

This is when I realized this person was NOT an accomplished canoer and kept yelling instructions with some choice other words that I won’t repeat at this time. We kept turning until we went through the rapids backwards. YES BACKWARDS. After hitting about 6 rocks, slamming into 1 boulder, losing my favorite hat, lost the contents of the cooler and hit a few objects I wasn’t aware of, I told this person in a not so nice way to paddle towards the shore. Once we were in slower moving water and close to the shoreline, I was informed I should have controlled the canoe better and kept us away from those rocks. To which I replied loudly “THE PERSON SITTING IN THE BACK, STEERS THE CANOE” and I was then told, (I DONT THINK SO). At this point I needed a stiff drink and couldn’t get back to that bar fast enough. So, as soon as we got to shore, I instructed my canoeing partner to get in the front of the canoe, just sit there and I would do my best to get us back alive.

Even though it took a little longer and my arms were about to fall off from paddling, I managed to navigate through 2 much smaller rapids without incident and made it back to our starting point. I then downed my first drink in seconds and was ready for another. That was the last time I was in a canoe, because I do not want to experience that again (LESSON LEARNED). So, if you are ever asked to go canoeing, may I recommend that you ask these important questions.
1) Have you canoed before?
2)  When was the last time you canoed?
3) How long can you canoe for? Half a day or full day trip?
4) Have you canoed though rapids.
5) Trick question to see if they really know about canoeing. Who gets into a canoe first? The correct answer is the person that will be sitting in the front gets in first while the STERNMAN (person in the back) holds the canoe. So, the moral of the story is ALWAYS KNOW YOUR CANOEING PARTENERS SKILL LEVEL. Or like my friend Mary, (you know who you are) get a one-person KAYAK and you don’t have to worry about anyone’s skill level.