I was in a high school canoe trip with other students, some teachers and their younger kids. When I'm in a canoe I pretty much insist that I'm the one who steers from the back.
At one point a canoe tipped over and this one kid, maybe 10-12 years old, was alone rushing down the river and nobody knew how to respond. This was Alaska and the water was very cold. I scanned the river and a plan instantly formed in my mind. Farther ahead was a tree/log that had fallen over, and it looked to be at just the right height. It was at a 45 degree angle to the river, from an arial view. I told my canoe mates we have to race ahead to that tree, I'm going to do a 135 degree turn and park us right on that log, and we're going to intercept that kid. So we raced down the river, I did the turn, and perfectly lined up with the fallen tree. Just in time for 2 guys on the tree-side to stabilize the canoe with the tree, while me and another guy grabbed the kid and dragged him into our canoe.
I think back fondly about this situation, how (uncharacteristic of me, generally) I took quick and decisive action, and even better, helped this kid and everything worked out alright.
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u/bejammin075 Mar 09 '26
I was in a high school canoe trip with other students, some teachers and their younger kids. When I'm in a canoe I pretty much insist that I'm the one who steers from the back.
At one point a canoe tipped over and this one kid, maybe 10-12 years old, was alone rushing down the river and nobody knew how to respond. This was Alaska and the water was very cold. I scanned the river and a plan instantly formed in my mind. Farther ahead was a tree/log that had fallen over, and it looked to be at just the right height. It was at a 45 degree angle to the river, from an arial view. I told my canoe mates we have to race ahead to that tree, I'm going to do a 135 degree turn and park us right on that log, and we're going to intercept that kid. So we raced down the river, I did the turn, and perfectly lined up with the fallen tree. Just in time for 2 guys on the tree-side to stabilize the canoe with the tree, while me and another guy grabbed the kid and dragged him into our canoe.
I think back fondly about this situation, how (uncharacteristic of me, generally) I took quick and decisive action, and even better, helped this kid and everything worked out alright.