Guest Blog: "Self Rescue" By Milan
Today’s guest blog comes to us from Milan from Canadian paddle maker Hunter and Harris…
Humble Alert! This was my first time out actually paddling a canoe in just over two years. When we closed down last year I was so bummed, I didn’t even want to look at a canoe let alone paddle one. I was in a different headspace as some of us may have experienced through the pandemic.
Fast forward to the photo above, this is me practicing in water self rescue. This, my friends, was the hardest thing I have done with a canoe! When I was a young pup we would horse around in the middle of Lake Nippising west arm and tip the canoes and get back in them for a summertime activity. Now, at 38 years old I was struggling to flop in. How could this be? I workout in the shop handcrafting paddles and I also like callisthenic exercises to build strength( I do use a few weights but who cares about that!) also I am no stranger to running 5k for fun, etc. Basically I am in shape so why was I struggling?
Well, I think it boils down to a couple things. Ego and poor technique. I have been privileged to have met some incredible paddlers. I would pick their brains for HOURS!!. There are many great things I learned from these seasoned vets but one in particular stood out. His name is Rolf Kraiker, now I could go into a length about this mans canoeing resume but I don’t think there is enough free disk space to do so. Whether he remembers saying this or not, he told me how some canoeists just believe that canoeing is simple and that their ignorance has led to poor judgement. I might be paraphrasing a bit but that was the gist of it.
The thought of me canoeing this whole time…….Years upon years of canoeing where there is no canoe route, where nobody knows where you are, no service, cold late fall weather, etc. I just thought that if I spilled, no problem, I am in shape I will hoist myself up and dry off on shore. At this point, I really hope you can detect how ignorant my thought process was. Up until yesterday that is.
After a two-year hiatus, I donned the PFD, grabbed a bunch of cherry paddles, safety gear and took the family out for some much needed outdoors time. When we were all done with family time, Mira motioned that maybe we needed to pack up. We were all exhausted. This was the perfect time for me to try solo recovery. Why? Because you don’t get to choose when it happens and I wanted to know what I was up against. I failed! My ratio was for every 10 attempts I would be successful twice! Imagine if I had children crying and a wife all floating next to me while “daddy” was trying to be the saviour of the day? I had no stress other than being exhausted, I couldn’t imagine adding the others into the equation.
Ya know, its great wearing a PFD and I ALWAYS wear mine, no exceptions! But I often remind myself of a book that scared me straight by James Raffan, I believe it was called Deep Waters. It’s about the Timiskaming tragedy, those boys were wearing pfd’s. Hypothermia can hit you on the warmest of days. It’s just not enough folks! I don’t want to hear about it on the radio while driving, nor a social media post, or MyCCR etc. We need to learn this skill, reach out to a certified canoeing professional, canoeing outfitter or canoe guide to find a place to help you learn this skill.
As for me? I am going to reach out to some people that are experts in this field and actually learn the proper technique. I was humbled, that’s as far as I want that to go. I want to learn. No ego. Nothing is simple.
Thanks again to Milan for sending that personal account in (be sure to check out their beautiful handcrafted paddles if you haven’t already). If you are interested in guest blogging on Traversing, let us know!
