we set sail from our usual put-in place on the yahara river (1). we made our way up river, which was much easier than the last time we did it, since the water level has fallen a few feet. when we reached tenney park, we decided that we would shell out the $5 fee and use the tenney locks (2) to get onto lake mendota. it's a pretty slick operation. i'd recommend it if you haven't done it. it's a modern engineering marvel.
once we made it onto lake mendota, and around the break wall (3), we discovered that it was a much windier day than we anticipated, and, as they say in california, the surf was up. it was going to be a long haul, heading into the wind, to make it to the union, but jack and roxanne are worth that kind of struggle. meanwhile, the other party rented canoes at the union and set out heading east on mendota (4). we met up somewhere out in front of the edgewater hotel (5), and decided we'd continue to fight our way into the wind to see if we could find some shelter from the wind and waves in university bay (not on map). not more than a couple minutes after meeting up, jack, roxanne, mark, kirk, and carol all capsized (6). it was a nervous couple of minutes, but they all were wearing approved floatation devices, so everyone was ok-ish. the uw life guards witnessed the accidents and dispatched the boat to help our capsized friends (7). you might want to click on these photos to get a better view.
vessel rescue picks up jack and roxanne
some pleasure boaters make sure mark, carol, and kirk are ok. check out how much water is in their canoe.
they picked them up out of the drink, and ushered them back to the memorial union safe and sound (but wet). we followed them to the union (8), where we dined on brats from the brat stand before we retraced our route back. the wind and waves at our back made the return trip a breeze. we ran into smoothdavehamm and some of his comrades just before reaching the yahara (9). it was a lovely and eventful afternoon.
here we are making our way back down the yahara at the end of the afternoon.
vessel rescue picks up jack and roxanne
some pleasure boaters make sure mark, carol, and kirk are ok. check out how much water is in their canoe.
they picked them up out of the drink, and ushered them back to the memorial union safe and sound (but wet). we followed them to the union (8), where we dined on brats from the brat stand before we retraced our route back. the wind and waves at our back made the return trip a breeze. we ran into smoothdavehamm and some of his comrades just before reaching the yahara (9). it was a lovely and eventful afternoon.
here we are making our way back down the yahara at the end of the afternoon.
9 comments:
How exactaly did they all capsize? I want to know more about that part of the story.
Mark, Kirk, and Carol capsized first, then as we were commenting on that fact...we, too, capsized. We blame it on the inboard huge f-ing boat that flew by in front of all of us first...in combination with our rental canoes. (matt and Jessica had their own kayak, BTW). The algae was great!!
it all happened so fast. i looked over one shoulder and the first canoe had flipped, then i looked to my left and the second canoe was over.
i think the wind/waves, the big-boat traffic, and the rental canoes may have all conspired against them.
My god, we are talented canoe-ers. Those pictures made me laugh out loud this morning. I too blame it on the huge effng boat. Jerks. Combine that with three people who don't balance well and it was bound to happen. I happen to have a large bruise on my hip today- I think that was canoe related. :)
That is too funny. Glad everyone is okay, even with the algae bath. Rachel
The canoe is an unstable craft. The center of gravity is just too high. While a kayak offers a much lower center of gravity, its advantages are generally lost when one stands up and tries to paddle into waves on Lake Michigan in an ill-fated attempt to one-up Magnum PI and his famed surf ski.
Now that we are back in town expect a blog entry telling the REAL story of how we were tipped over and left for dead in Mendota's icy depths. We got some good pics from the deck of the rescue boat.
David, Where is your life jacket? Lucky the others were wearing them. Lucky you had a better canoe.
Wait... didn't see dwstaple wearing an approved type 3 pfd (or is it a pdf??) in that picture. I just spent 5 days canoeing the Green River in Utah and can agree that these are not-the-most-stable vessels in the world. I can't get through those class 3 rapids without a mishap- go figure.
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