How I failed today...

I was up at a lake north of school for the past three days, and today me and one of the leaders of the group went kayaking. Now, this isn't really a big deal for me, since I've been quite a few times on the bay at home during various school events of summer programs.

we had a good ride, going almost all the way around the big lake and both of us weren't really tired. We got to a point, though, were we could see our retreat center straight out across the expanse of the lake. My partner said something, and just at that time, a resident of the lake started up a leaf blower to clean off the nearby dock. Well, I asked her to repeat it a couple times, being too far away to read her lips as I usually would have. So on the third time, silly me, leaned in to hear her. Well, I was on a kayak, and whoever has been on a kayak knows how unstable they are, especially the plastic ones, compared to fibre glass.

I flipped it. YUP. I flipped the damn thing. Well, I flipped it back over, and realized that there was no way i could get back into it. We were about twenty yards from a dock, so I swam and drug the thing behind me. Now, luckily, I'm a very strong swimmer and was wearing a life vest. So getting there was no problem, but swimming with something attached to you that's bigger than you is like being a wet washcloth.

Anyway, I made it there alright, and managed to climb up the dock and try to get back in. Failure times two. I flipped again since the thing was full of water. So I tried again, thinking maybe it was just me being a ditz. Failure times three. Flipped again.

So then my partner realized that there was a set of steps on the other side of the dock, so I swam over there, pulled it up, or attempted to. I couldn't get it up the damn steps, the thing was so full of water. I did manage to get it up on the steps a little bit, where I was able to turn it a little to get some of the water out. I then could get in the thing, but it was still pretty full with water, and it felt like I was sitting in a bathtub. And when I tried to row, however, I flipped again.

By this time, I was fully frustrated. But then I realized that it only made sense to not flip the damn thing upright again, and pull it up the steps upside down to drain it of water. I did it, got it up fine, drained it of almost all the water, and got in, completely stable.

So, I failed a good four times today. HOWEVER: I did manage not to lose anything while I was being flipped around. I had sunglasses on my head, and managed to grab those, flipflops on my feet, and a shirt that I had discarded earlier in the ride. And, I kept my retainer in!

I may have failed terribly, but I win too! ;)