Canoeing part 3

The past couple of days I have been thinking a little too much about my recent capsizing experiences. I have been canoeing since I was a small kid and have never capsized and here I was capsizing twice in one night. In the end it was fun using the skills I have picked over many years, how to swim with the canoe towards shore, and to do a canoe-to-canoe rescue. But the experience still bothers me. After talking to my father today, I think I know what might have happened on both occasions, we violated two tenets of canoeing, don't stand in the canoe and never paddle on the same side. The second tenet is easily resolved as the sternman will change his paddle side when the bowman switches.

After the course, I talked to Tim and they are offering white water canoeing course up the Ottawa River from where I live. This would involve paddling down a set of rapids using a canoe made about of ABS -tradename Royalex. These canoes are so indestructible that if hit them with a rock and put a dent in the side of the canoe all you do is give it a kick and it regains its shape.