Buckle up
Tragic, needless.
A Limestone man drowned Saturday while canoeing on the St. John River.
He didn't know how to swim, and wasn't wearing a life jacket. Poor judgment, a simple mistake, but very costly one.
I just feel awful for the man and his family. It didn't need to happen.
If you're out on the water--anywhere, anytime--you've just got to have a PFD (Personal Floatation Device) on. Period.
A few years back, while guiding on the Dead River, my raft flipped in a big hole and dumped everybody in the river. My paddlers all got picked up quickly by other boats in our party, but I ended up taking a very long, very cold swim through the rapids. I was finally fished out of the water about a mile down river, and I can tell you, I wouldn't have made it without a life jacket. No way.
I'll bet many of you can tell a similar tale.
Don't take chances. Wear your PFD. Always!
Why, why, why?
I'll never understand these stories.
True story: I met a guy once (not the brightest bulb on the tree) who owned multiple boats, didn't know how to swim and yet refused to wear a PFD. He told me a story about being tossed from a boat on a lake. To get to the other side, he did what came naturally:
He took deep breaths and kept sinking to the bottom and then pushing up in a semi-lateral fashion until he made it to land.
Posted by
ColleenJune 14, 2005 10:28 AM
