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#26202 - 08/31/18 11:32 AM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
redsnow Online   content
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Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 3001
Loc: WV
This is the same picture at the top of the thread, I'll try to explain what makes this area neat. Running short on time, I'll add more from the work computer.



Ok, for the last day of the month, I figured I'd have more free time today. Not.

Notice that little ledge across the river, that is the South Branch of the Potomac River. There really isn't much in the picture to give you a size comparison.
The river is, give or take, 50 yards wide in that picture. The rock below the ledge is around 8 feet wide at the waterline.

But the ledge is some kind of slate, it's been there forever. It's polished up, smooth as can be. Years ago our family and friends would go down to the same spot and picnic. Have a little hot dog roast, and play in the river.

That ledge is shaped almost like a bench, no matter how short or tall you are, you can find a spot where you can soak. Back when I was a kid, Mom loved to go out there and just sit, and let the water do it's magic.

I took my girlfriend to the same spot a while back, the water was warm, (she said it was cold). But at the time we had, like a 6 inch ribbon of water flowing across the ledge, where we were sitting. I wouldn't try to guess how many 100's of gallons of water were flowing across each of us per minute. I will tell you this, it was very relaxing!

I'll add more later.


Edited by redsnow (09/01/18 12:59 AM)

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#26203 - 09/01/18 10:09 AM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
musher Offline
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Registered: 07/22/03
Posts: 2375
Loc: Qc.
Very pretty spot!

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#26204 - 09/02/18 12:20 AM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
musher Offline
Moderator

Registered: 07/22/03
Posts: 2375
Loc: Qc.
New story that happened this afternoon.

It's a beautiful day and I popped in to the house for a minute and caught the tail end of the phone ringing. Wife calls back and it is my son on his girl friends phone.

Turns out he had been motoring around in the canoe with a buddy and the dog. It is a very windy day and being on the water isn't a good idea. But the wind can come up suddenly around here. I wasn't even aware that it was windy at all until we got my boat in the water.

They flipped in the middle of the river. It is about a km. wide and has a very good current but no rapids. The dog swam to shore and they could not tow the boat swimming. They were afraid of losing the dog so they went to shore, too.

He had called the girl friend with the last of his phone before it died. They made it to the car ,where she had gone to after the call, and now was asking if we could come and give him a hand.

He is a good 20 minutes away and we have nothing ready but in about 30 minutes we are at the waters edge.

Son and I go out in my small freighter. We tell the others to stay put and that we would call if we need to meet them down river. Cell coverage worked there so girl friend kept her phone and we took Wifey's old flip one. I had a sat phone in case, too.

It is rough water. Rough enough that I start asking what he was thinking going out on such water.

Down a ways we see red on a beach. It is his gas can way up on shore. Someone had put it there. There are no trails out of the beach. We see where a boat had been dragged onto shore but it had a keel. His boat does not.

We continue down river and we see a group of canoes way off. Son starts twirling the paddle in the sun so the the reflection will be seen. It doesn't take long for a response and we motor to the group.

They are 3 couples from Europe, all with rented gear from a local outfit and they are on a 3 day paddle down stream. They had the lost canoe and were drifting with it not really knowing what to do. They also had a water bottle. They were looking for the people/bodies that canoe belonged to!

After thanking them and sharing coordinates, as well as a strategy for getting back any other equipment they might find, we towed the upside down boat to shore. That was not easy.

At shore we were able to flip the boat over and empty it. The motor was still attached and one seat was still there. Lost are the second seat, beach chairs, horseshoe game, oars/paddles, and a hat.

On shore son tries to phone girl friend to say where we are and that all is good. No answer. He tries several times over a good stretch of 15 minutes or so. He wants them to come get us on a logging road which would mean a rough portage. I want to tow it all back.Still no answer. After a few more attempts, finally an answer!

Girl friend had left the phone in the car while standing on shore with Wifey and buddy. It was my wife saying, "It's odd they haven't tried to call us," that made her realize the phone wasn't within hearing distance!

We got back in one piece. It was a 3.5 hour adventure. The flipped canoe was about 3 or 4 km from where the adventure started.

I asked son if he had a knife. No. Matches? No. Bag to keep the cell phone dry? No. He was totally unprepared. Being minutes from his home made him complacent and careless. At least they had on their life jackets because buddy swims like a rock. He said he would have drowned without it.

Wifey and I are a little discouraged. We are also thrilled that all ended well. But we are really hoping that several lessons were learned. The loss of a few hundred dollars of stuff and maybe a dead cell phone might help.

He must be still stripping down the motor right now. I let him know that his 9 lives in water are getting pretty used up. He didn't disagree. He said he would never have gone out in this wind with the girl friend. But he didn't want to disappoint his city buddy. Buddy is also a skate boarder and they met through competitions they were both attending. Son said that it was all over in 20 seconds. They took a wave head on, canoe got swamped, a few side waves, and it was full. Once full it rolled and that was it.

It was floating but only about 12 inches of it or less was sticking out of the water.

I'm hoping the tourists are fine and that they continued to hug shore real tight as they drifted.


Edited by musher (09/02/18 11:16 AM)

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#26205 - 09/02/18 12:05 PM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
redsnow Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 3001
Loc: WV
Hmmmm, I'm sure Mom had a discussion with her little boy also!

I get the feeling that your Son knew that he shouldn't have been out on the water too. You know how young guys are!

Not sure how far the young men had to swim? But I'm sure watching the boat drift out of sight, that should have settled in pretty hard! And I figure that he was doing a lot of thinking while he was screwing around with the motor too. Just 24 hours ago, the motor was running smooth.

Whoever it was that lost their favorite hat, he'll remember that for years and years!

Well, no one was hurt, that's the main thing!

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#26206 - 09/02/18 03:37 PM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
musher Offline
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Registered: 07/22/03
Posts: 2375
Loc: Qc.
Originally Posted By: redsnow


Whoever it was that lost their favorite hat, he'll remember that for years and years!

Well, no one was hurt, that's the main thing!


It was sonnny boy's hat. At least he didn't have his underwear on his head this time. It was too windy for flies to be a factor!

Motor isn't working yet but he hadn't done the carb. He tried without doing the carb and it fired but not more.

Mom leaves the butt tearing to me in such circumstances. It's a good cop bad cop thing.

He was pretty subdued on the phone this morning. It might be because I called him on the girl friends .... phones are pricey. I bet his is in a bag of rice right now.

I don't know how far they swam. I would guess a half km. if he was in the middle. At least they swam on the side the car was on.

Ditto on the no one hurt. That is all that really matters. But the water is quite warm and there are lots of shallow spots. Had they stayed with the boat they porbably would have fared better after drifting a few km.'s. But the dog couldn't swim forwever.

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#26207 - 09/04/18 12:30 AM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
redsnow Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 3001
Loc: WV
Subdued is a good word!

I hate to say it like this, but. . . the more times your son pulls on that starter cord, the better! He will remember that for the rest of his life.

Thoughts going through his head: (Motor was working good the other day, started on the 4th or 5 pull, now I've been dickin around with it for 2 days, and nothing but a sputter.) (I hate this new hat!)

Lucky that the dog swam to the same side of the river too. Or that would have been another chore.

I can imagine the father and son chat that took place. Get out there about 150 yards off shore, with the motor running, almost being like under the "Cone of Silence." lol.

But, anyway that you look at it, the boys are lucky.

Talking about the tourists, can you imagine what was going through their minds? Find an empty boat in the middle of the river, and not a person in sight. That would make you wonder!

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#26208 - 09/04/18 09:49 AM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
musher Offline
Moderator

Registered: 07/22/03
Posts: 2375
Loc: Qc.
The motor still isn't starting! It will sputter if he pours gas right into the piston and the plug sparks well. I told him to take the plug out, turn it upside down over night, and crank it without the plug once in a while/

The tourists were looking for someone alive or dead. They told us. They were as happy to see as as we were to see them.

The phone is officially dead, too.

He was over for supper last night. We didn't talk about it besides the motor. One sister was in town and I figure they chatted.

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#26209 - 09/04/18 08:20 PM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
Hal Offline
Moderator

Registered: 07/17/00
Posts: 10227
Loc: Blue Creek, Ohio, USA
Get some 180 proof isopropal (or the best you can find) alcohol, dump all the gas out and rinse the whole system with the alcohol. The alcohol will absorb the water. I had to do that with my daughter's lawnmower this summer. She let water get in her gas can and poured that in the lawnmower.
_________________________
Endeavor to persevere.

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#26210 - 09/04/18 10:28 PM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
musher Offline
Moderator

Registered: 07/22/03
Posts: 2375
Loc: Qc.
Thanks, Hal. I gave him the info.

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#26211 - 09/05/18 05:01 PM Re: Water skills. [Re: redsnow]
redsnow Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 06/11/06
Posts: 3001
Loc: WV
Hopefully nothing is warped or cracked. You didn't say, but I assume that the motor was running, until it hit the water. That's a very big temperature change, quick, on the cylinder and piston and all.

My brother in law, Mike tinkers with small engines, he told me years ago that he'd use WD-40 to get them fired up. Take the plug out and give it a good spurt, screw in the plug, and then crank on it. Just talked to Mike this morning, never thought about asking him about the outboard.

Here just thinking about it, it's one thing if you're out on the water and a storm blows in, gets windy and nasty out, there's not much you can do. Beach the boat if you need too.

But it's a whole different thing when it's nasty and crappy out, and still decide to set sail.

But I'm sure the young men were having fun, till the boat turned belly up. But that had to be pretty tough watching the boat and all of their stuff drifting out of sight. I'll bet even the dog was standing there on the river bank, thinking: Next time, I'm staying with Mommy. lol

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