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My dad wanted me to come to a canoe trip.
In Sunday me, my father and my mother drove to south where my dad's cousin lives. It was a "Volbripaev" a day when everyone builds a fire. There were us three, my dad's cousin's family and a bunch of other people. We barbequed and did all the other happy shit.
The next day was the 1st May. In the morning, we drove to the west where the river was.
We were in 4 groups:
*Me, my dad and mom in a plastic canoe
*My dad's cousin and her husband and younger son in a rubber kayak
*A middle-age couple in a plastic canoue
*My dad's cousin's second son with his two friends in a rubber kayak
The wheater was about 15C degrees (59 F)
The water was about 5C dedrees (41F)
We were all amateurs, I had not done this shit for years.
It wasn't some insane river as it is in the mountain states/coutries where people are doing that rafting thing.
That river is pretty steady, it's narrow and curvy. It wasn't some mainstream place, we were the only ones there. Some old farm houses were on the side of the river. The nature was beautiful and untouched.
No one had life vests nor helmets.
Everyone carried tons of clothes and shit in plastic bags along. Also cameras, cell phones and car keys.
We had serious problems with manouvering. As I said, we are amateurs.
The first half of the trip was very calm but then there were TONS of little rapids/cascades where the stream was insanely fast and there were a lot of huge rocks. We didn't have any clue that we see those things. Everyone pretty much lost controll when we had to pass the rapids. Everyone got stuck between the rocks all the time and whatnot. We drove over the huge rocks all the time. The canoe has bazillion scrapes. One kayak even had a hole of a size of a finger in it. I liked it actually, it think it was funny, I like some extremeness and shit. My mom had a different opinion about it. She was scared to death. Everyone got used with the rapids in the end though, it wasn't no biggie anymore.
About one mile to the end remaining. Me and my parents were ahead of everyone. The distance with the others was pretty long. No rapids anymore.
Everything was nice and quiet until there was this curve to the right and after the curve there was a big tree in the left. The tree had huge boughs and shit horizontally over the river. We wanted to go on the right side of the river but the stream was INSANE!!! that it pulled us to the left. The boughs were about 2 feet above the water. We got stucked. We held on of the tree but the stream was soo fucking fast that it pulled the canoe away under our legs. Kabooom! We were in the water. The river was pretty deep. We held on of the tree but the water pulled my mom totally in. Me and my dad pulled her back. I didn't lost controll, I knew exactly what I was doing, my nerves are cold like eskimo's eyebrows. I made sure my parents had a good grip and could hold on of the tree.
Then I dived in like Mitch Buckhannon, I went after the boat and the other stuff. I wore heavy basketball sneakers, those baggy extreme-sport/camping or whatever pants filled with my wallet, home keys, and a lot of other stuff, t-shirt and a big sporty long-sleeve jacket. It was pretty hard to swimm with all that shit, specially upstream. I went after the boat first because if my parents would have been in trouble then I could have helped them with the boat. But they were getting on the ground so it was ok. The boat was basically filled with water. It didn't sank yet because it had a small waterproof coffer wich wasn't so waterproof. Then I swam after the three oars, the blastic bags where the clothes were in, my mothers gloves and a mineral-water bottle. Somehow I gathered them all together and swam to the ground with all the items.
Suddenly the kayak with the tree boys hit the same place and they were in trouble also. They were holding on of the tree, their kayak with most of the stuff sank. Some of the stuff stream carried away. I was one the ground when the other 2 boats were just a little bit before the curve. I yelled at them to stop. They stopped and went on the ground to help the others. If I wouldn't have told them to stop, then they would have ran into the boys and there would have been eight people in the water. I emptied the canoe of the water, but all the stuff in and went to help, they boys were luckly on the ground. It was really hard to oar to that place because of the fast stream. The canoe was under the water, but the other folks had a plan how to get it out.
So I went after their stuff wich the river had carried away, I gathered them all up. Before, when my parents got out of the water, they started walking towards to the end point where our cars were to change their clothes. So I caught my dad walking, I gave him all the stuff wich the boys lost, he told me to go pick up mom and wait for him. I drove a little bit further where I saw my mom, picked her up, we waited a little bit, then my dad came and we drove to the end, it was like half a mile or something to the end. We were all very wet. We got on the ground. We changed the clothes, drank some tea and packed all the things and loaded them to the car. I didn't had much extra clothes. It was very interesting how I looked. I wore socks, those slip on pool sandals, blue towel over my pp and butt (like a Scottish skirt), a hockey jersey and a motorcycle leather jacket.
All the cell phones and the expensive Sony digital camera were soaking wet.
We went to see the others with my dad's off road vechile, they were ok, we said that the end is near, so they started coming, We waited them, when they arrived, we went to a some cool forest warden's house, barbequed, ate and everyone went to home. We arrived to home at late night. Not a thing was lost. May dad said before, that it's going to be a short trip so I can study for my exams. Ummm, yeah right.
Right now I can't move a muscle but I'm thinking about the next trip, can't wait.
In Sunday me, my father and my mother drove to south where my dad's cousin lives. It was a "Volbripaev" a day when everyone builds a fire. There were us three, my dad's cousin's family and a bunch of other people. We barbequed and did all the other happy shit.
The next day was the 1st May. In the morning, we drove to the west where the river was.
We were in 4 groups:
*Me, my dad and mom in a plastic canoe
*My dad's cousin and her husband and younger son in a rubber kayak
*A middle-age couple in a plastic canoue
*My dad's cousin's second son with his two friends in a rubber kayak
The wheater was about 15C degrees (59 F)
The water was about 5C dedrees (41F)
We were all amateurs, I had not done this shit for years.
It wasn't some insane river as it is in the mountain states/coutries where people are doing that rafting thing.
That river is pretty steady, it's narrow and curvy. It wasn't some mainstream place, we were the only ones there. Some old farm houses were on the side of the river. The nature was beautiful and untouched.
No one had life vests nor helmets.
Everyone carried tons of clothes and shit in plastic bags along. Also cameras, cell phones and car keys.
We had serious problems with manouvering. As I said, we are amateurs.
The first half of the trip was very calm but then there were TONS of little rapids/cascades where the stream was insanely fast and there were a lot of huge rocks. We didn't have any clue that we see those things. Everyone pretty much lost controll when we had to pass the rapids. Everyone got stuck between the rocks all the time and whatnot. We drove over the huge rocks all the time. The canoe has bazillion scrapes. One kayak even had a hole of a size of a finger in it. I liked it actually, it think it was funny, I like some extremeness and shit. My mom had a different opinion about it. She was scared to death. Everyone got used with the rapids in the end though, it wasn't no biggie anymore.
About one mile to the end remaining. Me and my parents were ahead of everyone. The distance with the others was pretty long. No rapids anymore.
Everything was nice and quiet until there was this curve to the right and after the curve there was a big tree in the left. The tree had huge boughs and shit horizontally over the river. We wanted to go on the right side of the river but the stream was INSANE!!! that it pulled us to the left. The boughs were about 2 feet above the water. We got stucked. We held on of the tree but the stream was soo fucking fast that it pulled the canoe away under our legs. Kabooom! We were in the water. The river was pretty deep. We held on of the tree but the water pulled my mom totally in. Me and my dad pulled her back. I didn't lost controll, I knew exactly what I was doing, my nerves are cold like eskimo's eyebrows. I made sure my parents had a good grip and could hold on of the tree.
Then I dived in like Mitch Buckhannon, I went after the boat and the other stuff. I wore heavy basketball sneakers, those baggy extreme-sport/camping or whatever pants filled with my wallet, home keys, and a lot of other stuff, t-shirt and a big sporty long-sleeve jacket. It was pretty hard to swimm with all that shit, specially upstream. I went after the boat first because if my parents would have been in trouble then I could have helped them with the boat. But they were getting on the ground so it was ok. The boat was basically filled with water. It didn't sank yet because it had a small waterproof coffer wich wasn't so waterproof. Then I swam after the three oars, the blastic bags where the clothes were in, my mothers gloves and a mineral-water bottle. Somehow I gathered them all together and swam to the ground with all the items.
Suddenly the kayak with the tree boys hit the same place and they were in trouble also. They were holding on of the tree, their kayak with most of the stuff sank. Some of the stuff stream carried away. I was one the ground when the other 2 boats were just a little bit before the curve. I yelled at them to stop. They stopped and went on the ground to help the others. If I wouldn't have told them to stop, then they would have ran into the boys and there would have been eight people in the water. I emptied the canoe of the water, but all the stuff in and went to help, they boys were luckly on the ground. It was really hard to oar to that place because of the fast stream. The canoe was under the water, but the other folks had a plan how to get it out.
So I went after their stuff wich the river had carried away, I gathered them all up. Before, when my parents got out of the water, they started walking towards to the end point where our cars were to change their clothes. So I caught my dad walking, I gave him all the stuff wich the boys lost, he told me to go pick up mom and wait for him. I drove a little bit further where I saw my mom, picked her up, we waited a little bit, then my dad came and we drove to the end, it was like half a mile or something to the end. We were all very wet. We got on the ground. We changed the clothes, drank some tea and packed all the things and loaded them to the car. I didn't had much extra clothes. It was very interesting how I looked. I wore socks, those slip on pool sandals, blue towel over my pp and butt (like a Scottish skirt), a hockey jersey and a motorcycle leather jacket.
All the cell phones and the expensive Sony digital camera were soaking wet.
We went to see the others with my dad's off road vechile, they were ok, we said that the end is near, so they started coming, We waited them, when they arrived, we went to a some cool forest warden's house, barbequed, ate and everyone went to home. We arrived to home at late night. Not a thing was lost. May dad said before, that it's going to be a short trip so I can study for my exams. Ummm, yeah right.
Right now I can't move a muscle but I'm thinking about the next trip, can't wait.