Dixie Fix: A Full Moon Kayak Gone Very Bad

AS in, my friend could have died last night!! We set out for the lake at 8:30 p.m., to launch our kayaks while it was still light. We had flashlights, water and ice tea and life vests and jackets.

We were to meet at least 15 kayakers and two boaters "in the middle of the lake" to see the full moon rise about 9:45 p.m. My friend had never kayaked before but was confident. I used to be on a masters swim team so I knew I could easily swim to shore if need be.

All was fine for the first 40 minutes or so. We didn't see our friends and couldn't figure out why. We were just about in the middle of the lake, halfway down from the Cascade Shores boat ramp. Our friends were launching from the other side.

Suddenly I heard a scream, followed by a splash. I turned around to see my friend topple into the lake. I yelled for her to right the kayak and get back in. She tried, and tried, but couldn't crawl into the kayak. I told her to grab the life jacket, throw her other jacket into the kayak, and stay put. I kayaked to her and told her to grab the back handle of my kayak so I could paddle back to shore, towing her from behind.

"What about your other kayak?" she yelled. "Never mind" I said. "You're more important than the other kayak."

I have to tell you it was scarier in retrospect than at the time. All my mom/grandmother/survival instincts kicked in and I assured my friend were we fine, close to shore and would be there in no time. None of that was true, of course, but it seemed to reassure her.

It was hard paddling with dead weight, against the current. Where were my &*^%#&* friends? I wondered. I could sure use a little help. But that was not in the cards. I had visions of my friend slipped off the hand pull and drowning. I kept calling to her, saying we were getting closer. A couple times she did slip from the hand pull and I had to go back and retrieve her.

Finally we were somewhat close to the boat ramp. I could hear voices in the parking lot. "Hey!" I screamed. "My friend fell in the lake!" There was a looong silence (I gaged it at 15 seconds, my friend thought it was 15 minutes.) Then I heard, "Dude. Does she have a life jacket?" "Yes" I yelled, "but we could use some help here." Then nothing.

I managed to make it to the ramp and my friend could finally stand in the water. As I pulled the kayak out, I heard the guy say "Are you OK?" A little late for that, dude! But he did help me get the kayak back into the truck.

We are fine. The water was relatively warm. But should we have done that? Probably not. And somewhere, in Scotts Flat Lake, is a lime green kayak with a Hawaiian flower on the side. Inside is a women's jacket, a flashlight and one shoe.

This morning when I woke up I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I'm skipping my upper body workout at the gym today.

7 Comments

Ok. Not saying this to make you or your friend feel bad...but, that is a perfect example of why one should always WEAR the life jacket when kayaking. Just keeping one in your kayak is not the same as wearing it!

Especially for someone new to kayaking.

Glad to hear everyone is fine.

Posted by: Ann | July 18, 2009 at 12:57 PM

Glad to hear everything worked out fine! What are you up to now? Where are you working?

Posted by: Sara | July 09, 2009 at 06:51 PM

Yes, Scotts Flat recovered the kayak, complete with friend's 1 sandal, expensive jacket and sunglasses. They towed it to the marina and we got it Wednesday afternoon. Thanks all for not telling me what an idiot I am!

Posted by: Dixie Redfearn | July 09, 2009 at 07:54 AM