I often hear the statement "it's not a matter of if you dump your canoe, but when", usually in the context of advising proper safety measures and the like. And it's definitely a good mindset to have when determining what precautions to take. But I've always wondered, how large a percentage of paddlers actually have dumped at some point in their careers?

I have, once, but with the caveat that it was while getting into the canoe right next to shore, so not much of a danger to myself or my gear. It was one of the first times I'd ever been in a canoe as a kid, and I had no idea what I was doing.

oh yeah... Janice saved our sorry a$$es

I have been canoeing for over 50 years and have never flipped in one...until last June. My daughter and I were getting back in the canoe after a lunch break on Saganaga and suddenly we were wet. There was a rock just under the surface that rolled us when my daughter put her weight in the canoe. We retrieved everything, dried it all out and much more carefully tried it again. Not if, when.

SE

Only once in over 45 years, and it was while launching from shore in large waves, but soaked us and our gear. Have had a couple close calls. I agree, if you do it long enough, you will probably dump at some point. Be careful and be prepared.

Just once: my son was kneeling in the bow seat of my Souris River Q17. He was facing me and attempting to net a Walleye I had caught. He reached way out to net the fish and then as he lifted the fish into the boat we both flipped into the water. I was surprised that none of our stuff tipped out of the canoe. However, the canoe had sculled about three inches of water into the boat so everything in the canoe was floating or soaked. I lost my eye glasses.

Thankfully it wasn’t very windy and I caught the canoe before it drifted away. That was in 2017; my son has learned to stay seated in a canoe. Here is a photo of my son after we got to shore. You’ll notice he didn’t lose his sun glasses.

Every single paddler, even the very best one, dumps regularly if one pushes his limits. Like on whitewater.

Not a whitewater paddler here, just bow paddler for a tandem team that did wilderness canoe-tripping for 42 years. Never flipped out in the lake, but like several who have already replied, we flipped our canoe at a portage landing. We were loaded and getting back in the canoe on the Pine River. I was in the canoe first, ready to go, and when Spartan1 got in the stern he just leaned one way and I evidently leaned the same way. It was the first trip with our Bell Northwind, but that wasn't really an excuse. It was 1999, and our first trip was in 1971, so we certainly weren't novices at portaging, loading at a portage, and shoving off again.

To add to the embarrassment, some women on their own trip were at the portage waiting for us to leave, and they saw the entire fiasco. But the plus side of that was that they helped us gather up our soggy gear and reload. We were in shallow water and never in any danger, except to our dignity. We paddled to the next available campsite, unloaded and spread everything out to dry.

As a totally unrelated aside: Taster's Choice Instant Coffee Crystals in a plastic jar, sealed up in a Ziplock bag, placed in a sealed Rubbermaid Tub, are NOT protected from the water in a capsize. The "coffee" sludge in the bottom of the jar was unusable and we had no coffee for the rest of our trip.

Twice in multiple trips but it always happens when you least expect it.

Thrice here.

Once on shore getting into a new solo canoe that was much more tippy than I anticipated, once while playing in the big waves on lake superior (but I was sort of expecting it), and once hitting a set of standing waves at the mouth of a river coming in off a lake with some heavy rollers.

Never has happened in the BWCA, but I'm sure it will someday. Also surprisingly hasn't happened running whitewater yet either but I expect that to happen at some point as well.

Never dumped in the bwca so far, but have a few times on some of my trips in Canada in the past! Usually at stupid times, lol. Canoe tipped when my friend was filling up water in the middle of a lake. Tipped ferrying across the most pathetic small barely a riffle rapids in a small creek. We were able to stand in the waist deep water after flipping. That one was awkward! Never lost any gear besides a Nalgene bottle, I still like to be prepared for when it happens again, because I’m sure it will as my girls get bigger and we do more in our trips!

Nope.

Prisoners on Pine

Once. I learned my lesson and hope it never happens again. It was on a day trip.

Twice with gear. Once in Quetico in October; 15# northern + 60# dog + long narrow, fast solo boat.

Once in a rapids on the Steele River; I put the cause to lack of coffee due to insurmountable mosquito clouds in the camp we had just exited.

RunningFox: "Just once: my son was kneeling in the bow seat of my Souris River Q17. He was facing me and attempting to net a Walleye I had caught. He reached way out to net the fish and then as he lifted the fish into the boat we both flipped into the water. I was surprised that none of our stuff tipped out of the canoe. However, the canoe had sculled about three inches of water into the boat so everything in the canoe was floating or soaked. I lost my eye glasses.


Thankfully it wasn’t very windy and I caught the canoe before it drifted away. That was in 2017; my son has learned to stay seated in a canoe. Here is a photo of my son after we got to shore. You’ll notice he didn’t lose his sun glasses.

"

While we haven't capsized because of this, I have had to remind my son on a few occasions not to reach out to retrieve a fish. It seems to me that bow paddlers do not have the same sensitivity to canoe stability that sternsmen do.

Twice, once with gear. We were in northern Ontario running a rapids that, in hindsight, we should have portaged. At the very end of the rapids there was about a 18" drop that resulted in more air than water and we just sank. I was in the stern and my buddy practically disappeared. We did not tip, we just sank.

The other time was about a year ago in my new Prism. I flipped the empty boat in six inches of water while trying to get in. Pretty embarrassed.

Twice : Once when solo fishing from the back of a tandem on a calm evening. I leaned to far back and over I went. Nice warm summer evening so no big deal.

On a day trip on the Cloquet river my partner and I had run some more challenging whitewater and then snagged a rock in an incredibly easy little swift. Got crossways and dumped. My partner got hypothermia and I had to build a big fire to dry him out.

Never on a lake, many times running whitewater. Whitewater in a canoe is a swamping waiting to happen, when it does you are ready.

Yes once. I've been paddling in the BWCA since 1984 and never dumped.
Then I decided one day I wanted to try my first solo trip.
This was in 2011 or 12 maybe. I was doing a route I'd done many times before - EP 50 (Cross Bay) aiming to get down to Long Island Lake on night 1, then head East through Kiskadinna to stay on Winchell nights 2 and 3, then out through Gaskin exiting at Poplar Lake. I was looking forward to enjoying a lovely bacon cheeseburger at Trail Center in a few days to celebrate my first solo trip!

Well you know what they say, man plans and God laughs.

Day 1, mid-afternoon I'd just come off Lower Gorge onto Karl. I'm thinking, ok one really short paddle and a quick portage onto Long Island and Day 1 is in the books. I come around a corner and a little breeze hits me coming left to right.

I lean in to perform a few sweep strokes to keep the boat straight against the cross breeze.

Stroke one... two... THREE! And on three, BAM just like that I'm underwater.

Turns out the balance profile of sitting in the center of a small solo canoe was super unfamiliar to me. You're reaching out farther from the center line. You're higher up in the water. The boat is lighter.

Took the better part of a couple hours to rescue all my stuff and drag it to the campsite there, where luckily the kindness of some passing strangers provided me some dry firestarter for the night so I could humbly and coldly paddle back out first thing the next morning.

Banksiana: "Twice with gear. Once in Quetico in October; 15# northern + 60# dog + long narrow, fast solo boat.


Once in a rapids on the Steele River; I put the cause to lack of coffee due to insurmountable mosquito clouds in the camp we had just exited."

Gave up on fishing with my dog in the solo canoe for this reason, I dont think I could ever land a fish without going over and he's always jumpy and curious when it comes to fish and lures (also he's 80lbs). I know I'll go over at some point, just hoping it's on a day-trip close to home and not in the BWCA.

Several of our guys have turned over canoes. In each case there were common reasons: They were sitting on seat pads, raising their center of gravity; the canoe was loaded too high/too much; and they were "squirmers". . . .couldn't sit still but always changing positions and moving around on their seats

Only on the Brule River (WI) when running the ledges.

Never in the BWCA but twice on the same lake near home.

First time we were buzzed by a speed boat and the wake dumped us as the boat sped away. My B-I-L was not wearing his life jacket and though he was treading water just fine he got fatigued in a couple of minutes and started to panic. Thankfully his life jacket was floating near by and I was able to help him into it before we started gathering our other floating things. All we lost was an anchor that had not been tied to the canoe and which had a rope shorter than the depth where we went in. Another boat soon came by and helped fish us out of the lake.

Second time by brother and I were fishing a weed bed not far from a public landing. We each had a fish on when a boat came in to land and as it slowed, made a big wake that caught us broadside. Preoccupied with our fish, we did not react fast enough to stabilize against this wake and in we went. The boat operator finished landing his boat, looked at us bobbing in the water then jumped into his truck and took off! A shoreline resident saw the whole thing, and shouted at us from her home that she'd bring her boat out to help us. Lost a rod and reel on that one.

I was guiding some youth on a trip one time when a combination of wind and wake suddenly dumped two of our travelers on Moose Lake. While there were frequent protestations, we mandated lifejackets ALWAYS while in the canoe on the water and this was that one time when it really counted! All that was lost was a little pride and a roll of TP that got soaked when it's plastic container leaked.

Once in Quetico on North Bay of Basswood. On a day trip. We had been back in Lost Bay for several hours at some point I looked up and the tops of the pine trees were swaying. Uh oh - it was calm back in there but must be getting ugly on the big water. Our campsite was on the east side and a little south so we had the option of taking an angle to quarter the waves that would take us pretty much out in the middle of NB or stick close to shore and go the long way around. We chose close to shore. The only problem was one point that we would have to get around completely broadside to the wind and 3 to 4 foot waves. Coming out of Lost Bay, we strapped everything in, put on our PFDs - and well, long story short, we tipped going around that point. We were only 30 feet from shore but were getting blown around the point so we made the joint decision to let the canoe go and swim for shore. I noticed that the canoe was drifting toward a shoal and it looked like I could walk out and get it. So I bushwhacked down the shore a little way and walked out as far as I could and still have my feet under me - ohhh, the canoe was just a few feet further out - so I swam for it, was able to grab it and swim it back. Luckily for early June it was warm and the wind dried us out quickly. We started a fire, but really didn't need it. The water was cold so if we had gone straight across and tipped out there I probably wouldn't be here to tell the story. Lost one hat and a tackle box.

Numerous times on purpose, just for fun or practicing recoveries (a long time ago). By accident 3 or 4 times. All getting in or out of the canoe (Magic) at a dock or similar structure. Took me awhile to learn not to do that.

Almost dumped my Magic in a campsite on the St. Croix a few years back. The spring runoff was still high and there was a fast channel running through one of the sites north of Log House landing that looked like it might be fun to try. it was about a foot deep and 12 to 15 feet wide with a couple of winding bends in it. The current caught me and stuck the ends of the canoe on opposite banks. Managed to jab the paddle in the sand and recover.

my wife dumped us. we were coming up a slow river ,no wind, it was hot. we needed a place to take a break and get some water and there just wasnt anywhere for the last couple of miles. we come out into a short bay and only have to go maybe a 1/4 mile and hook a right , just as the wind is kicking up. we approach the point in the L for the turn and we are catching shore line rollers, broadside . i just hear my wife mumble, i am done. we are maybe 20 yards at most off the shore and we have a bit of a rip tide. it took almost a hour to drag it to shore, by myself. i would un buckle everything and let it float and slosh the majority of the water out and toss the packs back in. then she would pull herself onto the canoe and swamp it again.

it was like dealing with a drowning person in a life jacket, she flat out freaked . from calorie exertion and not drinking enough water and the sun.

i was not a happy person, it wasnt a horrid spot to dunk, when you have 2 good paddlers on the same page. she just had enough and had the ''umbles '' , scared the crap out of me. i've been on rougher water solo and with other people. i should of caught her deteriation and didnt

Many times when I was younger, but there was drinking involved and wet t-shirts. Not saying it was smart but hey, I learned not to panic when I dumped a canoe. Two times I remember; I was doing a draw stoke on a little eddy on a small crick and my nice Walmart paddle snapped in two, I went into the water fast it was almost like I leaped in! I went to aluminum paddles after that.
Another time four of us went up to the Bois Brule during high water, on the way up we read "The Complete Wilderness Paddler by Davidson and Rugge" to figure out how to white water canoe. My paddle pardner and I hit a big branch we didn't see going through the 2nd set of ledges on the river and it tipped our canoe enough to fill it with water. Luckily there was an eddy right behind the branch so we were able throw the gear upon the bank and didn't end up with a yard sale. WE learned a lot about paddling white water on that trip.
In BWCA, Quetico I dumped once. I was on Seagull with a new new and we were fighting a nasty wind which resulted in nasty waves. I couldn't get him to kneel, plus I loaded the canoe top heavy, plus he was about 6'5" and weighed about 300 lbs. I learned that dry bags don't necessarily stay dry when floating in the water.
All our tp and bread got wet. Luckily there were 3 other groups with us so we had enough food and tp to get through the trip.
By the way if you haven't read The Complete Wilderness Paddler, it's a great book.

Yes, once. We were with an inexperienced paddler in a 3 person canoe setting off from camp fully loaded into heavy rollers. The inexperienced person leaned the wrong direction and paddled the wrong side. It was fast.

Lesson learned is that once you are in the water, panic sets in quickly. Your feet feel useless kicking with boots on and fully clothed. Your head feels like it barely sticks out of the water. The entire landscape changes due to your perspective. Easy to get disoriented. We were lucky. We were close to shore and all had our PFDs on. I am a strong swimmer but that experience made clear to me that it wouldn't necessarily matter if I didn't have the PFD on. I could have EASILY drowned.

Wear your PFDs people. Always. I see too many paddlers over confident and not wearing them. The water will humble you straight to your death if you don't respect it.

Yes, and it was a near death experience. We were crossing Burnside lake headed for the Crab lake portage in a very stiff cross wind. It was mid May and the water was cold. It looked pretty calm from the launch but once we got out a ways there were white caps. To counter act the wind we were both paddling on the same side and a big wave rolled us over.
The water temperature was a big shock. We were fully dressed and both had our
PFDs on. My partner wanted to swim for shore but I insisted we stay with the canoe and gear. Our packs and blue barrel floated and I used the painter ropes to keep them with the canoe.
The rollers were big and I knew we had no chance to flip the canoe in those conditions. I've taught many Boy Scouts how to flip and right a canoe and I knew we did not stand a chance getting this canoe in these conditions upright.. Our best shot was to ride it out. I flipped the canoe on its side and used it as a kind of a sail. We drifted and sailed along with the wind for almost an hour.
My partner climbed up on the blue barrel as best he could and I held on to the canoe. Burnside lake has some cabins and eventually some folks at Camp Van Vac spotted us as we washed up on their shore. My partner could not walk and I was numb from the chest to my feet. They got my partner inside next to the fire place and got some hot liquid into him. After an hour or so they gave us a ride back to the landing to fetch our car. We packed up our gear and went to the laundromat in Ely to dry some of our clothes out. Our packs stayed dry.
It was still blowing pretty good so we had no interest in attempting another crossing on Burnside lake.

There is a lot more to this story and many lessons learned on this trip.
We ended up going into Fenske Lake and going as far as Grassy Lake for our trip.

blackdawg9: "my wife dumped us.

My advice, blackdawg9: NEVER remind her of this no matter how true it is! :)

I did this morning for the first time haha. Was basically empty after breakfast at the neighbor’s camp & carelessly pushing off from shore into some solid waves + not seated. Felt it going & just embraced it, turned & flopped myself into the lake instead of trying in vain to prevent it. Had an inkling for some reason this morning I’d be getting wet haha.

UPBoy: "Yes, and it was a near death experience. We were crossing Burnside lake headed for the Crab lake portage in a very stiff cross wind. It was mid May and the water was cold. It looked pretty calm from the launch but once we got out a ways there were white caps. To counter act the wind we were both paddling on the same side and a big wave rolled us over.
The water temperature was a big shock. We were fully dressed and both had our
PFDs on. My partner wanted to swim for shore but I insisted we stay with the canoe and gear. Our packs and blue barrel floated and I used the painter ropes to keep them with the canoe.
The rollers were big and I knew we had no chance to flip the canoe in those conditions. I've taught many Boy Scouts how to flip and right a canoe and I knew we did not stand a chance getting this canoe in these conditions upright.. Our best shot was to ride it out. I flipped the canoe on its side and used it as a kind of a sail. We drifted and sailed along with the wind for almost an hour.
My partner climbed up on the blue barrel as best he could and I held on to the canoe. Burnside lake has some cabins and eventually some folks at Camp Van Vac spotted us as we washed up on their shore. My partner could not walk and I was numb from the chest to my feet. They got my partner inside next to the fire place and got some hot liquid into him. After an hour or so they gave us a ride back to the landing to fetch our car. We packed up our gear and went to the laundromat in Ely to dry some of our clothes out. Our packs stayed dry.
It was still blowing pretty good so we had no interest in attempting another crossing on Burnside lake.


There is a lot more to this story and many lessons learned on this trip.
We ended up going into Fenske Lake and going as far as Grassy Lake for our trip.
"

My God. Yes, sounds like you almost died. Amazing that you were able to recover most/all gear. Excellent judgement call on staying with the canoe. I would love to sit around a campfire and hear the "more to this story" part.

bottomtothetap: "

blackdawg9: "my wife dumped us.


My advice, blackdawg9: NEVER remind her of this no matter how true it is! :)

"

my mother like to do that.

As a Brule resident I find it interesting/amusing that a couple people have mentioned the Bois Brule. She's been a great "teacher" for me as I'm learning to paddle whitewater solo as well.

Great thread. Thankfully, only twice...

First was right at shore after getting back from collecting firewood. I hadn't loaded the canoe very well and it was a bit starboard heavy, and my girlfriend got out, about to help me reposition the canoe. The landing was a bit steep and it was hard for me to get out in the stern. I didn't have a good grip on the rocky surface and ended up going for a swim as I drifted away and tried to lean forward for a better grip. I kind of thought it might happen then. Thankfully I was able to get into dry clothes and dry everything out - it was just a few days before October so it was a bit chilly!

Second was when my girlfriend and I decided to see if we can bring our dog canoeing with us at a local lake in Minneapolis. I brought a 4pc fishing rod, along with a small amount of tackle, and a lunch for us, just in case somehow we actually made it out into the lake and got our dog to chill. He's 120lbs and has selective hearing/is fiercely independent (a defining breed trait) so I was pretty skeptical we would end the day without getting wet. Mandatory PFDs were obviously non-negotiable, including for the dog.

Well, we got to the lake and the wind had gotten worse than expected. Not terrible, not great. We had a heck of a time getting the dog to get in the canoe and sit still for the 60 seconds it took us to get my girlfriend in the bow and me in the stern, pushing us off. We were being mindful to paddle directly into the wind, which we thankfully could do, but the dog was not having it. In an attempt to keep his balance, he put a paw on the inner wall of the canoe, and applied pressure. And then some more pressure. And then more pressure, trying to stay upright, while the canoe leaned more and more. My girlfriend and I are practically shouting at him to lay down while we're leaning more and more to counteract his movement, but without fail he just kept pushing, until we went over.

Thankfully we weren't far from shore - it all happened probably within 30 seconds of shoving off. I almost lost a sandal to the muck, which was pretty gross in that spot, and the canoe ended up quite dirty from all of the decaying plant matter in the water. The dog was also pretty filthy. His instincts told him to save himself by clinging to my girlfriend and almost climbing on top of her while we bobbed back to shore. We drained the water from everything, hung out feeling a little embarrassed (did I mention it was a busy area with tons of people hanging out, lol), and then packed up about 30 minutes later and headed home. I love my dog but I won't be bringing him on a BWCA trip any time soon.

I've battled some pretty heavy waves in the BWCA and only had a few encounters where I felt I was legitimately at moderate risk of capsizing. My group stopped short on Crooked a few years back when we crossed Thursday Bay with 30mph gusts from the south, quartering into the waves and then away. We planned to cross Friday Bay and camp around Saturday Bay, but it was around 3pm and we were concerned that we might be running out of energy to provide sufficient control authority when turning into/away from waves in that kind of wind. I was bummed as I like to push hard and then relax for several days, and adding another takedown/travel day wasn't on the agenda, but it was the right call. It didn't hurt that the island site we got on Friday Bay was pretty nice.

I also believe it's about "when", not "if" - and I try to stay diligent when battling wind and waves, as it only takes one slip-up at the wrong time. I'm just hoping it happens at shore where I won't have much risk of losing anything but my pride!

Sooooooo many tip tests when I was a camp counselor. And then another recently for a friend who asked- turns out those recoveries are a lot harder at 40 and heavier than they were as an 18-year-old.

I've only dumped once unintentionally, and that was in a river boat practicing freestyle paddling. My paddle slid too far under the boat and I flipped it like shucking an oyster!

But as someone who paddles with other people's children on occasion--so both added risk of dumping and added consequences--knowing those recoveries, wearing PFDs, and always securing all the gear are so important!

Not yet. Over 200 trips into BWCA and Quetico…

Sure, part of the learning process. Early 1970's with my then new wife who has never tripped with me again and again in 1976 on the Granite Rv with a BIL. After that I started taking whitewater classes with the River Touring Section of the Wisconsin Sierra Club. No problems since.

Harrowing, UPBoy.

200 trips, wallee? Whoa! You're John Galtish.

I flipped for the first time this year. I was upright. Then I was in the water.

There was no moment to declare, "Hey, I'm tipping."

Climbing up onto a rocky shoreline was tough and I've since wondered if I'll be able to do that again in ten years, when I'm 77.

This didn't happen to me, but I thought it was worth adding to this post. My brother and I were supposed to go goose hunting on a river here in Iowa around Christmas a few years ago. The water was still open, but really cold. Probably between 32 and 35°. I got sick with the flu the day before, so had to cancel. Since he didn't want to go alone, he asked a friend to go with him. Neither of them had much experience canoeing - it was my canoe, and I was the one with more paddling experience.

Long story a bit shortened, they dropped a goose into the current, so took off after it in the canoe. Neither of them were paying sufficient attention to where they were going, and they hit a snag and flipped the canoe. The water was only about 5-6 feet deep, but the current was way too strong to stand up in. And they were both wearing chest waders. Thankfully they were also both wearing PFDs, which saved them. They were able to hold onto the canoe and paddle over to the bank, then climb out and walk the half mile back to their vehicle. Even in that short of time my brother said he was starting to feel hypothermia setting in, and it took him half an hour in a hot shower to warm up when he got home.

Both their shotguns went into the river too, but they were able to come back in my brother's boat (the nearest boat launch was about 15 miles away, which is why the plan involved a canoe in the first place) and retrieve them. They were able to dangle an aquarium light in the water, and that provided enough illumination to see the guns, allowing them to snag them with a gaff hook.

Yes.
In a hole dug many yards, from all my campsites.

missmolly: "Harrowing, UPBoy.


200 trips, wallee? Whoa! You're John Galtish. First one was in 1975…. That’s counting day trips which have been many. I still have managed two to three extended trips every year… remember I’m old!! Lol


I flipped for the first time this year. I was upright. Then I was in the water.


There was no moment to declare, "Hey, I'm tipping."


Climbing up onto a rocky shoreline was tough and I've since wondered if I'll be able to do that again in ten years, when I'm 77. "

Been waiting for a reply of this nature. We're all kids at heart.

I’ve never dumped in 40 years of paddling, but I’ve taken plenty of them in the woods.

"They were able to dangle an aquarium light in the water, and that provided enough illumination to see the guns, allowing them to snag them with a gaff hook.'

Clever!

missmolly: ""They were able to dangle an aquarium light in the water, and that provided enough illumination to see the guns, allowing them to snag them with a gaff hook.'


Clever!"

Yeah that was the friend's idea. I wouldn't have thought of it. Guess having an engineer for a buddy is useful!

NEIowapaddler: "

missmolly: ""They were able to dangle an aquarium light in the water, and that provided enough illumination to see the guns, allowing them to snag them with a gaff hook.'



Clever!"

Yeah that was the friend's idea. I wouldn't have thought of it. Guess having an engineer for a buddy is useful! "

Snagging them is also quite a feat! I've dropped two rods into shallow water this summer and managed to hook them both with another rod, but you guys were in current and having to manage the light, the canoe, and gaff hook at the same time. Again: i-m-p-r-e-s-s-i-v-e!

missmolly: "

NEIowapaddler: "

missmolly: ""They were able to dangle an aquarium light in the water, and that provided enough illumination to see the guns, allowing them to snag them with a gaff hook.'



Clever!"

Yeah that was the friend's idea. I wouldn't have thought of it. Guess having an engineer for a buddy is useful! "

Snagging them is also quite a feat! I've dropped two rods into shallow water this summer and managed to hook them both with another rod, but you guys were in current and having to manage the light, the canoe, and gaff hook at the same time. Again: i-m-p-r-e-s-s-i-v-e!"

Yeah, it helped a lot that both guns had slings. Would've been tough or maybe even impossible without that. One was actually hanging by the sling from the snag they dumped on, a couple feet under the water. That was easy to grab. The other one was a little ways downstream on the bottom, and that was more difficult.

Dumped several times in my life.
On my first BW trip, 1978, we tried to paddle up a small falls and dumped on my 21st B-Day. It was early in the morning and we were wet all day.
I've dumped coming off a portage because I was in a hurry. That doesn't fill the boat, but it is embarrassing.
Most recently, my buddy and I tried to paddle down from a dam in the Illinois River. We got caught in a wave and went over.

Best one I ever saw was on a scout trip. We were on a camp site on Clear Lake off of the Kawishiwi River. The shore line was a bit under cut and about 6 in. above the water. One of the leaders was out fishing with his son. When they came in the son dutifully got out of the canoe and lifted the bow up on to the bank. All the dad could get out was "Noooo."