Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: Dumped Canoe
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RiverFisher |
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nulstatement |
We paddled out to them, tied up a line, and slowly dragged them ashore. All we're wearing pfds and they were able to retrieve most their stuff but they said they lost a fishing pole each. Waves were 1 to 1.5 feet. This instance really made me reevaluate risks in paddling routes when alone. The water was warm in this case, early September. They were camped on the lake so they simply paddled back to changed. They said it was thinking first time paddling together, rented canoe, and they just leaned wrong I'm the wind. I know I wouldn't have been able to get in a canoe in those rollers |
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Grizzlyman |
We hit the lake early that day and it was almost glass. By 11:00 though, the winds had picked up and waves were pretty darn fierce. We were fishing just off of the west side of the lake by Center Island when we figured we should try a spot on the east side. We started motoring and got to our spot by Fire Island. Just as I was starting to tie up a line, I glanced over and saw what looked like a dumped canoe midway between the shore and Harri island about a half mile or so away. There were two canoes - one upright and one in the water. The wind was blowing from the N-N/E so right off the tip of the island on the way to the Disappointment portage is where the waves got real bad. We motored over and sure enough there were two guys clinging to the canoe and packs floating everywhere. The other canoe was part of their party and doing their part to help them. Long story short, we picked up their gear and towed them and the canoe to the shore to the east. The water was very warm and they were doing fine so they clung to the boat as we towed it. Frankly, I'm not sure how a situation like this in Snowbank-type waves with a swamped canoe turns out if another party isn't around. It's one of those things that seems surreal, but is more serious than we'd like to admit. They mentioned it was their first trip to the BWCA and they had NO life jackets on. Not even floating in the water - the jackets were floating next to them. That was the first thing we told them to do when we arrived. I don't mention this to be a jerk or rub it in, but more as a teaching moment for others. If you don't wear your life jackets all the time, then at a bare minimum put them on when you get in hairy water. If you guys are out there reading this, I'd be curious how the rest of your trip turned out. For everyone else, has anything like this ever happen to you? Has anyone had to rescue another party in a dumped canoe? |
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jhb8426 |
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billconner |
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MikeinMpls |
A couple of other rescues within the BWCA: one time on Caribou Lake (off Lizz) in very rough water we brought two people into shore, again hanging on to the canoe. They had been day tripping, so their canoe was very light, and they troughed. They had tied their dog's leash to the center thwart, so the dog was treading water without much leash. The dog looked terrified. Another was a bunch of guys (three canoes) fishing on Clove Lake. No lifejackets on. Calm water, but standing in the canoe. Over he went. I had a short paddle out to him, but his buddies had already snagged him. (So not technically a rescue, I'd guess.) On a bit of a tangent: I've seen a lot of people go into the water, usually at portages or beaver pull-overs. Anecdotally to me, 99% of the time people end up in the water at portages because they're avoiding getting their feet wet. Just happened on my latest solo trip. Mike |
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Pinetree |
Snowshoe lake is a lake to put caution first. Raanks right up there with the biggest waves in or close to the BWCA. Good job helping. |
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Podunk |
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dew042 |
quote Podunk: "I don't always wear my PFD, but crossing any good sized lake or approaching rapids or even with another paddler ( I go solo alot) I put it on. Same, its common sense. We had tripmates swamp on what we later learned from an old BWCA book was the "windswept north shore" of Lac La Croix coming out of the Maligne. We had fought huge breakers and wind for a few hours, and our tripmates refused to hug shore. On land we waved down a fishing boat and they got dragged in, fortunately. The 'windswept' part became a running joke and part of our trip lore. Daniel |
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boonie |
I've never had to rescue anyone in a dumped canoe, not even myself, although I did have an "unusual experience" last fall (see my trip report for details). |
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Jaywalker |
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