Canoeing in Swift Water 



overboard or turn the canoe upside down and dump the 

 ballast, then use the canoe to keep you afloat. 



If it is not too rough, splash or bail her out and climb 

 in. On one occasion I used a fish-line and an empty 

 flask, and buoyed my jettisoned cargo, before abandoning 

 it to the tender mercies of the big lake. Then I got my 

 canoe clear of water, and climbed safely into her and 

 made land. It calmed the following day, and I found 

 my buoy. With a grappling-hook I recovered the gear, 

 including a seventy-five-dollar gun. 



If you get caught in a blow and have to paddle squarely 

 against wind and waves, load so that the bow is well out 

 of water. With a fair following sea, load with even 

 keel. Do not, under any condition, tackle rough water 

 and try to paddle in the trough. When you are actually 

 in the trough and between two waves, there is safety 

 for an instant only. The crest of the next sea will 

 probably come partly aboard. A continued repetition 

 of this will soon make your canoe unmanageable. Then 

 as the crests underrun you, you will lose your balance 

 and have a swim. 



Before closing this advice on canoeing in rough water, 

 I wish to emphasize Old Joe's advice — if possible, 

 " Don't !" 



How TO Run the Surf. 



Some years ago, and after I had arrived at the pro- 

 fessional stage in my career as a canoe handler, I had an 

 instructive experience landing a canoe through the surf 

 on the Atlantic coast. Many times I had landed with 

 a dory or surf-boat at various points, and believed it 

 could be done with a canoe. We were taking a summer 

 cruise in a big motor-boat, and had sailed down from 

 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. We rounded the La Have 



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