Surfing the Curl
I have had this post half-written for over a week. It's not making any progress, probably because I was half out of the boat (thanks, C, for keeping half of me in!) and not privy to much that was going on behind me during this event. Either way, perhaps my erstwhile commenters can add their $.02 on the matter. I'm done.
As requested by EJ, who for some reason didn't like my football post, I present Scenes from our Rafting Excursion:
Spouse and I hosted a little college reunion with his roommates -- and, significantly, their significant others -- recently. One of the activities: a rafting excursion.
*This is NOT our group... there are too many white people in the boat pictured. But it is the same river we traversed. Possibly the same spot of our "incident."
It was a full-day trip, so we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves and take turns "riding the bull," which is sitting over the front of the boat, straddling the tow line. Not too bad for me, especially since I didn't go over any major rapids. But not so good for N, who was riding the bull when we decided to "surf the curl." This involved paddling upstream straight into a drop-off and basically letting the boat get pounded for a few seconds before being pushed back into the current. When you're riding the bull, you don't paddle, and can generally not hear the guide's instructions from the back of the boat, so as we're all paddling full-speed upstream toward the rapids, N turns around to me and asks, "What are we doing???" Just then, the water hit. Luckily, she fell into the boat, not out.
The guide told us that maybe if we all paddled, we could surf the curl for a bit more. Ok, sounds fun. Unless you get turned sideways and stuck in the current curl. Which is what happened. I was up front, so I didn't hear or see everything that was going on. Snippets I heard and/or picked up later:
"just don't fall out the left side!" (as EJ is precariously hanging out the left side -- as Spouse says, it's not a vacation unless EJ is threatened bodily harm!)
"fuck the oar, just stay in the boat!"
everybody get ot the right side NOW!"
C fell onto my legs, which is probably what kept me in the boat. N hit me with an oar accidentally, which she nicely apologized for DURING the incident. I hadn't even noticed.
"Don't panic!" (Yeah, when your guide says don't panic, you begin to realize that things are not going just as he anticipated. And that's when you panic.
Anybody have anything to add???
As requested by EJ, who for some reason didn't like my football post, I present Scenes from our Rafting Excursion:
Spouse and I hosted a little college reunion with his roommates -- and, significantly, their significant others -- recently. One of the activities: a rafting excursion.
*This is NOT our group... there are too many white people in the boat pictured. But it is the same river we traversed. Possibly the same spot of our "incident."
It was a full-day trip, so we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves and take turns "riding the bull," which is sitting over the front of the boat, straddling the tow line. Not too bad for me, especially since I didn't go over any major rapids. But not so good for N, who was riding the bull when we decided to "surf the curl." This involved paddling upstream straight into a drop-off and basically letting the boat get pounded for a few seconds before being pushed back into the current. When you're riding the bull, you don't paddle, and can generally not hear the guide's instructions from the back of the boat, so as we're all paddling full-speed upstream toward the rapids, N turns around to me and asks, "What are we doing???" Just then, the water hit. Luckily, she fell into the boat, not out.
The guide told us that maybe if we all paddled, we could surf the curl for a bit more. Ok, sounds fun. Unless you get turned sideways and stuck in the current curl. Which is what happened. I was up front, so I didn't hear or see everything that was going on. Snippets I heard and/or picked up later:
Anybody have anything to add???
posted by Courtney at 7:33 PM
6 Comments:
That person you can barely see in the left of the boat...that was me.
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p.s. I liked the football post...did not appreciate the laughter I heard in the background when spouse and I were debating fantasy football on the phone....Fantasy is important damn it.
"Don't Panic" only works when written...in large friendly letters.
The answer is 42
the answer is always 42.
Was there any Nutella? (I don't even know what that means.)
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