Heading into Memorial Day Weekend I decided that we had to do something exciting! I didn't want to spend the holiday at home like we'd been doing so many weekends previously. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to do something that we would have done prior to the accident.
So I excitedly decided that we were going to go kayaking! Terry was up for it so all we needed to do was convince at least one friend to go with us. Brett B. took no time thinking about it before agreeing to come along.
Before the accident Terry, several friends and I would often kayak on weekends. We still have 4 of the boats with some life jackets and paddles. On adventurous days we kayaked the Ocoee (I only did that once and even then walked the last two miles in my wetsuit to the truck!) or the Nantahala. But most trips we did the Hiawassee.
Memorial Day was the first official trip on our own. I was so proud of myself for loading the kayaks in the van, gathering all the gear, and planning for all the extra padding for the boat which a person needs when they can't feel everything. I even did all the rigging myself using a unique combination of tie-downs and seatbelts to secure the kayaks! The kayaks fit perfectly on top of each other when slid in from the back of the van to the front seat. Terry just trusted me to get it right. We made a quick stop by Wal-Mart to pick up some "noodles" (floaty things that you play on in the pool) and then picked up our kayaking buddy Brett.
Since this was our first trip, we decided that the transfer from the chair to the boat should be easy so we stopped at a pull-off at Harrison Bay where the bank gradually sloped into the lake. Brett and I used duck tape and taped the "noodles" to Terry's play boat to give it stability. We chose the play boat because it was the only one with a significant back support. Getting from the chair to the boat was really easy since Terry and I had practiced getting out of the chair and on to the ground with a "controlled fall" :-) As it turned out that back support did nothing for Terry so we put a ski belt on him. That didn't help. We stuffed 2 boat cushions behind him. That was better but instead of falling backwards he was now falling forwards. We used a dry bag that we stuffed towels into to wedge in front of him. That did it. Terry was not coming out of the boat and was sitting up straight!
We pushed off from land and began our first kayaking trip! I'd just like to mention here that kayaking in a play boat with a canoe paddle is no laughing matter! Brett and Terry had the only two kayak paddles we had so I spent the trip perfecting the draw and j-strokes. How can we have 4 boats and only 2 paddles? Someone needs to bring my paddle back!
Everything was going well until we decided to adjust Terry's padding. He was leaning too far forward in the boat because he can't sit up without some support. So I took one of the boat chairs out from behind him and put it in front. That worked so well he was paddling just as efficiently as Brett was (not me, I had a canoe paddle remember?).
And then things went south...
In one unexpected moment Terry leaned back in the boat expecting to feel supported but there was little there! As he went back the front of the kayak came up out of the water and then he began to fall to the left of the boat. What ensued was like a slow motion matrix scene. With the "noodles" on the side of the boat, we had been sure Terry wouldn't flip. They kept him up for a good part of the fall as he yelled, "Guys! Guys! Help! I'm gonna flip!" After what seemed like the slowest flip ever, kind of like the movie Titanic when the ship is standing up straight in the water, Terry was laying completely sideways with me paddling with my canoe paddle as fast as possible to him and Brett on the other side watching! Before I got there he went under! I don't know how I got out of my boat but I do know what came out of my mouth in the process (I'm a work in progress!). Thankfully the water was only about 4 feet deep so when I got to Terry I just grabbed his hand and pulled him up with Brett (still in his boat) flipping the boat over. Surprisingly, Terry never came out of the boat! I let go to rescue my boat and paddle that were drifting away and I guess Brett did too because Terry flipped right back over!
After gathering ourselves we realized we had a new problem. The boat was flooded and there was no way we would be able to paddle back without Terry flipping again. Thankfully there was a "bank" fairly close in shallower water so we pushed all our gear to the edge and began to think things through. Now this is where Brett was essential. He said, "We have to drain the boat," which meant we had to get Terry out of the boat and back in. Getting him out and draining the boat was easy! But getting him back in the boat was what left me sore all last week.
Honestly, I think the reason the people on the other side of the shore didn't offer to help us was because it was the funniest they had ever seen! Brett would pick up under Terry's arms and I would pick up his legs and every time we started to sit him in the boat, it floated away! We then tried to prop it against a log but when we began to lower him onto the boat, it would flip up sideways and begin to take on water! At this point I was laughing so hard and I'm sure Terry was tired of being thrown around. You will have to ask Brett what was going though his mind.
Finally we did last what we should have done first. We prayed :-) Terry was now sitting on a log because we were too exhausted to hold him up. Immediately after praying I had the thought to push the boat next to the log and lift Terry's legs into the seat. It worked! Now with Brett on one side holding the boat steady and Terry transferring himself onto the back of the boat and into the seat, we managed to get into the boat without flooding it! Thank you Jesus!
So I know this sounds like a pretty terrifying experience to some of the readers but before you think we're too stupid, you should know Terry can swim, we were in 4 to 5 feet of water, and the shore where the van was parked was only about 200 to 300 feet away! We had an awesome time even with the setbacks and Terry plans to go again! The good thing is a friend has introduced us to some modified kayaks that just might work better than "noodles", dry bags, and boat cushions.
