You can call 911 for that?

Last Saturday, Mary and I went kayaking on the Catawba River. As we pulled into Riverwalk to drop her car off, we saw a firetruck, an ambulance, two York County Rescue vehicles, a Sheriff’s car, and emergency personnel everywhere. The river wasn’t blocked so we proceeded with our plan. It wasn’t until Sunday and Monday nights that I learned what had happened.

There are EMS guys that come in for a break during the night and I asked them about the Saturday “event” . It seems a brother and sister were kayaking down the river and the brother was somehow knocked out of and separated from his kayak. They or someone else called 911.

I was flabbergasted. You can call 911 for that?? He was not hurt. And the funniest thing about it? When the rescue squad put their boat into the water, the motor would not start and they started drifting down river! And while they were being rescued, some other paddlers appeared towing the lost kayak!! Too funny.

As we were talking about this, I confessed to my EMS friends, I would be embarrassed to call 911 because “I fell out of my kayak.” Instead, I would go after it; I would swim to shore and find a way to get back to my car or get my kayak.

We saw a guy on Friday who had gotten separated from his kayak on the trip down the river. He was scratched up a little, but had somehow made it to Riverwalk. He was bemoaning the loss of the kayak. Man, I have paddled up-river to the point he lost his kayak – I would have gone in search of it right then!

Am I just talking through my hat or have been in such a spot? Well, not exactly that position, but pert near.

I have been knocked out my kayak twice.

Once I was by myself and thought I would pull a really neat stunt I had seen in a video. Uh, doesn’t work on a sit-on-top kayak! The current swept my kayak right out from under me. Happily I held on to my paddle (that’s what I was most concerned about losing) and swam over to my kayak. Got back on and tried something else.

Another time, Mary and I were happily paddling back toward the dam. Water was high and the current strong. I had the brilliant idea to swim to some branches for a brief rest. Wrong! We were both knocked out of our boats and separated from both boat and paddle. I wrote about this experience here and here. I collected my kayak and paddle. Then Mary’s. Then went to pick her up.

One time I put in at the dam and planned a short trip around the island. Well, near the far end of the island I heard the siren signaling the imminent release of water. I turned around and began furiously paddling back. Didn’t make it. The water was rising and the current was getting stronger. I realized I was not gonna make it back. I made it to the point of the island and beached to wait. The water kept rising and I had to climb higher  and higher onto the island! I was stuck. So I settled in to wait for the release to stop. It eventually did.

Then there was the time I was out with my son-in-law in a canoe. We had put in at the dam and were going down to River Park. A Nice trip. A good bit into the trip, I got a phone call - a dear brother and friend was dying and I needed to get back. Now! We turned around and headed back up stream. Again, water was being released from the dam. We had to paddle our butts off but we made it. Whew! we were tired.

My favorite story involves a friend and his boat in Pensacola, FL. We had moved to Pensacola to pastor my first church. Shortly after that, a fellow from my Bible College moved back home. He had inherited the family home and a boat. He asked me one Saturday if I wanted to go for an evening cruise in his boat out on Pensacola Bay. Sounded like fun so we set off. We got about halfway to the Gulf when the motor quit. The boat had not been on the water in a while, so we were sort of checking it out. Well, there was a problem! He could not get the motor to start. We were stuck. That’s when he explained a minor detail: “My paperwork on the boat is not quite up to date, so I can’t call anyone for help because the Coast Guard might hear and respond. If they show up, they might ask for my papers…” So there we were, stuck in the middle of Pensacola Bay! He had one emergency paddle so we paddled to shore, then grabbed the tie-down rope and walked the boat back to the boat ramp. Man, we got home late that night!

The only time I have ever been in a spot where we even thought about calling for help was that time in Pensacola. Even then, it would have been other boaters, not the emergency response team. I didn’t even know you could call 911 for that!

Oh, and there was that time I took Anne kayaking on the ocean down at Edisto. Her first trip in her own kayak. I thought we would head out to this neat looking island off the beach. We set off and about halfway there I realized we were not making any progress. “Uh, Anne, maybe we better go back.” We turned around and began paddling back to the beach only to discover we weren’t making any progress that way either. I admit, I was getting concerned on that trip. I decided to try a different approach – head for the spit of land to our left and if we could make that point, we could hopefully cut across the river mouth. It worked and I looked brilliant. Well, as brilliant as one can look after a really dumb start! I actually had my cell phone, but it never occurred to me to call 911 – I didn’t know you could and besides, I was too busy trying to get us back to the beach! You can read about that here.

I realize there are legitimate times when you actually need emergency help, but losing your kayak? No. After all, part of the reason I go kayaking is the challenge – Can I figure out a way to get out of this mess that I just got myself into? So that’s why, if I wasn’t hurt, and pretty bad at that, I would be embarrassed to call 911, “I lost my kayak. Can you come get me?”