this is a classic:
DavidH has a problem with people who can’t spell correctly…it’s one of his pet “peaves.” (sp)
Anyway, the story wilso refers to happened to our own liv2paddle (Dan from near Edenton, NC) & I never did hear the outcome (did he ever get it back?)
I nearly lost my boat twice; once when it “launched itself” down a muddy, steep embankment, & the other when the tide came in & floated it away. Both times I found it just downstream snagged in tree branches.
ok, here it is …
– Last Updated: Feb-24-06 3:00 PM EST –
several years ago now, i was playing in Oregon Inlet here in NC, a notoriously challenging and often dangerous place on the Outer Banks. at the time, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at about 25-30 knots, the current was going hard out of the inlet at about 6 knots and the waves were stacking up at nearly 7 feet and building. it was pretty extreme.
then i happened upon a fellow paddler who had gotten dumped by the conditions, had no roll was out of his boat and was definitely panicking. my paddling buddy and i hurried over to 'save' him, and in the process, i dislocated my left shoulder while bracing into one of those 7 footers while trying to hang onto his boat at the same time.
having no left arm in those conditions was not a good thing. i had to exit my boat and now there were two of us in the water. the current was quickly pushing us out to sea and the guy was nearly hysterical at this point. my buddy came over to us and we decided that rescuing two of us at the same time was impossible given the conditions and me with only one workable arm. the best thing we could do was for her to take my boat in tow and head for shore and for the Coast Guard station at Hatteras. we would get this guy back in his boat and i would hang onto him and it, keeping him stable and hopefully calm. i predicted where my location would be based on the wind and current and bid her luck.
off she went but she soon found that towing a boat in those conditions while making for shore through huge waves and current was too difficult and in order to avoid getting into trouble herself, she decided to let my boat go. it was the right decision.
meanwhile, i set off three flares as we blew out to sea on a rising storm. a fishing boat that was heading into port to escape the storm saw the flares and came to us for a 'save'. it was extremely difficult as the waves were pushing the fishing boat up one side of a wave while the kayak was being let down the other. the difference in heights were sometimes as much as 12 feet ... up and down, up and down. somehow they got us onto the boat and made to shore and the Coast Guard station where an ambulance was waiting to take us to the hospital.
thus began the several thousand mile journey of my NDK Explorer. the wind blew it out to sea and the currents carried it north and into the main continental drift. the boat was carried up to Newfoundland, up to Greenland and then across to Europe. then down the coast of England and France. it was spotted by a fishing boat off the Azores and taken aboard. in the hatches they found my wallet with my ID and called the Bermuda Rescue Service who in turn called the Coast Guard at Hatteras who called the police in my home town to determine if i was still "missing at sea".
thus, a year and a half after the incident, the local gendarmes came to my door inquiring about my health and my lost 'red canoe'. imagine my surprise. i had long ago figured i'd never see that Explorer again and had bought a new one. the people who found the boat sent me my wallet back along with pictures of the boat and my red kayak. it was severely barnacle encrusted but the hatches were bone dry. they kept the boat and the $50 bucks ... i told them to buy some wine and celebrate my 'aliveness'.
yes Dave you are right
I noted your comment on appreciated it.
Actually you were very polite.
at the request of others … top this one
– Last Updated: Feb-24-06 2:58 PM EST –
several years ago now, i was playing in Oregon Inlet here in NC, a notoriously challenging and often dangerous place on the Outer Banks. at the time, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at about 25-30 knots, the current was going hard out of the inlet at about 6 knots and the waves were stacking up at nearly 7 feet and building. it was pretty extreme.
then i happened upon a fellow paddler who had gotten dumped by the conditions, had no roll, was out of his boat and was definitely panicking. my paddling buddy and i hurried over to 'save' him, and in the process, i dislocated my left shoulder while bracing into one of those 7 footers while trying to hang onto his boat at the same time.
having no left arm in those conditions was not a good thing. i had to exit my boat and now there were two of us in the water. the current was quickly pushing us out to sea and the guy was nearly hysterical at this point. my buddy came over to us and we decided that rescuing two of us at the same time was impossible given the conditions and me with only one workable arm. the best thing we could do was for her to take my boat in tow and head for shore and for the Coast Guard station at Hatteras. we would get this guy back in his boat and i would hang onto him and it, keeping him stable and hopefully calm. i predicted where my location would be based on the wind and current and bid her luck.
off she went but she soon found that towing a boat in those conditions while making for shore through huge waves and current was too difficult and in order to avoid getting into trouble herself, she decided to let my boat go. it was the right decision.
meanwhile, i set off three flares as we blew out to sea on a rising storm. a fishing boat that was heading into port to escape the storm saw the flares and came to us for a 'save'. it was extremely difficult as the waves were pushing the fishing boat up one side of a wave while the kayak was being let down the other. the difference in heights were sometimes as much as 12 feet ... up and down, up and down. somehow they got us onto the boat and made to shore and the Coast Guard station where an ambulance was waiting to take us to the hospital.
thus began the several thousand mile journey of my NDK Explorer. the wind blew it out to sea and the currents carried it north and into the main continental drift. the boat was carried up to Newfoundland, up to Greenland and then across to Europe. then down the coast of England and France. it was spotted by a fishing boat off the Azores and taken aboard. in the hatches they found my wallet with my ID and called the Bermuda Rescue Service who in turn called the Coast Guard at Hatteras who called the police in my home town to determine if i was still "missing at sea".
thus, a year and a half after the incident, the local gendarmes came to my door inquiring about my health and my lost 'red canoe'. imagine my surprise. i had long ago figured i'd never see that Explorer again and had bought a new one. the people who found the boat sent me my wallet back along with pictures of the boat and my red kayak. it was severely barnacle encrusted but the hatches were bone dry. they kept the boat and the $50 bucks ... i told them to buy some wine and celebrate my 'aliveness'.
I didn’t think you got it back…
NDK might have reunited you with your boat in exchange for an exclusive right to use your story in future ads. I don’t think many of us would have been so fortunate in those hazardous conditions to just lose their boat.
i gave them every chance …
i wrote nigel telling him the epic journey of my red Explorer and how proud i was of the boat. thousands of miles in the middle of hurricane season, being battered by the ocean for a year and a half and yet … zero structural damage and bone dry hatches.
i figured at a minimum, he’d offer a big discount on a new boat but was frankly hoping for a free demo or some such. he never even responded to my letter.
i bought a new Explorer anyway. i’ve always loved the boat.
The other person deleted their
reply correcting me. I thanked them and acknowledged my error. I can also spell asshole correctly. What do you think of that classic paddlinunit?
Neat to hear
I had heard the story, in fact I think it was posted somewhere by NDK. But I didn’t know who it was. Hard to fathom their lack of response to you though, even as vague as things can be in Wales. Perhaps your letter was opened at the pub next door to the factory…
ah, never thought of that …
sure, that explains it. they opened it at the pub while tipping a bunch of pints and singing sea shanties. by the time morning came, they’d completely forgotten the letter.
Just before the sun was
to set the group of paddlers i was with enterred the most challenging set of rapids on the river. I knew my roll was not good but i took my chance and made the run falling over at the top of the first eddy. Not making my roll i held on to my C1, a plastic Perception Gyro Max and went down through the rapids with one hand on the boat and the other onto the paddle. Around and over rocks we went until i came across one boulder which required the canoe to go one way and me the other - my arms were just not big enough for both directions. Just before i let go of the boat i attempted to push it atop the rock in a hope the canoe would be there when i got back to it. Getting out of the river in what was now darkness i could not find my boat.
The next day, i looked downstream in vain but still without success. Later, i received a phone call from friends stating my boat was found nicely folded end to end around a mid stream strainer. “Is it paddleable” , I asked. They advised, “probably not.” They were good enough to return it to my home where i found it hours later looking as good as new. The heat of the day had popped it back into shape and it was good for more years of paddling, finally dieing from a crack where the crease had been created years ago.