Wow - quite a story
The guy that threw you the rope was really good, or really lucky. I take that back - you were really lucky.
Allagash is a river
Though a few lakes are interspersed...its moving water.
When I paddle solo on lakes especially in a drysuit which impeded swimming and practice FreeStyle... yes a line you can get to easily is quite handy.
I learned that from not having one and having to swim a quarter mile after my laughing empty boat. There was no one around. It was January. WInd affects things on the water(canoe) differently than things in the water (me)
Falling out isn't symonymous at all with swamped boat.
Even with gear?
Okay, I was thinking of a lake that must have a similar name, and my thinking was biased by the fact that in most rivers (rivers that are not huge), wind-blown boats aren't a life-or-death situation, and also by the sailboat analogy (a boat that will go speeding away from you), not a boat that you simply float alongside as the current carries both of you downstream. In other words, why would someone ask that question about traveling average rivers?
I know you can fall out of a canoe and the boat can end up with not much water inside (I've seen it happen too), but could that happen on a long trip when you've got a heavy load of gear inside? Seems like once the boat tipped sideways in the water, that load would push it right down. But how would I know. I've never "fallen out" of a canoe, I've only been flipped in rapids, and each time the boat immediately took on "as much water as it could".
Lucky…
Luck; I had some that day for sure.
The guy with the throw bag; it was skill, not luck.
I always chose my whitewater paddling partners with care.
All 3 of us paddling that day were Lifeguard & Advanced Swiftwater Rescue Instructors. All 3 us had trained together & recertified together on several occasions. We all worked together for about 20 years, at the same location. We paddled together for many years; always looked out for each other. I’d pulled both of them out of similiar situations, on multiple rivers.
Always nice to know who you’re paddling with, and their capabilities, or lack of same.
BOB
It’s all about who you paddle with…
No doubt about that.
I’m with Mattt
Painter lines bow and stern, stowed but in easy reach.
With Matt also
Lots of great posts, thank you all. Have outfitted canoe with bow and stern lines.
More on blowing boats
I have found that canoes tend to vary more in how easily they will blow away after capsize than kayaks. Kayaks will almost always preserve an air pocket initially after capsize, even if it is one that will ultimately fully swamp. But canoes are all over the place depending on if they are mostly/all wood, or if they have float bags, or if they are superlight like my Merlin. My ultralight Merlin has poor flotation and can take on a lot of water just in my falling out of it.
But you can reduce the "surprise" factor by practicing capsizing - and yes for some people like myself it can take a lot of capsizes. It is just one of those fundamental parts of paddling safely. It is a more difficult habit to gain in environments like surf, where at first you can just get blown out of your boat, but it is an easy habit to gain on flat water.
Now we are probably getting
into over analysis! F=ma tells me and undoubtedly you too GBG that the boat even if empty but with gear on a lake is not going to accelerate as fast as an unladen boat.
When I took the Sea Kayak Guide test one of the questions involved a empty kayak that was found on a beach (with position) wind speed (which had been constant) and water current ( also conveniently constant) given as information. We had a chart.
The challenge was to determine the general area to direct the search for the kayaker with only his last time of sight (not position known). The point was that objects in the water are not as subject to the force of the wind.
The Allagash does have some significant lake crossings for people doing the entire route even though the majority is river. Some of the lakes can kick up two to three foot waves in a heartbeat and a trailing line just on those lakes could help if one remembered it were out. But I think its better just to have a painter stowed in easy reach should you find yourself out of the boat on Chamberlain or Eagle Lake.
The thought of a trailing line and feet still scared the bejeesus out of me.. When I had my FS grab line it was quite short.
I must have misunderstood
I thought that is what the op was talking about?
Jack L
if really paranoid
about the canoe drifting away, you could tie a sea anchor to the painter, then to yourself with a string heavy enough to pull it into the water, but light enough to break easily. I think practicing upset and fallout while holding on to the boat would be more effective, and in warm water and weather, fun.
canoes should
have painter lines on both stems. They should be polypro since it does not stretch and will float while cotton and nylon will not. I prefer 3/8 to 1/2 inch woven for easy grasping. These lines should never trail outside the hull but be coiled up near the deck plate so that they deploy in case of capsize. In the event of a capsize the paddler should automatically be cognizant of where the hull is and if moving grab one of the trailing lines so that the canoe does not get away. It is one of your larger safety devices. Canoes can move fairly fast in lake winds or river current. I guess an 8 ft. length would be minimum but I advise 10 to 12 ft. My opinion.
Pag
On the other hand . . .
. . . I did know a solid class 4 canoeist in the ‘80’s who would wear a 75’ rope bag-belt around her waist attached to the stern painter. She arranged it so her feet wouldn’t tangle in a dump. She had two quick release mechanisms: one being the belt buckle and the other being a Fastex buckle attaching the line to the belt. She also, of course, had a sharp knife.
Her theory and practice was that, when she paddled whitewater alone (not recommended but . . .) and dumped (usually when playing), she wouldn’t have to try to hold onto the canoe while being swept downstream and struggling to swim the canoe to shore. Instead, she could let the boat go and swim immediately to the nearest shore. This would allow her to get into a belay position on shore before the entire 75’ of line played out and began to become taut.
It always worked the times I saw her do it at play spots.
She was also the kind of person who hiked the AT alone, and who paddled the Grand Canyon alone and unsupported in a C-1.
My philosophy is…
in white water one should play the odds. Tethering oneself in the way you describe is taking a huge risk and inherently dangerous. I would advise anyone reading this to eschew this system. Odds are you would regret it. I personally find this to be extremely foolhardy. I’m fully aware that some WW paddlers are out there for the thrill of risking their lives. I do not paddle for that reason.
Trailing lines
I often trail a line from my solo canoe, usually with an EGB spoon attached, sometimes a Daredevil, in search of brook trout! Anything heavier than, say, 8# test would be unsafe, remembering the artist Tommy Thompson on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Prov Park.
Turtle
On our home pond,I once had a turtle bit on a trailing line. To clarify, #1-I have bow and stern painters coiled on bungees on all my canoes. #2- I was thinking,while on FLAT windy open water,to fasten my bailing bucket cord to me with a caribener TEMPERAIRLY. #3 I have never done this.
I also chased down an empty canoe that got blown off a beach(not secured) for a nice couple-they really MOOVE!
Turtle
learned by accident
NEVER trail a line. My stern painter got knocked off into the water by a branch, I didn’t know it. As I was approaching a little twisty spot, it got caught up in some branches in the water… Whole lot of suck happened!
NO line should ever trail in the water!
Of course, the Allagash
is both a lake and a river.