Floribama Riders

The XR650L on the ferry to Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua.
(Sorry, no photos of the kayaking trip!)

This is an old journal entry from my 2001 trip that I decided to post here in honor of the upcoming FBR River/Ride Adventure.

-John "Ice" T

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[Written 24 June 2001
Turrialba, Costa Rica]

Today I helped save someone on the water, but I almost drowned myself in the process. I had originally planned to go rafting today, but I met a guy on the street last night who said he was giving an introductory kayak course, and I was welcome to join. The cost was only $45, and I decided right away to sign up.

Jeremy spoke excellent English, but the rest of the group was from Costa Rica. He and the other guide gave instructions in Spanish, and once again I found myself learning a dangerous sport in a foreign language (similar to my experience indoor climbing in Brazil for the first time). Thankfully, my Spanish is better than my Portuguese, and it's easie o a van and drove to a nearby lake to practice rolls in the water. During the ride, Jeremy asked if I had any questions he could answer in English. I asked about the purpose of rolling over in a kayak, and he said you have to know how in case the boat tips over. I asked more about the technique, and then--almost as an afterthought--I asked what people do if they tip over and can't do the roll. He said you just grab a strap to yank off the skirt, and then you squirm out of the tight-fitting boat while upside-down with your head under water.

I thought nothing of this as the instructors herded us into our boats and stretched the skirts over the tops. Six other students were in the water, starting to spread out and get the feel of the unstable kayaks. Then I noticed a bunch of heads turned in one direction, and someone had flipped over a hundred yards away. His arms were thrashing wildly at the surface, and I saw his mouth gulp in a mixture of air and water for just a second. The expression on his face terrified me.

I looked around at the other students in the water. Nobody made a move toward the capsized boat. I took off in my kayak, but my inexperience showed when I came near the upside-down kayak at top speed. I reach over with both hands to grab the boat, but my speed was too fast. I lost my grip on the hull and my paddle, and I felt my center of balance slip away. I've tipped plenty of boats before, but the tight-fitting kayak forced my hips to follow the path of the boat until I was upside-down. I tried to do the same rolling motion I had practiced on the ground, since the guides said a roll was possible even without the paddle. That didn't work, and with my head under water, I remembered from lifeguard training that there's nothing worse than a well-intentioned rescuer who complicates the situation by overestimating his own abilities.

I yanked the strap and emerged from the kayak to start turning the guy over. One of the guides had paddled over while I was counting the fishes under water, and together we managed to right the boat. The guy emerged from under the water and taking huge breaths that echoed off the surface. He sat in the boat feeling dazed, and I bobbed in the water, first feeling stupid for my ridiculous display of ignorance and sensing my anger build toward the guides. How could they lock people into boats and send them out on a lake alone without mentioning the escape mechanism? Later I would reflect on what would have happened if I didn't know how to remove the skirt. What made me ask?

The rest of the day was thankfully not so eventful. I finally succeeded in completing a few rolls in my kayak, but I need more classes before I'll feel confident on a river. I will probably wait until I get back to the U.S., where they make you fill out papers before signing away your life, but they ultimately take better care of it.