[LEAKYSEALS951]

One late fall day years ago, I met a friend at the river who was a huge whitewater kayaking fan. I borrowed his spare kayak, and he taught me some basics, like rolling and such in smooth water. I passed through his challenges with ease, and it was a perfect end to a long a fun summer.

Fast forward to next spring. Riding my bike by the river one chilly spring morning, the same friend was unloading his kayak for some whitewater fun. Having passed his course with flying colors last year, he invited me to go with him. I threw my bike into his car, jumped in his spare kayak, and we headed out into smooth water.

"Let's practice some rolls" he said, so I flipped the boat over and sat upside down the river. This is the point in the story where I said:
"self... I hope you remember how to do the eskimo roll thing..."
self: "yeah sure... I think I remember it."
attempted roll.... fail... boat deposits me back upside down under water. could not breath.
self: "okay... I botched it.... try again"
attempted roll.... fail... boat deposits me back upside down under water. could not breath.
self:"okay... I need to breath.... let's get this right this time"
attempted desperate roll, boat uprighted with so much force I flipped over the other side and was back under water again....could not breath.
self: "oh ****... I need to get out of this boat"
(realization that my friend never got around to teaching me the wet exit technique last year...)
self..."okay this cant be that hard, just push back in boat"
(bonus realization that his boat was one size too small for me and my legs were stuck too tight in the hull to smoothly get out)
At this point I could put my hands above me into the air and feel the air...I could not breath.
My friend was hitting the side of my boat with his, an attempt to give me something to grab onto to right myself, but at this point I was disorientated and getting 'concerned'
Then the thought hit me... "If you don't pull it together...soon... you WILL die... remain calm... get out"
I somehow got out, and rose to the surface gulping about a 1/2 gallon of water in the process.

We went ahead down the river... scariest damn kayak trip of my life. Not fun at all. Never did it again- stuck to cycling (got hit by car anyway....)