Sunday, August 11, 2013

The Story of the Capsized Canon - A/K/A I Have No Camera



Well, I didn’t tell this story for a while for fear of having to admit the truth – I did something really dumb.  I’ve got a good reason for things happening the way they did so I’ll tell the story and let you decide for yourself whether you might have handled things differently.

For a year or more I’ve been dying to go on a twilight canoe ride.  One of our nearby state parks offers these guided canoe tours periodically and it just sounded so romantic.  I reserved a spot for me and the dear hubby and we marked our calendars and waited for the special date to roll around. It just so happened that I had a Habitat build day scheduled the same day so I got home from the build, showered, did my hair, got all gussied up dressing with a blue and white nautical theme - cute like, you know.  I grabbed my camera and all the other electronic devices one simply can’t live without and we headed to the state park. 
We took the correct exit but...
This is where things started going wrong.  We were using Google maps and somehow the Google confused the location of the state park with a tennis park with a similar name located in another county.  We got to the tennis park and someone familiar with this reoccurring Google map error kindly gave us directions but by this time dear hubby and I were late.  Very late.  The guided tour started at 7:00 on the dot.  We finally arrived to the bait house at the state park and we jumped out of the car with all of our things leaving the car unlocked, windows opened, etc., trying to figure out if we might still be able to go canoeing. By now I KNOW you know what happens.

A nice ranger said the tour finally left without us and they were about 10 minutes ahead of us but if we wanted to try to catch up, he’d pull a canoe off the racks for us.  I’d been waiting a long time for this moment so of course, I wanted to get in that canoe. 
All was calm until we came along
We were doing okay canoeing across the lake and we were actually enjoying the evening even without a guide when suddenly a guide headed in our direction calling my name.  The guide canoe patiently waited for us to catch up to lead us through a tunnel.  This is where the trouble began.  Oh, did I remember to add that I can't swim?
So much fun! Until....
 I’m still not sure how it happened but I’ve replayed the moment over and over again in my mind.  We’ve had a ton of rain this summer in Georgia so the water levels are high and the roof of the tunnel was lower than it should be. When my husband yelled “duck” I ducked.  I think he did too and the next thing I remember is I was underwater and a canoe was on top of me!  We wiggled our way out from under everything and I grabbed my camera trying to hold it above water but it was too late.  My brand new Canon had been submerged as had all of our other electronic devices.  We managed to get to a shore to flip our canoe, get back in and canoe back to the bait house.  By then I had no interest in trying to see the sunset or the moonlight. My husband and I were both sopping wet from top to bottom and I just wanted to get into dry clothes.

So for now, I have no camera for blogging and once again I’ll be saving up to do some camera shopping. 

Oh by the way.  I did manage to take a couple of photos before the mishap and they survived. Thought you might enjoy them.  This summer has been incredibly memorable but his was one excursion I’m happy to forget!!

8 comments:

  1. Oh my . . . something similar to this happened to me last year. This is the second post on 'camera in water' I have read in the past few days. If you have any of your electronic devices . . . put them in rice . . . it saved my memory card.

    Now to you being under water, terrifying I bet!? So happy you are okay!

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  2. Glad you are O.K. Your photos are lovely.

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  3. Oh dear - that IS a sad story! If it makes you feel any better, The Great Dane and I have had canoe mishaps, and that is the reason I never have photos of my kayak trips. Perhaps someday I'll have a waterproof digital camera, but until that day, no on-the-water photos. Oh yes....The Great Dane has gone into our ponds more than once by accident and each time he was wearing his cell phone. OOps!!

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  4. Oh no~ are we related??? I'm so glad that you were both alright. I can't swim either so I know how frightening that must have been. The loss of the camera is frustrating I'm sure but you are here to tell about it in your ever so funny way. be careful out there~

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  5. First of all it is so good that both of you are ok! I am so sorry about your camera but see it this way, as long as the damage involves objects it is bearable.

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  6. Oh dear, what a mishap. I'm glad you are okay - cameras and electronics can be replaced. How frustrating that can be. You'll remember this story for a long, long time.

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  7. I thought you were going to say that you car was stolen, too....OR that stuff was stolen out of your car, as well as the capsized canoe horror.....(Car unlocked, and all).....bad enough what DID happen.....So sorry that your new Canon is a goner....It is amazing that you were able to salvage any pictures, at all!
    The Best Laid Plans--And All That.....drat!!!

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  8. What a terrible adventure! Something that should have been so much fun and this happened. At least you were safe – there have been so many accidents in lakes in our area. But I feel for you and your camera. My daughter showed me the new little camera she just bought – it can detect cats and take their pictures automatically when you are in that setting, and it is totally waterproof and shockproof – I think it is an Olympus – would be a good second little camera – after you get your new one.

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