It was a beautiful day, and there was hardly anyone at the lake. Seemed perfect. We got the canoe loaded up with the boys. Jason suggested that we just take Jonah in his carseat. This didn't seem like the best idea, but he was so chill in his chair that I went with it. Jason sat at the front of the canoe to paddle/steer, I sat in the middle with Jonah, and Jackson sat at the other tip.
Jason pushed us off the dock and as soon as we had cleared land, our yellow canoe became a yellow submarine. "Arr, we be ship wrecked. Marooned!" OK, it didn't actually sink. It just dumped us all overboard. One of those moments where a fraction of a second seems to take an eternity and yet you are powerless to do anything to help yourself in that eternity. I fixed my eyes on Jonah who was dumped upside down in the lake, still strapped to his chair. I quickly grabbed him and stood knee deep in the lake watching Jason pick up Jack and carry him to shore. Seeing that we were all safe, I laughed. Guess it was too soon, and Jason let me know just how funny it was NOT. He went back in the water to rescue our stuff including our camera and his blackberry.
We hauled everything on shore, dried off the kids, endured humiliation from the 4 groups of cars we saw, and decided to get the little ones home and come back for the canoe. Jason made all sorts of threats about how he was taking his shotgun out to take care of the canoe. We've never liked that boat. It was supposedly a racing canoe, and always felt unsteady. I'm surprised it had never dumped us out before, but it is a canoe and supposedly its hard to capsize those, right?
It was about 2 in the afternoon when we came home, and Jason went back for the canoe around 4. He came home empty handed. Someone had stollen our canoe in the middle of the afternoon in our quiet neighborhood. Acts of piracy committed against us! I drove by the lake in the morning to see if it was returned. Maybe some kids had just taken it out for a ride and left it on shore. Nope, it was definitely stolen.
You have a way of telling stories that leaves me on the edge of my seat! =0) I'm sorry your canoe got stolen, but maybe the canoe ran away after hearing threats of the shotgun, or maybe it really did capsize and is now at the bottom of the lake. Although, I do hope that Karma follows the boat around as well. =0) The old saying, "You get what you pay for" hopefully will be just what the thieves receive!
ReplyDeleteNow that's what I call an adventure. Sorry your sailing wasn't more fun, but it was certainly memorable. Yar!
ReplyDeleteWhat a crazy day. Sorry you lost your canoe (and a bit of trust in your neighbors), but you gained a story that is sure to be passed on to your grandkids!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love that you knew what day it was and that you made it into an experience. That's cool. Second, I'm glad you laughed, and I'm sure my husband would have had the exact same reaction to the canoe as you. ooo. . .he would have been mad and cursing the dang thing if it tipped over like that. Third, I can't believe it was stolen! Maybe people assumed you didn't want it any more after what it did to you??? Too bad. . . I'm sorry it's gone. Good story, though.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, we are not sorry to be rid of the canoe. Just wish we could've parted with it via Craig's List.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about the whole story ever since Jason made comments about it on Facebook. What an adventure! Maybe someday Jonah will be a daredevil river rafter. He got a taste of excitement at a young age.
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