I built a canoe in my mother\u2019s living room one winter.\u00a0 A story in Boy\u2019s Life had captivated me.\u00a0 The dream was a big one with an outrigger, a sail… and Hawaii.\u00a0 That summer at Camp Fleischmann, I got the canoeing merit badge.<\/p>\n
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I discovered a kit for a 12\u2019 wood frame and canvas canoe advertised in Boy\u2019s Life. It was not in the section with the sea monkeys and x-ray glasses, so it had to be legit.\u00a0 A fortune, $25.00 plus shipping, REI Express.\u00a0 I could handle it with the remnants of my summer earnings and the income from my paper route.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mail ordering anything was a leap of faith.\u00a0 When I was five I sent fifty cents to Laura Scudder Potato Chips for a miniature Whirly Bird helicopter.\u00a0 Seven years and five moves later I was still waiting for it to arrive.\u00a0 Never cared for Laura Scudder stuff after that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dad seemed to think REI Express was up to the task and Boy\u2019s Life was reputable.\u00a0 I was reluctant, then realized I had leverage; powerful friends everywhere.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If need be, I could write to the local Scout Troop and use them to enforce the contract if my canoe didn\u2019t show up.\u00a0 Boy Scouts had more reach and soldiers than the mafia.\u00a0 We flew beneath the radar and were worldwide.\u00a0 We outnumbered the Masons.\u00a0 To this day I bet you never heard about the Boy Scout network… our cover story was that good.\u00a0 Our enforcers were tough, and prepared.\u00a0 Who could resist a skinny, freckle faced kid in a rumpled scout uniform, determined to do a good deed?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One day after school a big green REI Express truck stopped in front of our house.\u00a0 A miracle.\u00a0 The kit was complete, and there was no damage.\u00a0 It was big.\u00a0 Since there was snow on the ground, the only logical place to work was in the living room.\u00a0 I had it unpacked before Mom got home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Everything was pre-cut.\u00a0 It took my brothers and I several weeks to build it.\u00a0 I decided to go first class and finish the canvas with fiberglass instead of marine paint.\u00a0 I was banished to the back yard for that part of the project.\u00a0 I ruined a new pair of corduroy pants but everything else went relatively well.\u00a0 The fiberglass was heavy and did not go on evenly.\u00a0 There was too much weight on one side that made the craft extremely unstable.\u00a0 All you had to do to tip it over was turn your head.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was time for the maiden voyage.\u00a0 My brother and I carried it down to the river by the old railroad trestle.\u00a0 It was early spring and the water was fast.\u00a0 We made it about 20 yards before hitting a rock and tipping over.\u00a0 The water was COLD!\u00a0 It was a good thing we wore life jackets.\u00a0 A canoe full of water is incredibly heavy.\u00a0 We finally got to shore and surveyed the damage.\u00a0 There was a big tear near the bow and a little bit of frame damage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The canoe repaired easily.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I had to recruit a new crew.\u00a0 My brother was pissed.\u00a0 In addition to the wild ride, I had turned into Captain Bligh and clobbered him with the canoe paddle a couple of times to emphasize the urgency of a course correction.\u00a0 He had enough canoeing with me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My buddy, Bill Bradley, was game.\u00a0 He and I had gotten the canoeing merit badge together.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bill\u2019s house was on the river, just above some very serious (class 3-4) rapids we called \u201cslippery gulch.\u201d\u00a0 The river travelled through a steep, narrow basalt earthquake fault and lost about 20 feet of elevation in about a quarter of a mile.\u00a0 The rapids ended in a 90 degree bend to the east and slow, deep water in the swimming hole under the Richmond Road Bridge.\u00a0 It was probably the worst stretch of river for miles.\u00a0 As far as we were concerned, it was perfect.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We launched in the slack water above the rapids, behind Bill\u2019s house.\u00a0 We hit the first rock at the top of the rapids.\u00a0 The boat quickly swamped and we jolted from rock to rock as we descended through the white water gulch.\u00a0 There was nowhere to go but downstream.\u00a0 At the bottom of the rapids the boat rolled upside down as we hit the bend.\u00a0 Bill was thrown clear of the boat and held onto the rope at the bow as he swam to shore.\u00a0 He could not see me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Bill could touch bottom the canoe was upside down and very heavy.\u00a0 He decided to roll it over and drag it ashore, before looking for me.\u00a0 Out I popped as he turned the canoe, I had been jammed under the heavily damaged canoe by the floatation of the life jacket.\u00a0 My guardian angel had been on duty, again; I had not been under water for long.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We were freezing, it was March or early April.\u00a0 To add insult to injury, we had to go back into the river with the canoe and drift another couple of hundred yards downstream, through deep water, to a place where we could haul out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The dream of canoeing was still alive, but well tempered with experience and a new found respect for water and rocks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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