Third and Final Canoeing Saga Installment

I tried running, but the sand was loose and made me feel like I was fighting quicksand. It truly felt like one of those nightmare experiences where you try to run, but don’t get anywhere. Eventually, however, I made it to within earshot of the man, and breathlessly called for him to wait. I explained our predicament, hoping he would have a boat to get us out to our canoe. He didn’t, but he offered his house for me to call the coast guard. Having no idea that lakes had coast guards, even one this big, I joyfully said, “Yes please!” It felt like it took forever to get back to his house, but eventually we did make the call, with him explaining to them where the canoe was and where we were in relation to it. I thanked him a million times and made my way back to where Juan was planted on the beach, never taking his eyes off the canoe. As we sat there waiting for something to happen, Juan turned to me and said, “Well, now that we have the good news, are you ready for the bad?” I nodded in apprehension just waiting for it to come. “My wallet was in my jacket…. And so were the car keys.” At this point I was so exhausted, I just stared at him. I scanned my memory, trying to think if I had left a window open a crack or forgotten to lock a door. Sometimes we leave the moon roof open a bit, but with the threat of rain, we had definitely left it sealed up tight.

As we waited for the coast guard to appear and my bare shoulders broiled under the hot sun, I envisioned the next steps to the afternoon. The coast guard would pick us up and take us back to the car, where we’d have to somehow call a locksmith to come get it open. At first, I thought I had left my keys in the car, but then remembered that I had left them at the Graham’s house that morning. So getting the car open would not even make it drivable.

Meanwhile, our impatience was turning to worry, as the horizon showed no sign of change. Juan was pacing back and forth, wondering aloud when the coast guard was going to appear, when suddenly he saw a tiny speck in the distance. The canoe was so far out at this point that he could only see it intermittently (I still couldn’t look at it, bobbing out there forlornly). The speck headed in the direction of the canoe, stopped just short of it, and then turned and went back in the direction from which it had come. For at least the fiftieth time that day, we stared at each other open-mouthed. “Where are they going? Why didn’t they get it?” We couldn’t see it at all now, so I wondered if it had been overcome by a wave and had sank to oblivion. The speck suddenly appeared again, drove around a bit, stopped for a while and then left once again. We had no idea what was going on. Had they found it? Had they taken it with them? What if it wasn’t the Coast Guard and just some other people excited to find a canoe floating alone in the lake? If it had been the Coast Guard, why hadn’t they come to get us?

We sat on the beach for a while, wondering what to do next. We had no phone, no canoe, no way to get back to our car, and even if we had gotten back there somehow, we had no way to open it. I sighed and got up to make my way back down the beach again to the nice man’s house. Luckily, he was on his way towards us and met me halfway there. “They got it, but couldn’t come over here because of the rocks. You have to go get the canoe at the station.” I explained our predicament regarding the keys, and he kindly offered to drive us to the Graham’s house to get my set. Luck was still remotely with us, as they had not locked the door so we could come and go as we pleased without having to worry about a spare key. On the way to their house, we asked him if he thought that the jacket would still be in the canoe. He said he wasn’t sure, but from his telescope it appeared that the canoe was floating upside down in the water. We speculated about how it all could have happened, but nothing was satisfactory. We had pulled it far from the water, and although the wind was blowing quite a bit, we had sat on the beach for long enough before the walk to have seen it be moved by the gusts, so we didn't think that was it.

Once back in the car and on the way to the Coast Guard station, we inventoried our potential losses. The paddles and vests were easily replaceable and I wasn’t too concerned about the cardigan. It was just Juan’s jacket with his keys and wallet that we really wanted to be there waiting for us. As we drove into the station, a group of guys were driving out with our canoe on the back of a truck. We motioned for them to stop, and pointed at the canoe. "Where were they taking it?" I wondered aloud. Thirty seconds later and it would have been on its way back to the nice man's house. We confirmed that it was our canoe, asked about the jacket, which they said didn't have, and saw that the two things we didn't care about- the paddles and the life jackets- had floated along with the canoe.

We had talked about getting an ice cream earlier, but at this point were ready for something a little stronger. Over beers at a historic hotel in town, still shell shocked but trying to find the bright side to it all (we had the canoe, a locksmith didn't need to be involved, and all were safe) we both marveled at how young, buff, and attractive the crew of coast guard men had been. And I had been too concerned about the canoe to get a picture for my blog :(