Re: [Paddlewise] The naming of boats - now Oxygen

Peter Osman wrote:

> Richard,
>
> I've been trying to remain just an observer in this thread but can't resist
> this one. There has to be a good story behind the name Oxygen?
>
> PeterO
>
> >>Richard Culpeper wrote
>
> >Named my ww kayak "Oxygen".  Seemed sortta appropriate given what was going
> >through my mind at the time.
>

Not much of a story behind this one.  I was messing about at the base of Island
Falls on the Temagami River in Ontario when I became stuck under the falls.
There was enough water to keep me down, but enough air in the mix to prevent my
paddling out.  I just kept bobbing about with my boat and myself under water.
Eventually I pulled the cord and vaulted off the hull to get a gasp of air, but
then the boat and I went back down.  I tried balling up and going to ground out
the bottom, but this didn't work either, so I settled on using the hull for
flotation and held my hand up awaiting rescue, and vaulting for air when
possible.

Paul Cook was having lunch nearby, so he kindly put down his meal, climbed in
his boat, paddled over to where I had disappeared, and trolled back and forth
with his sinker line.  It snagged my hand, and he pulled me back to the
surface.  I was just about out of oxygen, for I was blacking out, so I was quite
happy that Paul did not wait to finish his lunch.

Some trips later my kayak broke in half at the top of Triple Cheeseburger (the
middle falls of the Island Falls complex) while I was setting up for the Side of
Fries run.  Fortunately I made the run (though it was a squeaker), so when I got
back in town I ordered a new boat.  It arrived, and I was quite happy with it,
but did not know what to call it.

Again a few trips later I found myself at the base of Island Falls.  I had
learned my lesson about not playing there, but unfortunately had not accounted
for the smaller volume of my new boat, and was stern squirted back into the hole
after running the drop.  This time the water level was slightly different, and
was not pushing me all the way under -- I'd go down a bit, but then pop back up
before going all the way under.  I was quite concerned that one of these times I
might get flipped, so I kept screaming "ROPE!"  to Brent Walker, who was having
lunch at the edge of the falls.  Unfortunately, Brent was quite enjoying
watching me surf.  The more I hollered, the more he cheered "Great surf!  Keep
it up!"  It seems we had a slight communication problem.

I came to the conclusion that I was wasting my breath, and should instead relax,
get my heartbeat down, and conserve my oxygen in anticipation of the
inevitable.  By relaxing, I was able to gain better attitude control relative to
the falls hammering my deck, and eventually backed my way out the side.  Oxygen
conservation led to relaxation led to control.  Thus the name Oxygen.  If you
see a gray Matrix with an blue Oxygen sticker on the back deck, say hi.

Cheers,
Richard Culpeper
www.geocities.com/~culpeper

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