Missing canoe!

[dave0]

Alan, very happy to hear you found your boat and it wasn't stolen which could have been a much worse story! Reminds me of the one time when the knot on my painter let loose while I was off loading the car and huffing gear. Came down the bank to see the wind pushing my canoe downriver at a furious pace. I ended up running down the bank as far as could and then had to dive in and swim after it for a long while. No PFD, no paddles, dressed in heavy cloths as it was the beginning of November. Finally caught it and then had to line it back up to the put in. Sat there shivering for a while then changed clothes, yeah smart enough to have a change, and then poled upstream for a couple of miles and drifted back down. I bought a thermos after that experience to have something hot to warm up the innards, cold beers just didn't cut it that day.

 

[Canotrouge]

Alan, I like the way you think!! I take notes! I try to be the same way but it takes some efforts lol!! Good on you life is to short to think other wise!

 

[Iskweo]

ok...that is twice now you have had your canoe escape. I can be a little careless, but Karin always always always ties the painter off to something, no matter how close we are to the boat. She even ties off to a tree when we pull it up on shore overnight. In case the wind blows it away....kevlar canoe and pretty light.

So given this, you need to adopt that habit of tieing off every time. No excuses. You have been lucky so far.

I am glad you got the canoe back.


Christy

 

[Uncle_Skwid]

Not to let my nearly complete faith in humanity show through...

That's great. I leave my canoe all over the appalachian southeast, sometimes tucked away, sometimes sitting beside the road, sometimes chained to a tree, sometimes piled with camping gear. Not to jinx myself but I've never had an issue with mischief except maybe for the one time a fisherman waited for me to come pedaling up on my bike to inquire as to whether he could have a beer from my cooler. I said sure and he said that's good cause I already drank it.

 

[Guest]

Karin always always always ties the painter off to something, no matter how close we are to the boat. She even ties off to a tree when we pull it up on shore overnight. In case the wind blows it away....kevlar canoe and pretty light.

Having had a couple of issues with lightweight canoes blowing in the wind – an 18lb pack canoe taking flight down a sandy beach – I always tie off. For beach security or places with few trees I use one of those spiral screw-in dog run stakes.

In camp I was content to tie off just the bow line, but after a trip in which a carbon Bell Prospector was bow tied upside down at the end of a row of canoes in the evening and found at the end of its leash upright on the other side of the canoe pile the next windy morning I now tie off both bow and stern lines in camp.

I try to springline the ropes, so they are pulling in opposition and the hull is fully restrained.

Not to jinx myself but I've never had an issue with mischief except maybe for the one time a fisherman waited for me to come pedaling up on my bike to inquire as to whether he could have a beer from my cooler. I said sure and he said that's good cause I already drank it.

I have not been so lucky. I’ve had a sail stolen from a canoe in the time it took me to walk a gear load 100 yards up to my truck. Had a rescue knife disappear from a PFD lash tab in similar circumstance. Knives may be overly tempting to the light fingered; we once had a kid try to sell us one of our knives in a campground.

 

[Alan Gage]

we once had a kid try to sell us one of our knives in a campground.

Tough choice. Shuck over the money, refuse to buy it for $5 on principle only to have to buy it back at full price later, or try to grab him by the collar before he can get away?

We used to have an honest to goodness wino live across the street from our shop in a motel/trailer court type of place. He would have been in his 60's I suppose and really looked the part. To top it off his name was Gus. Gus was an interesting guy and our little Rat Terrier, Buddy, loved him to death. Dog would about wiggle out of her skin when Gus would walk across the street. He was always borrowing money wherever he could with the promise to pay it back at the 1st of the month when he got his check, which he mostly did. But by the time he paid back all his debts he'd be broke again by the 3rd of the month.

He'd rarely just flat out ask for $10 or $20. Usually it came with a convoluted story about what he needed the money for. Once he brought in a clipped out coupon from the local grocery store showing us how they had chicken thighs on sale for 39 cents and that he needed $15 to take advantage of the sale. Of course we peaked out the door 10 minutes later and saw him shuffling away from the neighboring convenience store with a big brown bag.

Anyway, back to the topic of buying back your own stolen goods, as nice as Gus was and as good as he usually was at paying back his debts he wasn't beyond getting money by unscrupulous means on occasion. Best story was when he went to visit his brother in a neighboring town about 25 miles away. The brother liked to drink about as much as Gus but had more money, which isn't saying much. Gus spent three days in Milford on a bender with his brother. At the end of the 3 days the brother came up short his watch and had no clue where it had gone. The next time they saw each other Gus asked his brother if he'd like to buy a watch and showed him the same watch he'd stolen from him. Gus had simply been too drunk to remember where he'd stolen it from in the first place. The brother thought about it for a minute and gave him $10 for it. What else could he do?

I went digging through old files and found a couple old pictures of him.

gus by Alan, on Flickr

gussy by Alan, on Flickr

That's great. I leave my canoe all over the appalachian southeast, sometimes tucked away, sometimes sitting beside the road, sometimes chained to a tree, sometimes piled with camping gear. Not to jinx myself but I've never had an issue with mischief except maybe for the one time a fisherman waited for me to come pedaling up on my bike to inquire as to whether he could have a beer from my cooler. I said sure and he said that's good cause I already drank it.

I'm sure one day I'll get bit pretty hard but I do the same and have never had an issue. I don't even know where my house or shop keys are and my car keys only leave the ignition switch if I'm traveling, and sometimes not even then. Drives my anal retentive friend nuts. We'll stop at a rest stop along the highway and I'll jump out of the car without pulling the keys or rolling up the windows. He gets a concerned look his his face and tells me he was valuable things in the car. I point out that I do to and not only that but it's my car that might get stolen. I usually end up having to lock it for his peace of mind but then I get to have fun trying to make him feel guilty for being so untrusting.

ok...that is twice now you have had your canoe escape.......So given this, you need to adopt that habit of tieing off every time. No excuses. You have been lucky so far.

Well, to be fair, this is the first time I've let an unattended canoe get away. The first time the canoe got away from me I was there and holding the other end of the rope. Just that the moving water was able to pull harder than I.

But after this experience I will certainly be more careful.

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

Here in Rural Iowa, theft is not that common.
Once in a Hy Vee grocery store, while standing in line at the Deli. I dropped a 20, a young lad picked it up and showed it to his Dad. He told the kid to ask me if it was mine, and yes it was. I gave him $2 and he was a happy camper, and so was I !

There are occasions, but like Alan, I don't lock my vehicles here in town. In a bigger city, (Ft Dodge) 20 miles away, my sister, and brother-in-law, are always relaying theft troubles. They have several security cameras set up.

I'm hoping Alan finds his other paddle !

Jim

 

[Alan Gage]

I'm hoping Alan finds his other paddle !

Cool, windy, and rainy the last couple days so I haven't looked. Going to paddle to Wallingford, probably about 8 river miles, tomorrow morning before it gets too windy and hope to find it. Come on up if you'd like to join me. Was going to try and be on the water by 8:00 but if you want to come up I can wait a bit longer.

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

You know I've been shuffling boxes most of the day.
I'm up for a paddle !

I'll call an we can set up a shuttle !

 

[Odyssey]

Well there's a lesson here for us all, and at the very least serves as a reminder that a wayward wandering canoe can happen to the best of us.
When I first started canoeing I thought it common sense to pull the boat up well above lapping waves, but it took reading about winds stealing boats to convince me to tie it down. Now I'm a bit over the top about it. On trips I see my canoe as a lifeline, and try to be ever vigilant to the point of being phobic. ( "Is it pulled up enough? Will it escape me as I turn to offload this pack? Can I out-swim this current to retrieve the canoe?" )
As far as preventing thievery, that's an ongoing thing. I always lock up canoe and vehicle at every stop, even in my own driveway. I feel a little foolish having a cable lock securing canoe to roof racks, but would feel really foolish if I'd been left wishing I had. I grew up in a rural home when and where we never locked any doors. Many years later I was forever worrying about the safety of my aging parents living in their old fashioned world of trust; with unlocked doors and forever friendly to strangers. I try to strike a balance to this day, but it's a difficult thing to find - peace of mind.
I'm glad you've recovered both canoe and peace of mind Alan. I'd love to see Bloodvein 1 and Bloodvein 2 side by side.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I made it up to Alan's. Along with Sadie, we did a search for the lost paddle ! No luck but a great day to be on the water ! Level was a little high, as we viewed the snags.
Here's a pic of Alan and Sadie.

 

[Alan Gage]

Thanks for coming up, Jim. Had a real nice time. I'll try looking for the paddle again when the water drops a bit.

Alan

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I hope you eventually find your Zav, Alan. Having just picked up a used one, I can now really appreciate what a loss that is. And reading your posts, I get why the OP put red&white reflective tape on both sides of the blade. Guess I'll leave that on there.

 

[Guest]

Contact info on paddles and other gear

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...afety/32680-​contact-info-on-paddles-and-gear

 

[Jim Dodd]

We had this conversation while looking for Alan's paddle. Red tape, fluorescent paint, and some other ideas, to make Zavs easier to find, when lost.

I recalled a story of a man in my home town, while fishing at a local dam, late at night. Fell in, and drowned. It took about a week to find him 4 miles down stream. When they found him his clothes and skin were black. Darn tough to see black sometimes.

On the other hand, who's going to walk into camp with a $300 Zav, painted fluorescent green !

I still have faith that Alan will find his paddle !

 

[Conk]

Alan, not to let my unattended canoe paranoia show through, but do you think the canoe somehow slipped into the water by itself?

I recall a similar Conk story about a canoe that “escaped” from a landing while he walked a block into town for lunch. In both cases, knowing the paddlers involved, I doubt the canoe was left half floating in the river, and my assumption is that some cretin pushed the boat into the water for sick funsies.

Hey Conk, that was a great story; spotting the boat floating downriver, hurtling through riverside back yards in chase, a police encounter, etc.

Please post that tale if you still have it. I won’t give away the eventual rescue methodology.

This is an excerpt from day three of what was to be a five-day trip on the Allegheny River in April 2008.


Despite twice being awakened by passing freight trains I had a fair nights sleep and was up and packing by 6:00AM. I was ahead of schedule with only thirty miles to go and two days to do it. It would be a day of lily-dipping progress. I passed under the Interstate two times before I came to what the locals call the Great Wall of Salamanca, a cement block retaining wall that allows I-86 to skirt the south shore of the river. By 11:30, I was paddling through the city looking for a place to land. With plenty of time to spare, I was entertaining the idea of finding a deli where I might score a hot sandwich. An angler fishing with a young boy was standing near the downtown bridge. I helped him to free a snagged line and then pulled the canoe ashore. We had a short conversation about the weather and his lack of angling success. I inquired as to where I might find a sandwich and he directed me to a deli a couple blocks away. I left for the deli feeling somewhat at ease knowing that my canoe was under the watchful eye of the fishing duo.

I could have found the delicatessen without directions; the kitchen's exhaust fan was guiding my olfactory senses. The exterior was painted in the colors of the Italian flag and was very busy, two indicators of quality eats. I ordered a hot meatball sub that took about 15 minutes. I was back at the bridge in no more then twenty minutes. The fisherman, boy and my canoe were all gone.

I cannot describe how harried and frantic the next several minutes were. A clerk in a nearby business told me a customer had told her of a empty canoe floating in the river. I used her phone to call the police. They arrived promptly and took my information and that of the clerk, I explained that I had left the canoe high and dry on level ground and that gravity alone could not have put my boat in the river. The two officers left to investigate, one of them returned within minutes to say they had found my canoe; it was floating upside-down in the middle of the river. We drove to the next bridge downstream hoping it might make its way closer to shore but that was not the case. I inquired to the availability of any kind of boat that might be available but got no answer. The officers took me further down stream to stay ahead of my wayward canoe. They told me that they had another call and that they must leave me. This may have been so, I do not know, but I was left to fend for myself a stones throw from the city line.

I was now envisioning a swim. I climbed down the bank to rivers edge and waded to my waist in the cold water. The canoe was traveling slower than the current and I thought it possible to swim and intercept my boat. I did a test, full body submersion and immediately aborted the swim and intercept plan. While I may have survived a swim across the river, my test swim in the current made it very clear that I would never drag a water-bound canoe ashore. There was now nothing left to do but run along shore and pray for a miracle. I was trespassing through people’s property when I suddenly realized that I was in the backyard of a friend of my wife’s aunt. We had once visited them and the yard was familiar. A miracle then appeared in the form of a Coleman RamX-15 that was leaning against a tree. I knocked on doors and windows but no one was home. I looked in a shed and I found a broken Feathercraft paddle. The Coleman was procured and I made haste to the river. I was able to get to the center of the river and intercept the overturned Yellowstone. My ferry back with a canoe in toe was no easy task against the current. I was able to recover three of the five dry bags that were in the canoe. I now used my Yellowstone to paddle upstream scanning the river for any additional chattel. I found two articles of clothing. Both items had been stored in separate dry bags that were in a larger sealed dry bag, further evidence that someone had rifled through my stuff. The fact that I was missing the double blade paddle that was lashed to the thwarts makes me believe that someone had tried to take my canoe for an unsuccessful ride. I returned to the police station to report on my adventurers. I let them know my theories and that there was the potential of finding a corpse in the river, or at least it was my hope that they might.

I felt very fortunate to have recovered the canoe and some of my gear. I lost two paddles, one of them custom made, some very expensive Gore-Tex clothing and a raft of miscellaneous camping items. A claim was filed under my homeowner's policy that did come through to some extent softening the sting of my loss but the biggest loss was in losing two days on the river.

When I got home, my neighbor, a Presbyterian Minister inquired to my early return. I explained that he probably would not want to hear it but I placed too much faith in my fellow man. To which he replied, “Oh... that will get you every time.”

 

[SaganagaJoe]

It takes quite a bit to get me worked up. No point in getting too worried as whatever happened happened and if I find it I find it and if I don't I don't. I have very little control over the whole thing. Thankfully I was able to exercise what little control I did have (searching downstream) and came up with a canoe!

That's the right philosophy. You have my respect man.

 

[Guest]

I was very puzzled to find it gone.

I am familiar with that sense of puzzlement.

Years ago I permitted a battered Wards Sea King aluminum canoe for use on the reservoir a few miles from our home. It required a $60 permit and agreement not to use the boat elsewhere (zebra mussels and etc invasives), so a good use for a beater.

I took the Sea King up to the launch a week after the season started. There were already dozen of boats chained to a rail, mostly Grummans and Colemans, but also a few decent RX canoes and even a few composite hulls. Some of them where secured with decorative plant hanger chain or $3 combination locks.

I secured Sea King with a beefy-arsed chain and a big Masterlock.

Understand that the Sea King was a beater, dented all to heck (ah, the memories), slightly hogged from a pin (more memories) and covered in grunge from long disuse.

I went back to the launch a few days later with my sons to take the Sea King out on the reservoir.

Well, it was right there. . . . .wha, huh, where. . . . wander the launch shoreline in disbelief, looking at far nicer canoes with far lesser chains. . . .wha, how, I don’t understand. . . .no canoe, no lock, no chain. WTF?

Gone without a trace.

You would think I might have learned my lesson, but a few years later I permitted an ancient poly canoe for the reservoir, a “Whitewater” brand. Made, of all places, in Iowa, and certainly not a whitewater canoe; giant recurved stems and a protruding keel that ran not just the length of the bottom but up the stems and down the oversized molded deck plates.

The single layer poly hull was badly UV degraded, but I thought it would still make a gentle use reservoir canoe.

I chained the bejusus out of it and came back a week later to find that someone had apparently tried to run across the bottoms of the row of overturned canoes. Until they came to the Whitewater, where they punched a foot sized hole though the bottom and shattered the molded gunwales. It might have been worth it had I witnessed the act.

Running across the tops of plastic objects may be a Maryland thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIcyFSYhvV4

 

[Alan Gage]

The other day I finally took the time to inspect the canoe after I rescued it. It's a black canoe and has only been paddled a handful of times so it hasn't had too many scratches yet and the ones that are there show up very well. I can see one long V shaped scratch along the bottom that could have come from me pulling it up the lumpy-bumpy concrete bank and then it sliding back down. I don't remember doing anything else (getting stuck and a rock and pushing myself off backwards) that would have caused it. There are also some very deep scratches/gouges very near the bow that run up the side of the canoe and across the sides of one gunwale. These scratches would had to have come from a canoe that was nearly on its side and being drug sideways judging from their direction. At first I thought they'd come from the canoe getting drug through a downed tree or perhaps scraping across a bridge abutment but they're too deep for either of those (the bridge abutments are smooth). I was also very surprised to see how chewed up the bow stem is along the keel line.

To me this all points to the canoe slipping back into the water by itself. Once it slipped back in a little ways the stern would have hit in a pretty strong eddy current and if the stern was then pulled upstream and out a little more it would have gotten into the main current. I think the canoe slipped almost all the way into the water until only the bow stem was left on the rough concrete shoreline. The canoe stayed there and ground away at the bow stem for a while as it got pushed around in the confused current until it flipped on its side, partially filled with water, and was finally scraped away from shore; causing those deep scratches that travel up one side and over the gunwales. I don't believe an empty canoe would have had the weight to make them.

No sign of my second paddle yet but the water levels haven't dropped and this weekend is hot and humid so I don't have much desire to go looking either.

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

Good Detective work !

A lot of people on the river today, down here. Might be good to drive by favorite takeout places, and