Capsizing the Kayak

I was looking forward to my first kayaking experience. It was a part of the four day cross-gender friendship weekend which included U2. My friend, Jennifer Ould and I decided to go kayaking on the Pere Marquette River on Saturday afternoon. We have enjoyed our previous canoeing experiences and we were going to experiement with a kayak.

The river was moving faster than normal because of the previous rainfall throughout the week. It was much higher too. We're not experienced to take on rapids and this river didn't have any rapids. But the current was moving swiftly. When we got into the water, Jennifer made the comment, that she might not need to paddle much because it was moving (she was in front).

We had not been in the river too long (perhaps 5 minutes) when we rounded a curve and I saw a long branch coming out of the water on the left side about 18 inches above the water. We were quickly coming upon it. Whatever I did to steer clear of it, didn't work. Jennifer was looking the other way enjoying the swift current. I yelled to her about the upcoming branch. She managed to avoid it. But I was dead center in its path. Just like that it hit my chest. As I tried to duck I tipped the kayak to the right and suddenly the entire river it seemed rushed into the kayak and I saw Jennifer flying into the river and the kayak yield to the river.

I had a life preserver on but I also held onto the log as I felt the kayak quickly leave me and float away. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jennifer (out of the kayak) and the kayak quickly disappear in a flash. The current was moving fast.

What took place in the next few seconds seemed like forever. 

I quickly sized up the situation and right or wrong, in the moment I didn't feel I was in a good place. I was in a "pull-up" position with my chin up against the log with a strong current pushing me against the branch. I tried to feel the bottom and could not touch it. I heard Jennifer and she grabbed another branch in the middle of the river about 25 feet from me. I decided to duck under the branch to position my self better on the other side. I did that. But suddenly I felt the pull of my shirt; it's snagged on the branch on the other side I was on and now my neck is pressed closely to the branch with my shirt snagged on the other side of it and the water at my chin level. I immediately thought, "So, this is one of the ways people drown and this is not good." The current was pretty strong relatively speaking. Not rapids, but it was moving quickly. 

I am not sure at the moment if I am going to get out of this.

I used my left hand to feel where my shirt is snagged. With all I can muster I push at the shirt to get it unsnagged and I am able to free it on the first try. Now I am "free" but still about 7 feet from the shore--which is like a grass wall, straight up and down about 3 1/2 feet high. I am still feeling for ground and there is no ground. The second I let go the current is going to take me. I don't like the unpredictatibility of that. I follow the branch toward the shore. I try to step up at the bottom of the wall to climb up when my foot goes down into about six inches of mud.

Meanwhile, I can hear (and not see) Jennifer say, "If you get on the shore, come quickly, I don't know how much longer I can hold on." 

So the first time trying to climb up this "ground" wall on the shore didn't work. I am hoping I am not stuck in the mud. Again, with all of my strength I can muster, I pull my foot out of the mud. It slowly came out.

I saw another branch dangling from a tree on the bank. It doesn't look stable. But I don't see what other option I have at this point. I grab onto the branch and pull myself up onto the bank. From here, I am in thick brush, but I see Jennifer holding onto the kayak and a branch about 25 feet down the river. Jennifer assures me at this point, she's found some kind of footing on a tree root underneath and she think she's okay until I get there but please hurry.

This was quite an adventure. I have read stories of canoers/kayakers drowning after capsizing, getting snagged on branches, etc. Was this a near brush with death experience? Some would scoff. But I have read enough drowning stories involving great swimmers and unpredictable circumstances. I'm not sure where I would put this. I definitely thought I was in a situation beyond my control a couple of times once we capsized. I didn't feel I panicked, yet at the same time, I felt I had to move swiftly at several points not knowing what was going to happen beyond the immediate second.