Sunday, December 10, 2006

Swimmer, swimmer, swimmer...

Again in Savutini. I got worked. Tobi, Kini and I were in an 11' boat. It was high water, really high water, pushy water. We didn't make the line I wanted and were pushed into a rock. The boat was driven up and the stern was pulled under. Tobi and I were sucked out. It happened so fast I don't really remember it, except for the part where I surfaced and saw my boat getting away from me. I remember thinking three things: first, holy shit where did my paddle go?? Second, the sieves!!! Do not go towards the sieves on river right. (These sieves are cracks in the cliff face. Water pours in there and who knows where it goes.) Third, grab the boat, get to the boat before you slip away into that crack.
I got to the boat but the water kept sucking me down. I remember hitting the first rock. It was my right shin, it felt like a crack. I remember thinking, "oh, there's that rock". Like I had been looking for it. It quickly flashed in my mind that this was a humorous thought.
I finally yelled at Kini, who was frozen and just staring at me, to get his ass in gear and get Tobi and I back in the boat before we hit that huge ledge hole.
I was in the boat just in time to reach for Tobi. I missed and watched him go over the ledge and into the hole. Luckily he was flushed out quickly. Kini and I on the other hand went over the edge. I dislocated my knee. We were surfing, running around in circles trying to keep the boat from flipping. Finally the inevitable happened, we go over.
I remember being very concerned at this point but about nothing in particular. I took a breath and then hit bottom. I felt myself rising, thinking I would be flushed out, then I was pushed back down to the bottom. This time though, I swam down and under the wave and was flushed out.
I swam to a river left eddy and scrambled up the rocks. Immediately pain set in. My knee swelled, my shins were gushing blood from golf ball sized lumps, it felt like I had chipped a bone in my ankle and I had about a gallon of water in my lungs....S.U.C.K.S.
The boat was recovered and the trip went fine. I just felt like an ass

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