Date:	Saturday, October 17, 2009
Trip Types:	Canoeing, Educational, Hiking
Plan:	We will drive from Hamilton MS to the UW Waterfront Activities Center next to Husky Stadium, rent canoes (2 students + 1 leader per canoe), and paddle in and around Union Bay. We will stop for lunch at the UW Park Arboretum, playing games and resting before the 2nd leg of the paddle. We hope to shows the students an example of nature in-city, identifying flora and fauna along the way, emphasizing how the built environment and nature interact visually and ecologically.
Report:	Being an in-city trip, we bumped the start time back to 10am. This worked well, and allowed the leaders to meet at Fuel Coffee in Wallingford to talk about the trip in detail. The weather was poor for the trip, with rain and cold throughout. Only six of the expected 14 students arrived at the school at 10am. We called the rest to confirm that they were not attending. We passed out gear and lunches and then drove to the UW Waterfront Activities Center. Light rain was falling when we rented the canoes. We put two students with 3 leaders in three canoes and combined the remaining adults in three other canoes. Everyone wore lifejackets and we discussed water safety before leaving the dock for the Arboretum. About 30 minutes into the paddle, the two student in the lead boat leaned to look at something in the water as the boat was turning from starboard to port in one of the bays adjacent to the Arboretum (almost directly south from the WAC). The canoe listed to starboard, and the leader (Brian Smoliak) turned to see what was going on in the front of the boat. The canoe hung at about 60 degrees with respect to the water for a few seconds and the students reached to the port gunwale to grab onto something. This caused the boat to completely capsize, sending Guanni, Alex, and Brian into Lake Washington. All three grabbed ahold of the overturned canoe and flipped it upright again. Brian made sure that both students were properly supported by their PFDs and looked for another canoe to help. Guanni attempted to reboard the swamped canoe, but proved unsuccessful. Alex swam to a nearby canoe and grabbed ahold. Seeing this, Guanni followed suit. At this point, the other canoes were all in the vicinity of the swimmers. Brian ceded leadership of the rescue to Rene, but continued to help with the righting of the swamped canoe. Rene positioned two canoes on either side of Alex and Guanni. Both students were removed from the water in this arrangement, and it proved successful. The students were given emergency blankets immediately. Brian helped move the swamped canoe to another canoe piloted by Brett and Corinn. Brett pulled the swamped canoe up and over her canoe in a 'T' formation, then tilted the swamped canoe to empty about 80% of it. Next, Brian left the water and moved into the still partially swamped canoe. Brett joined him in the stern of the canoe and both began bailing it with water bottles. Several other canoes moved alongside to brace and help bail. In about 5 minutes time, the canoe was sufficiently bailed to allow Brian and Brett to paddle it safely. Approximately 15 minutes had elapsed since the canoe first capsized. Brian was given some dry clothes to drape over himself. It was decided that the entire group would paddle back to the WAC so that the wet leader and student could change into dry clothes and be transported home. Upon arriving back at the WAC, the canoes were returned and the wet students changed clothes. Brian, Liz, and Chelsea volunteered to take one of the rental vans to transport the wet students home. Brett volunteered to lead the remaining students and leaders on a hike through the arboretum. Brian, Liz, and Chelsea took Alex and Guanni to get hot chocolate near Alex's home. Both were dropped off at their respective homes. The three leaders met up with Brett and her cohort at 3pm at Hamilton MS. Gear was collected and the students were picked up. Educationally, this trip was successful. The arboretum group exposed the students to wildlife and flora in-city. One of the students had never been canoeing. All of the students experienced a capsized canoe rescue and all contributed to helping their peers return to the dock safely. We recommend that leaders always consider and educate their participants about the potential for capsizing in their canoe, and what to do if such an event occurs.
Suggestions:	See above regarding capsize.