A quick story...

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So one little thing that happened during this first bit of the month involved a wayward canoe. I'd almost forgotten about it until the photo popped up in one of the other volunteer's picture caches.

On our second day out of Luganville we were motoring up the coast to Wusi in a water taxi. Near the end of our trip I spied a dugout canoe floating idly off the shore. There was nobody in the canoe and it didn't look like anyone was swimming around it.

I would have been more surprised to see a local Ni-Vanuatu swimming in the ocean that far from land. Most local people here are very superstitious about the ocean and few, if any in Santo, swim offshore.

After motoring up to the canoe in our boat it became evident that the little outrigger canoe had been swept out to sea with the last high tide. Perhaps the owner had enjoyed too much kava the night before and didn't have the energy to pull the thing far enough up on the sand? We couldn't know.

A dugout, outrigger canoe takes a lot of time and effort to make, so I decided that it was our civic responsibility to return the boat safely to the beach. Without any easily accessible rope on hand it seemed the best thing to do was to row the canoe back to land. The paddle was still sitting in the thing too! But the best laid plans of Mice and Men...

Apparently I should have had the salad for my last few meals before trying this stunt, because as soon as I leaped into the little wooden craft it sunk beneath the waves from my weight. (For those of you familiar with the final voyage of Ivan Oswald's ill-fated canoe this was much the same, but didn't leave me swimming in garbage).

So here we are off the coast of West Santo with a submerged and sinking canoe and an in-over-his-head Seamus. Thankfully I'd already lived through the "Ivan's Canoe Fiasco" so I knew how to handle myself. It was a long slog through the waves but I managed to swim the canoe safely out of the water.

When I returned to the volunteers on the water taxi I acted cool, as though I'd had the situation completely under control the whole time. Truth be told, however, there was a second or two immediately after the submersion where my trunks were in a bunch.

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Photos

Pulling her in
Here's the final drag to the sand. Thanks Nick for snapping this shot.

Another of Nick's Pics
More of the same.

Comments

[Devo]

Hahaha, trunks were in a bunch. As in you were close to drowning, or your white hairy ass was out?