That night, while most of our belongings lay in a wet heap on the far bank of the Bow River, Gary and I slept like babies at Ray's place in Canmore. The next day, we returned to the scene of the accident accompanied by Ray and Michelle and another friend Pam. This was another great learning experience. Pam was very savvy with rope work. And under her direction, the five of us managed to retrieve all of our gear plus one rather sorry looking aluminum canoe.

I'm not sure how many gaping holes are permitted in a boat before it is considered unseaworthy, but I'm quite sure that the tally on ours exceeded that number. I also suspect that the large dent running half the length of the canoe would be a point of contention for naval inspectors.