default.listen (get to the bank!)
- Jay Dunkle
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
June 27th, 10am, 71*F, Nelsonville, OH. I was out with six of my kids for a nice lazy morning river ride on inner tubes. The sun wasn’t too high and both air and water temperature was perfect. The river water was a little muddy from rain the night before and was moving fairly swiftly. The 3 mile ride is supposed to take 2-4 hrs but took us about an hour and a half. After the kids lashed tubes with their buddies and disembarked I started my way down the river on my own slow, quiet journey. With waterproof camera in hand I took still shots of all the memories. Not paying enough attention to my surroundings, and to be honest a little intentionally, the river was moving me steadily toward the bank aimed directly for a tree that had fallen in. Upon realizing what was occurring I didn’t think a ton of it and didn’t take it very seriously. My plan was to push away using the wispy branches that were above the water and regain my course. Unbeknownst to me, only about a quarter of the full tree was exposed above water while the main trunk and remainder of the branches were submerged: iceberg anyone!?! Very swiftly I was pitched into the water with the inner tube on top of me and fighting through the tree branches. A couple thoughts going through my head were; I’m glad none of my kids were lashed to my inner tube so they could continue on safely, and I was relieved that my waterproof GoRuck field pack and camera were safely lashed to one of the handles (with a bowline knot, thank you to my buddy Dave Kocias)! All-in-all I didn’t have a whole lot to worry about besides getting back onto my watercraft. Unfortunately for me the river was running fairly swiftly, as mentioned before, but the inner tube was very quick to flip from the front side. The handles were up toward the front and there was a wide back so I couldn’t grab around the sides to try to get up that way. After multiple failed attempts, I decided I was just going to float for a little while until I could catch up with the kids to help me back onto the craft. In hindsight that would’ve been dangerous considering the river had rocks and the water depth was anywhere between 2 to 10 feet. Resigned to staying in the water but thinking what my next move would be I heard my son who is about an eighth of a mile down the river yell back “Hey dad, get to the bank!” It only then dawned on me that I could maneuver myself with a little bit of swimming over to the high bank to find some structure to grab onto and get position back onto the tube. In a few minutes and with some good solid kicks I found a large rock peeking out of the water and was able to grab onto it, lift myself back into the boat and continue on. I urged myself forward with the little paddle I had and ended up passing the kids by and landing first at the exit of the river. I helped all my kids to shore whenever they reached it. During our trip the kids all laughed, relaxed, raced the best they could and had an absolute ball!
Reflecting back on these events many lessons-learned became blatantly evident. Firstly, pay attention to your surroundings no matter how ‘in the moment’ you are! Second, listen for advice. It may come from a friend, colleague and even your own son who’s floating down his own river current. Be aware that others, outside your circumstance, may have some details and foresight that you can’t see, don’t underestimate that! Lastly, be confident. There will be more about BJJ in the future but through that journey I have gained a confidence in myself that allowed me to stay calm while I was bobbing down the river - no worries!
A special thanks to my kiddos for loving their dad and yelling “get to the bank!”
live your default.life!
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