1. Don’t fight the water; move with it.
2. Use your arms less. Use your core more.
3. Hit waves head-on, straight through their crest. Otherwise, your boat might tip.
4. Change your vocabulary: “I made a wet exit from my boat” feels very different from “My boat tipped.”
5. Paddle at a quicker cadence, but with less force.
6. Look up: sandstone cliffs. Black rocks the oldest on Earth. Seagulls.
7. But don’t look up when a seagull is directly overhead.
8. Look down: stripes of colored rock beneath the water. Weeds. Broken pilings from old docks.
9. Being upside down underwater isn’t all that bad.
10. Rescuing another kayaker from the water isn’t all that hard. Talk him through it. Look him in the eyes. Don’t panic.
11. Every moment, something can be learned. Every moment, something can be taught.
12. Watch the weather. Watch the water. Shifting winds, changing current. Thundering. Rip tide. Be ready to react.
13. Don’t say a water monster’s name while you’re still on the water. That invites the monster to try to tip your boat/help you practice a water exit.
14. Kayak instructors aren’t afraid to get wet and sandy, to rinse their wetsuits in the lake. To tip their boats while demonstrating how not to tip your boat.
15. Wear a lifejacket. Make sure it’s snug around your waist, chest.
16. Wetsuits do not flatter anyone’s figure. They’re impossible to put on, and even more impossible to take off when wet. But when you practice a wet exit in Lake Superior, you’ll be glad you’re wearing one.
Poet and essayist Andrea Scarpino is a regular contributor to POTB. You can visit her at: http://www.andreascarpino.com
Planet of the Blind 
Oh Good Gosh, Andrea, I assumed throughout that SK wrote this piece until I reached your name at the end. OK, SK, you’re next on Lake Winniwhatever. Remember what Andrea said, “Being upside down underwater isn’t all that bad.”
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