It was an eventful day.
After waking up at 12pm (for the first time in US), I got to know from Rahul that we'll be not be getting the internet installed today for which we had been very eagerly waiting. And all this was because of some confusion regarding our phone number because at the time of registration we had given Ravi's phone. And when the person called up Ravi, he told them that he did not live at our place. Hence Comcast guys cancelled our order. Unfortunate indeed.... Now we will have to wait for a week at least before we get connected to the world.
An afterthought now made me realize that we could go for canoeing today which was an event planned for the new grads. Earlier we had decided against since the Comcast guy had to come from 2-4 pm and for canoeing we had to reach The Atrium at 1. So considering this cancellation to be a blessing in disguise, we set out for the Atrium.
We were 5 people in all going for canoeing - Natalie, Nguyen, Eric, Rahul and I. Lake Washington is just a few minutes’ walk from CSE and looks beautiful. Rahul and I had a canoe for us and we set out to sail. I had earlier thought that since I had gone rafting earlier, the rowing experience would really help but it actually happened that we applied too many fundas for steering the boat than taking it forward so for the first 10 minutes we just kept on going in circles. Then we figured out the right thing and started our journey.
The lake is so vast and one area has been prohibited for canoes due to heavy ship traffic there. There are small and big bridges over which traffic runs at great speed. Some of the crossing over bridges are small to the extent that you need very accurate steering and also need to bend down while going through that. There are parts which are shallow and full of algae and some vast areas of clear water. There are small stretches which are shallow and full of algae around the banks. In such an area, the canoe capsized.
We were rowing through the shallow area and we drifted somewhat towards one of the bank. There was big branch protruding from a tree and was bent in such a manner that it directly obstructed our way. Rahul was sitting in the front and he just managed to lift the branch and go through by bending. The boat went straight and I too tried to lift the branch. But while doing this, the mass balance of the boat shifted to the left and it turned over. I and Rahul both fell in the cold water of Lake Washington. I cannot remember a thing that went through my mind at that point of time. It went totally blank. After a few seconds, we both were floating in water holding on tot he boat. The life jackets were keeping us above the water surface and since the lake was shallow here our feet were in the sand below. But the ground was not firm and it was like a quicksand. We had to force our legs upwards if we wanted to walk. We tried to turn the boat straight but when it did, it was full of water and hence the task was to empty it somehow. Thankfully, other canoes were also nearby and they came towards us. We gave out wallets and cell phones to them. Rahul was a bit more shocked because he did not know how to swim. I struggled against the water and quicksand and took the boat to the shore. Rahul slowly reached there and we turned the boat to empty it. All eyes were on us. People were concerned about us but hopefully none of us was hurt and we decided to row again.
We were in a dreadful state when we finally began to walk back to the university with other people. Clothes soaked with dirt, algae and water and sticking to our bodies; cell phones drenched and switched off..... We took a bus and returned to the apartment where we took a bath again and readied ourselves for other work.
