Monday, September 13, 2004

The Fluffy Bunny

This past weekend I had the distinct privilege of going with our youth group on a rafting trip down the Ocoee, a beautiful river in East Tennesse known for its rapids. The first time (of only two times in my life) I rafted down this river was pretty uneventful. No one in my raft fell out, and we navigated all the rapids with relative ease.

Remembering that first experience, I was pretty confident going into this thing. I even volunteered to sit in the front of the raft with my 13 year old son, Zach. According to our guide, we were responsible for setting the pace for our boat. We both were up to the challenge.

Before we set "sail for our three hour tour" (yes, I watched too many episodes of Gilligan's Island growing up), our guide asked us to decide if we wanted a relatively smooth ride or, in his words, and "pretty gnarly" one. I immediately spoke for our whole boat (without their input); "We want a gnarly one!" Famous last words of a fool.

Gnarly indeed. I met my Waterlou (pun intended) on the first rapid, a class five. Giving us exactly what I unilaterally asked for, we hit the rapid sideways and with such force that your's truly was tossed out. My first experience in white water without a raft made me rethink this gnarly ride I requested. Except for a few gallons of water in the old lungs and a small cut on the knee, I wasn't any worse for the wear. So, I figured the worst had to be over.

All things went pretty well after that until our guide told us of one final maneuver we needed to perform after the last rapid. He called it the "fluffly bunny maneuver." Since all these rapids had strange names, I didn't think much of it. In retrospect, however, I should have known something was up.

In a serious tone, he explained what we needed to do. After we hit this last rapid, I'll need for you to give me two hard, forward strokes with your paddles, then those on the right side of the raft need to jump in unison onto the left side. Thinking that we were going to provide a counterbalance to something (who knew what), we dutifully prepared for the fluffy bunny move.

We hit the rapid. Our guide barked out the command to paddle. He then yelled, "jump now." In perfect unison, those of us on the right side of the rafted plunged onto the left side. In an instant, everyone of us were in the water with our raft upside down on top of us.

Thinking we failed in the fluffy bunny maneuver (surely that wasn't supposed to happen), our guide was elated. "That's the first time I've ever been able to get the raft to flip like that. Great job guys!" We all looked at each other in stunned silence, wondering why this guy was so happy--and I'm still not quite sure! Further, I still don't have a clue why that maneuver is called the "fluffy bunny." Maybe some of you veteran rafters can help me out.

I had a great time with my youngest son Zach. What a great son! God is good.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Garry,
Glad you and Zach both made it back in one piece (except for the wounded knee.) I really wish I could have seen the whole thing!
Carol

Anonymous said...

Garry:

Zach is definitely a cool dude! He'll cherish that memory with you forever.

I remember when the singles group went down the Ocoee a few years back. I was in the middle of the raft sitting next to Dewayne C. As we left the launch area, I noticed he didn't have his foot under the floor-strap to help keep him anchored. Of course, I didn't say anything, but was just waiting for the moment....

At the very first rapid I turned my head to see how the crew was doing and he was gone! He did manage to hang on to a rope...so he was floating in unison with the raft as it headed for the next set of rapids. Everyone in the raft turned and stared down at him in utter silence (about to burst into laughter)and he was just staring up at us as if to say, "What do I do now?".

Suddenly the guide yelled at him, "You're gonna have to help yourself buddy!" As he got his leg into the raft, we grabbed him and tugged him in. We laughed like crazy.

Glad you made it back safe.

Khris

Steve said...

July of 03 I went rafting on the Nolichucky (Cherokee for "river of death"). It is never a good sign when your wife ask about the status of your will while your struggling to get back in the boat for the second time in 10 minutes. Sounds like you had a great trip.