Really cold in Canada

I've been feeling under the weather for the last couple of days, hence the lack of a post yesterday.

Today, I'm still feeling kinda crappy, so I'm going to reach once again into the bag of classic CanadaDave adventures for today's entry.

If you've read Cardboard Boats then you know that back in the early nineties I was the kid the political party I support called upon when something stupid needed to be done. This is another story from before the election of October 1993.

Our candidate was a rather athletic man. He was a member of a running club and was very fit. So, for another publicity stunt the candidate decided that he was going to do a cross riding triathalon. We decided that he would be accompanied on each leg by a volunteer. I volunteered to accompany him on the bike leg, but that spot was already filled and what was really needed was someone to accompany him on the swimming leg. I'm a pretty strong swimmer, so figuring this would be a piece of cake, I agreed. I'm just not that bright sometimes.

The body of water that we were to swim across is called Hogg's bay. It's a bay off of Georgian bay, near Midland, Ontario and about a kilometer and a half (about a mile) across.

Sometime in July we did a test run. It went pretty smoothly. I dove underwater, played and generally had a fun time with it. There was a close call with a float plane that almost ran us down (when it took off I could see the pilot), but that was not really a big deal.

The actual triathalon was in mid September. Hogg's bay had been used for a lot of Great Lakes shipping years ago. As such it had been dredged rather deep. I thought that this would mean that this big volume of water would retain heat well into September. I was not what you would strictly speaking call correct.

I did, however, borrow a partial wetsuit, just in case. I covered my legs, chest and back. My arms, feet, neck and head were exposed.

The day came, and I waited on this old industrial dock for the candidate to show up so we could start our swim. Eventually he biked up, dismounted and jumped in the water. I followed him.

The water wasn't so much cold, as ice in liquid form. It was very, very, very cold. For the first couple of minutes it was all I could do to keep my head above water. I basically tread water and said "Oh shit-oh shit-oh shit-oh shit" for about the first three minutes, which felt much longer. The candidate was pretty sure that I'd have to be pulled from the water. But I perservered and finally headed out into the bay.

I didn't dive or play this time. In fact, I don't think my head went under water.

After what seemed like an eternity, the finishing dock was finally in sight. Every fiber of my being screamed that I should get there as quickly as humanly possible, if not faster. The thing was, this was a media event, and finishing before the candidate, nevermind leaving the candidate in the dust (or possibly ice crystals) would be poor form. I had to let him finish first.

Buy the time I got out of the water my feet and arms were numb and all my finger and toe nails were a deep shade of blue.

You'd think I'd have learned after an experience like that not to volunteer for things....

No such luck. I'm sure you'll be hearing more stories of me doing stupid things for political reasons in future entries...