Whatever can go wrong goes wrong.
It must have been the spring of 1978. We had just gotten our Mad River Explorer canoe, and I specifically remember that it was acquired about the same time Joel was born. Previous to that time we had gone from a Richland square stern aluminum canoe purchased from an outfitter that unloaded it to us for $50, to a new Lowe Line aluminum 17' to the state of the art wooden gunwale Mad River cadillac of canoes. We were justly proud. And its first river trip was with several friends on the up and roaring Mulberry River in Arkansas. Back then the billion dollar outdoor recreation industry was in its infancy. Whitewater kayak design was unheard of, and most kayakers were required to construct their own boats using fiberglass techniques. Outdoor clothing consisted of either blue jeans or cutoffs, flannel shirts, work boots, or possibly sneakers, and wool shirts if you were savvy in outdoor practicality, since cotton only makes one colder when wet. Neoprene was yet to be invented, as was fl