July 12, 2008 Grass Lake / Dakota Water Watch

Today was an interesting and eventful day. It was a beautiful morning with clear skies, light breezes and low humidity. What a wonderful day to paddle a kayak. And to make even more special the SDCA had offer the assistance of a group of us to collect water samples and data so they could begin to build a history on the water quality of Grass Lake, which is located just south of Humbolt, South Dakota. Once everyone had arrived at the lake, Jeanne Fromm of Dakota Water Watch gave us some background on their efforts and instructions on how to collect the data and water samples they wanted from twenty preselected locations on the lake. The mission was to test air and water temperatures, water clarity, water depth, and the collection of two samples of water from all locations. One sample for testing for bacteria and one for testing for nitrates. By the time the instruction was over and we were all assigned our two spots to collect data the weather had changed dramatically. The wind had picked up there were whitecaps forming on the lake. Well ,Kay and I were given four locations on the eastern end of that lake. This was soon to considered a good thing as the winds continued to build. Kay and I decided to work as a team and go to all four of our points together. This seemed to make the most sense since that way she could do all the recording of the data while I did the actual testing and water sample collection. It was difficult to do. We were continually paddling back to our original location after each test because of the speed of our drift. We were trying to make sure the data was as accurate as possible. I soon found it was impossible to measure the water depth with the tools they had given to us because of the conditions so I devised my own method. I used my paddle, sticking it straight down until it hit bottom, marked it and the measure the paddle itself to obtain the depth, worked great. Kay and soon had our data and samples collected and headed back to shore. As we were heading back Jeanne and the others on shore were yelling out to us. With the wind it was hard to hear them, but finally I heard her say as she pointed out into the middle of the lake that a canoe had tipped over. My wife continued into shore with the data while I headed out to see if I could be of assistance., As I paddled out to them I was lucky enough to see one of their paddles floating along and was able to grab it. Once I got to them it was obvious they were not going anywhere the way they were. Well ,here is where my thanks to the SDCA and their training day at the YMCA comes in. Having done several assisted rescues in the pool I decided it would probably work with a canoe as well as a kayak. So the first thing I did was instructing them to swim under the canoe and push it up and over. After a couple tries they were successful. I then used my pump to pump the excess water out of the boat. By this time the lady in the boat was making her way to shore, floating with the current. The next part I was not sure about. How it would work with a canoe, but I pulled up beside it, laid myself across it to stabilize it and the gentleman was able to crawl in. It worked just like it should. It was actually easier with the canoe than it had been with the kayaks in the pool. Again thanks to SDCA for the training day. When they have their next one and if you did not make the first one try to make it. I am not sure what we would have done otherwise. Something I am sure, but just what I do not know.. So once we were all back on shore Kay and I decided to call it a day, but not before offering to meet Jeanne back at the lake the next day to collect the samples that had been lost when the canoe tipped. I could not help, but wonder how everyone else was doing back on the lake on my drive home.