Help I Cant Swim!  PRO

Help, I Can't Swim!

Several years ago some friends and I would go fishing in the Yadkin River. There were 4 of us and we took 2 flat bottom aluminum boats. One friend of mine had a motor on his, but mine didn't have an engine. We would go after the sun went down and anchor upstream from the rough water. We then could cast our fishing rods downstream and always caught catfish.

This time it was dark and the only way to tell how close we were to those rough shoals was to listen for the water as it ran swiftly over those rocks. As you might have guessed, I got my boat too close to those rough waters, and we took off like a speed boat down the river in the dark. My friend that was with me was kind of a nervous guy anyway and began to yell to the top of his lungs, "I can’t swim and I'm going to die...help, help!" Our friends in the other boat had his engine running and trying to throw us a line but failed.

So, being much younger than I am today I stepped out of the boat thinking I could rescue my buddy by dragging him to safety. I stepped out of the boat and the water was only about 3 feet deep. My friend was still padding with an oar, throwing water about 10 feet high and barely missing my head with each stroke. I held on to the boat until our friends in the other boat...