Written by Dave Gillen

Special thanks go out to my canoeing buddies Tracy and Obe for performing the rescue on Lake Temagami and allowing me to photograph the events.

Slowly approach the overturned canoe and assess the situation. Try to calm down anyone that might be in a panic and continue the rescue only after everyone has calmed down. This is very important! You can't assist anyone if a swamped paddler you're attempting to aid ends up swamping your canoe by trying to get aboard it in a panic.

When it is safe to do so, lift one end of the canoe out of the water so you can prepare to slide it upside-down over your canoe. You may need to tilt the canoe slightly to one side in order to break the water vacuum before lifting it. If needed, ask for help from the swamped canoeists to do this. This helps you and also helps keep them in focus.

Once the canoe is free of the water, slowly lift it upside-down over your canoe. This empties the canoe of water so it can be reflaoated.

After the rescued canoe is on your canoe upside-down, carefully flip it over and slide it back into the water keeping it alongside your canoe.

Once the canoe is afloat again, grab the gunnels of both canoes and lock them together for stability.

At this point the swamped canoeists can re-enter the canoe from the side, one person at a time.