Montreal drowning

Jet boating on Montreal’s Lachine Rapids was both exhilarating and painful. We all got kitted out in thick jumpers, plastic jumpsuits, life jackets and ponchos and piled into the jet boats.

I thought the outfits were a little excessive at first, but I was thankful for my four layers after the first wave smacked me in the face.

Apparently the best (or worst) place to sit is at the front, so naturally I got as close to the front as possible, managing to scramble onto the second row next to my friend Carl from Liverpool. We chatted and laughed as the boat sped towards the rapids and I vaguely remember the guide saying something about making sure you put your head down and hold on as the boat crashes against a wave. I wish I would have listened more carefully, because the rapid known as the Hawaii 5 'O' nearly took me out. The wave hit me in the face so hard that my head was thrown back and my throat and ears were completely filled with water. There wasn’t much time to recover from this near neck breaking experience before we hit the next set of rapids. We were literally thrown from our seats and left up to our knees in freezing water.

The whole thing lasted for about one hour and it was amazing. I was quite ill that evening, maybe partially drowned, but it was worth it and nothing that a little Ear-Ex couldn’t fix.