Kayleigh Coffman

3/31/15
RE 251
Peter Bosma
Deep Waters Paper #2

As an adventure educator or programmer I feel like there are many ways to tell if an

activity crosses the line from constructive challenge to physical harm. To begin with, if there are

repeated injuries or problems, or injuries that multiple people have, I feel like that indicates

physical harm over constructive challenge. In Deep Waters there are quite a few instances of

this. Most of these cases, I find are on the snow shoeing trips, but there are also a few from the

canoeing trips as well. One example are the blisters that all of the boys developed during one of

their long treks on foot through the snow. They only stopped once to get their bloody blisters

cleaned and wrapped, and then were back on their way. I cant even begin to imagine the pain

they were feeling from their bloodied feet, and knowing that even though their parents were

aware of these injuries and still pushed them onwards had to add to the frustration. Another

example was the death of Markus Jannasch. Before his death, he had already collapsed once

along the way, requiring medical attention. His final collapse was shortly after he was attended

to medically, but this time he sadly couldnt be saved. I feel like after the first time he collapsed,

he shouldnt have been pushed to keep going. There shouldnt have been that pressure on him.

Also, during the canoeing trip, there were a few different health risks that should have been

prepeared for, such as trench foot. There was never anything saying that it actually was a

problem or occurred, but with the conditions they were in for such long periods of time it had to

have happened to some degree. You have to have your feet dry for at least eight hours a day to

prevent it, and they definitely didnt have that.

 I believe that chapter 5s title Boat as Teacher could mean many different things, but I

believe its more skill based in this situation. In the book, it mentions the Lakefield Colleges

Navy Cadet Corps and how they literally would use their boats as the teachers. They learned boat

handling skills, how to read the weather, physical fitness, discipline, and the ability to push

through fatigue and exhaustion while being out on the water in their boats. It taught them lessons

to push through and to keep going, and I think it related very much to the boys of St. Johns. I

think the boys of St. Johns learned in the same way the Navy Cadet Corps boys did, and learned

the same lessons they did.

I believe the religious or spiritual aspect definitely did have influence on the tragedies

that happened at St. Johns because they placed all of their outcomes on the grace of God. They

did everything just hoping that Gods will would get them by. It almost seems like they didnt

even think they needed proper training to go on these expeditions because they thought that they

would be okay because whether they knew what they were doing or not, God would keep them

safe. It was almost as if they didnt believe any accidents would happen, because since they

praised God, he wouldnt let anything happen to them. They found out that that wasnt the case,

and with the follow up at the end of the book, it talks about how the school had changed and how

they now prepare for emergencies.

Personally, I believe the tragedy on Lake Timiskaming was a compilation of many

different factors, but mostly the lack of knowledge of the area, and experience. If they had

known the lake like the locals did, I doubt they would have tried to cross the lake that day. Either

that, or they would have evened the canoes out more, so there were more experienced boys

mixed in with the less experienced boys, rather than all the experienced boys in the two canoes

with the strongest and most capable leaders, and the other younger boys left with the less
experienced leaders to fend for themselves. I think there are many things they would have done

differently to prevent this disaster, and I think if they only knew more about the area, and how

dangerous it truly is, they would have ended the trip peacefully.