SOUTH OF LIVINGSTON, MONT. — The bad news is that my iPhone died.
The good news is that I did not die.
I was kayaking with a friend on the Yellowstone River a few miles south of Livingston, Mont. In a nasty stretch of white water, he capsized first, floated downstream and crawled out onto the right bank. Still in my kayak, I got to the left bank and grabbed onto a tree branch. I called 911 on my iPhone and learned that Search & Rescue only comes if you’re actually in the water, not in your boat. Out of options, I let go of the tree branch and started paddling into some very fast water. Within five seconds I too capsized — meeting the eligibility requirement.
After a few unpleasant interactions with branches extending into the water from the shore, I managed to grab one and get out of the water. Since the iPhone was now dead, I walked to a road, where I got a ride. No serious injuries, except hurt pride. One kayak recovered, one still trapped in a tree somewhere south of Carter’s Bridge. Trusting in the power of media, we’re placing a lost-and-found ad in the biweekly Livingston Current. Reward for retrieval.
My dead iPhone is currently buried in uncooked rice on recommendation of Karl Pearson-Cater, MinnPost Director of Operations. We are both dubious.
I was the aforementioned friend. What Joel fails to add is that he had already rescued me once when I got stuck on some rocks, and attempted to help me a second time when I capsized. So, here are my lessons learned:
Be grateful for good friends.
Check your weather conditions.
Check the ability of your friends (me) to operate in those conditions.
Put your cell phones in a plastic bag.
Breath a sigh of relief when you crawl out to shore.
Consider carrying weatherproof heavy gloves. Why? Local Montanans, who live between you and the road, often have a fondness for barbed wire.
Also, wear a lifejacket. (I assume you both were, considering your apparently still-alive-ness.)
We were wearing lifejackets.
As far as the iPhone is concerned – my iPhone is also sitting in a bag of rice due to an unfortunate swimming incident.
I’ve read that silica gel packets work better than rice to dry out electronics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica_gel). One website I found last night recommended buying silica kitty litter, but I’m going with a few pouches I purchased online.
Here’s hoping we’re successful with our rice.
Rice didn’t suffice.
Rice didn’t do much for my iPhone either, but the silica gel seems to have done the trick.
Everything works after two days in the bag with ~ 20 little packets. The only problem now is a little condensation on the screen. Hopefully another day in the bag will take care of it.