here is a link to the rescue of a group of Scouts in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness.
i know the lake they were on,Basswood,it's huge and runs west to east and at the end they were entering the lake from would of had some large/huge waves.in order to get onto the lake from the small bay at the ranger station you have to go thru a narrows right into the west wind.i saw a guy swamp there some years ago and on the same day when i stopped at the first camp i could find i also watched a rescue out on the lake.no float planes just other guys bringing in people from swamped canoes.
this is my one worry when i'm out solo,swamping and losing the canoe and gear.thats why that red PFD is my avatar here.with lots of survival gear in the pockets i should be ok until help comes along.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content...boundary-waters

My paddling has been in kayaks, rather than canoes. Kayaks have a sealed compartment that contains cargo when the kayak goes belly up, a routine event. Can't you secure cargo in a canoe so that it remains in the craft?

I like the way you have rigged your PFD - very similar to the way I equipped mine - keep the critical gear close at hand.

Hikemor..if it looks tricky out on a lake or the river has some fast water i'll undo a pack strap and loop it around the portage bar and reattach it.the folks who do the big trips down the rivers in Canada criss cross cord over the packs.those trippers have full spray skirts over the canoes anyway.
i very seldom tie anything in,if its that nasty i stay off the water.


big rounded off rocks like this are more of a danger than just paddling in bad water.just inches under the surface and hard to see from the stern of a 16 foot canoe going solo.
if the canoe rides up on one side of one of those it's enough to tip you right over! i have run up on a few of those and getting the canoe off can be a problem.

Canoedogs- that's why I wear polarized sunglasses while canoeing. Helps you see into the water a lot better.

Also, in well-travelled areas rocks like that have a "silver lining"- aluminum from other canoes that have scraped up on them before.

Local scout group all drown/died of cold after swamping and being unable to reach shore to warm up. They were found floating in a circle together. 1982

one newspaper account

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19820809&id=PsIqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NWgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3517,4312835

Hikermor & canoedogs method of having some key gear on your PFD is a good idea. One issue is that if you capsize in windy conditions, the canoe or kayak can easily blow away down wind faster than you can swim to catch it. Even if your gear is secure under the kayak cargo hatches, or lashed down inside the canoe, you might find it floating rapidly away from you.

Assuming you manage to swim to shore, you could then find yourself with just the gear in your pockets and on your PFD. The trick is finding the right amount of gear to attach to the PFD. You want to have enough to survive, but too much hanging on your PFD can get in your way, and make normal paddling a pain in the rear. Also, too much stuff on your PFD can make a kayak paddle float re-entry harder to do. As always, one wants to find the "Goldilocks" point: Not too much....not to little...Just Right!

I'm on a towboat and my Type IV life jacket is equipped w/the following:
Blinking red light (for night ops), small wide beam LED flashlight, Doug Ritter PSK (thank you Stu) in a radio pouch (similar to a magazine pouch), 2 35gal and 1 55gal trashbags, leather gloves, another (empty) radio pouch (to carry a handheld VHF-FM radio), sunglasses, and 2 carabiners (to carry tools and hardhat).