Top tip:
Don't put your thick yak spraydeck on with the loop used to secure it tucked underneath. If you must do this, don't capsize while surf canoeing, banging your head along the bottom and managing to wind yourself in the process. Don't then fumble in the inky blackness trying to find the loop only to panic and use up what little air you have left, even more quickly.
If you must do this, don't do any of this miles away from the rest of the group and only managing to escape with you life by punching through the yak deck (somehow ripping through the material and allowing water to flood in and you to be able to remove the yak deck and get out). Then staggering into the shallows before collapsing, leaving a kindly passer by to retrieve your canoe and paddle.
I wish someone had told me this when I was younger.
