Swimming in Glenmore

Went to an outrigger practice on saturday. Took a really long time before even getting to go in the water, transporting the boats and then trouble with matching the wa'as, iakos, and amas (hawaiian words are fun) between four boats since noone labeled them in the beginning. Was super windy and plenty of whitecaps, only remember one (canceled) dragonboat practice having such rough water, so I was a bit concerned about going in an outrigger for the first time, especially in a 2-person with someone else who's never been in one before. But it went fine, didn't feel (to me) like we came close to flipping. Partner sometimes 'panicked' and through her weight left to be safe. Eventually we returned to dock, apparently we should have sooner but with the wind we couldn't hear anyone calling, and were outpaddling the one-man coach boat. Took some "risks" paddling on the right side, still no problem. I actually wanted to flip, to feel what it's like, and learn how to climb back in. But my partner didn't want to go in. So back at dock, I recruited Shannon, who'd already accidentally fallen in and was excited to go in again! But we were instructed not to deliberately flip, as boat patrol was nearby. So we paddled, switched sides, all no problem, and then it finally happened: the flip. But, get your mind around this: we flipped to the left. Yup, the left. Bet we're the only ones in the club who'll ever flip to the left. How? Everything going fine, then suddenly the front iako (arm) comes off of the hull, and the whole ama (float on arms) goes swerving off. With no ama, boat's not gonna be stable. Once in the water, it only took a few seconds to "gain control of the situation," I twisted and swung the ama back into place and Shannon inserted and tightened it, then we each climbed back in. It was very tiring though, especially kicking to keep the boat from drifting to shore. I think the coldness really drains energy quickly too. Anyways, returned to dock no problem, though the wind almost blew us off the dock when carrying the boat back to shore! Not sure how much more I'll be heading out since the season is almost over, and I don't think I can go out mid-day by myself, so we'll see how it goes.